
The project of the ELCIR Diaconal Department to assist mothers and children in a crisis in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast continues work and has evolved into an organization on its own. On June 4, 2021, the ELCIR Synodal Council approved the establishment of an autonomous nonprofit organization named Trilistnik (“Trefoil”) and affirmed Aleksandr Smirnov as its director. It also affirmed a Board of Trustees.
Currently, the organization does its work at diaconal centers on Vasilyevsky Island in St. Petersburg and at a parsonage in Kronstadt in greater St. Petersburg. It plans to open branches in Taytsy, Leningrad Oblast, and in Petrozavodsk, Karelia.
Crisis-stricken families where children don’t go to school or kindergarten, can’t receive needed medical assistance, and feed on nothing but pasta are becoming a prevailing social issue both in St. Petersburg with its province and in the Republic of Karelia.
Many single mothers lost their jobs during the pandemic and can’t pay for rented accommodation any longer. Not having a residence registration, they can’t receive governmental welfare benefits or any services at governmental centers. It’s only the Church that can promptly give them both physical and, often more importantly, spiritual assistance.
Please keep the further development of this project in your prayers!