Ararat Davtyan
Vahe Sarukhanyan

Interview with David Shahbazyan, director of Yerevan's Shelter #1 and its Center for Social Assistance to Homeless people

- What has the Center for Social Assistance to Homeless People done since it was established?

- As you may know the Center has been operating since January 20, 2006. This year we provided services to 227 homeless people, counting not individually. In other words we serviced some homeless people more than once. As of today (January 11, 2007) we have 35 people residing at the Center. Though according to the state program the shelter is envisaged to accommodate 30 people, we do everything we can to increase the number of beds since there is a demand for them, especially during the winter months. The maximum number of beds in the shelter is 45. We cannot accommodate more than that. And since we are not packed yet we will take people in but if we consider the problem in general, the inflow would be huge.

- There are no official statistics about the number of the homeless people in Armenia, but the vagrants say they number in the thousands…

- There are no statistics and gathering statistics is harder than, say, carrying out a population census. A single person, for example, lives in his or her house and never comes home, and no one takes an interest or makes a statement. There are unconcerned people who don't know the whereabouts of their relative. And they don't even care. The number of homeless people is not 100 nor is it 200; of course, the figure must be higher. But it is not a thousand either. I don't think there are so many of them. The homeless people think that there are many groups of vagrants but that's not the case. There might be hundreds of them but not thousands.

- Even if they number in the hundreds it's still a big problem.

- Of course, compared to that 35 is a small number. We can accommodate even 150 people in total if we spread mattresses on the floor, but the state program designed for 30 people is a priority. And at the same time, it's not good to take a person from the ground and keep him or her on the ground. The issue of extending the program or creating similar centers in other locations is being considered. I any case, by 2008 we will have a program for 50 people. In other words, next winter we will be able to accommodate 50 people.

- Some homeless people don't want to come to the shelter. Why not?

- Many people have no idea what it is. For example, we drive around the city to pick up the homeless from time to time, and we take some of them along with us to explain that this is not a punitive institution. When last year we hired police officers as security. I told them not to wear their uniform at work to avoid any psychological effect.

- And why doesn't the Center have any security guards this year?

- The homeless people always turn aggressive very quickly, and there is the problem of drinking. We hired security guards in 2006 just to keep order. Last year we were inexperienced too. This year we are able to keep the shelter in good order ourselves and speak their language and understand them. So we don't need guards anymore.

- Have there been any incidents in the shelter?

- Drinking is a big problem. Someone starts and the others join in. If the problem is very serious, the instigator, naturally, has to leave. There haven't been any instances of fights. There has been some pushing and shoving and we let those responsible go. When a person is drunk, and doesn't know what he's doing and tries to stab someone, what can we do? If I accommodate that person again and the incident happens again, who is responsible – I am, aren't I? If they are going to come here, get drunk and bother our residents and employees, I will not allow that to happen. Now we have some people who drink but aren't aggressive. There have also been cases where someone who had been expelled came back and we let him in.

- What about happy events?

- Last winter, for example, there was a girl with a two-month-old baby who developed pneumonia. We brought her in, took care of her. We married her off and temporarily lodged the baby in a children's home so that the mother could take care of her passport papers. We had another case when a man with an open wound would have faced amputation if he had stayed on the streets for another twenty days. We transported him to the shelter. His leg was saved and he left the shelter. We married off another man, rented an apartment for them. They have lived together for six or seven months now. And we helped him find a job.

- What is the homeless people's biggest problem?

- Over the last year, as far as I understand the main thing is homeless people's psychological problem – they get used to not assuming responsibility either for family or for work. Once, for example, we sent a person to a bakery for employment. After working for a couple of months he never showed up there again. They don't want to take responsibility for others. In my opinion, many of them fell victim for that reason.