HEAL Romania Newsletter 2007
Our social worker, Ana Doina, has been very busy working with several children and families living on the street in Romania. Just before Christmas she met a priest from the Murialdo Foundation. He was so impressed by the work of HEAL Romania that he has given us an office at his foundation (including phone, fax and email) that we can work from without any charge! This has made communication between the board of trustees and Ana Doina much easier and also provides a central place for anyone in need of our help to come to.
The Craciun Family 
You may remember that in February 2006, Ana Doina found three children from the same family begging on the street. They told her that their family had eleven children and their father was too ill to work, so they were starving. HEAL Romania was able to find them a house and successfully applied for the family to receive one free meal a day from a government scheme. The house isn’t fantastic and actually has a hole in the roof, but the family are extremely grateful. We are hoping to be able to help them to repair the house within the next few months.
Since then we have been supplying the family with food to supplement what they get from the government and wood to heat the house. The children no longer have to beg and sleep on the streets of Bucharest. Ana Doina has been visiting them regularly and has managed to enrol the children into the local school.
Patronela and Lenuta
In November Ana Doina found Patronela, living on the street. She is 21 and had just given birth to a baby girl, Georgiana. Patronela has been living on the street since she was 8 years old. Her mother is an alcoholic and her father is in prison. When Ana found her, she was living in a canal with her baby. Next to her lives Lenuta who has also been living on the street since she was 9 and has a one year old baby, Andreea. They were desperate for help as it was winter and they could not keep their children warm. We managed to place them into emergency shelter while we looked for a house for them. Amazingly, we heard about a man who owned a house that he did not live in and that was unoccupied. After some persuasion he agreed that the two girls and their babies can stay there until something more permanent can be found. Ana also found jobs for them, working on a market stall.
Catalin and Ion
This is where Catalin and Ion live. Catalin is 14 and has lived on the street for three years since his mother died. Ion is 20 and he also lives on the street. He takes care of Catalin. Ana gave them some clothes and food and arranged to meet them again. When she went to visit them again, only Ion was staying there. Catalin had been arrested by the police and Ion didn’t know where he was. Ana had found a job for Ion, unloading crates of fish for the market and he was very grateful for that. She has also made an arrangement with Father Gabriel from the ARMS foundation. Ion can go there twice a week to have a bath and a hot meal. Unfortunately Ion is not allowed to live there unless we pay and at present HEAL Romania does not have the funds for this.
Frant Elena
Frant Elena is 60 years old and she is a pensioner. She tried to help a gipsy couple but they stole documents from her and changed the deeds on her house. Last month they managed to get a court order to have Frant Elena evicted from her own home. Ana Doina found her on the street surrounded by bags of her belongings. She was almost unconscious through shock and confusion over what had happened to her.
Ana took her to the hospital to get her off the street and managed to trace a friend of Frant Elena. She agreed to let Frant Elena stay with her. We pay a small amount to her friend for food and towards the bills as her friend can barely survive herself on her pension money. We also gave her clothes and medicine. Ana is now applying for a new ID card that was stolen by the gypsy couple. Then Frant Elena will be able to claim her pension again.
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone that has already supported us and who continue to support us. Your help really does make a huge impact on the lives of those in Romania.