On March 1 Open Gallery hosted the opening of an exhibition of paintings of homeless and socially vulnerable children. The exhibits belong to the 32 inmates of Child and Environment, an organization providing support to homeless children.
Fifty paintings made by children are dedicated to the topics like spring, family and friendship. Each of them shows the warmth and compassions the kids lack most in their lives.
The exhibition is the first stage of ‘Building the Better Future”, a charity campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to support the integration of homeless children into society on the one hand and raise funds on the other. The funds raised from the campaign will be used for the renovation of a building on Abastumani St., which was handed over to the organization by the Tbilisi City Hall. 24-hour centers will operate in the new building, which will help the organization to provide support for more children.
“Our organization has helped homeless children aged 6-17 for 16 years. We give homeless children a shelter, food, clothes. We help them to obtain knowledge and education. With the support of international donor organizations, initially we launched activities by creating a mobile service involving volunteers who collected homeless children at gardens and parks, near churches, markets, stations and in streets. They gave them food, essential clothes, provided treatment for them and helped them learn to read and write. This was the first precedent of communication with homeless children”- Nana Iashvili, Director of Child and Environment says.