The Foundation’s team has begun work on establishing social laundries in Sumska and Chernihivska oblasts. This initiative is part of the Improving Hygiene Access in Shelling-Affected Areas in Sumska and Chernihivska Oblasts by Installing Social Laundries project.
We spoke with Nataliya, Director of the Social Services Center in Horodnia, Chernihivska Oblast, to understand why the community needs social laundries. She explained that the demand for such facilities arises from several factors, including the lack of water in private households.
“In the villages of our community, many wells have dried up, and centralized water supply is not available everywhere. People have to carry water from far away, which is beyond the physical capabilities of many of our clients. As a result, social workers have to deliver water themselves,” Nataliya said.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that many elderly residents in the community may have access to water but lack washing machines. In such cases, only social workers can assist.
“Our social workers often take clients’ laundry home, wash it there, and then return it. Each worker has 12 to 18 clients. Overall, we have 45 social workers, so the number of people in need is significant. Sometimes they wash clothes on-site, but this often means doing it by hand in cold water,” the director explained. “Moreover, even if some households have washing machines, they are not capable of handling large items like blankets or bedspreads. Social laundries would solve this issue as well.”
Nataliya emphasized that the full-scale invasion has exacerbated the situation:
“There are now many IDPs fleeing the border areas and the no-man’s land. These people are in desperate need of help — they arrive without essentials and have no means to wash their clothes. It’s clear that both for them and for the elderly who have no one else to support them but us, as well as for us, social laundries will be a great help!”
This project is funded within the framework of the Localization project by the Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH).