Living Hope started approximately 9 years ago in Vladivostok, Russia. (1997)
While travelling/working in Vladivostok Rachael Hughes immediately identified that the street kids of Vladivostok needed all sorts of help. She set out to do exactly this and 9 years later is still helping the kids on the streets of Vladivostok.
We work closely with the government and although they do not fund us they endorse our work and are now helping us to build a shelter.
Living Hope is a registered charity in Vladivostok, Russia with a local Russian Trustee Board that oversees operations in Vladivostok. Rachael Hughes is founder and CEO with Anya Zaguzova Director of Operations in Vladivostok Russia.
Living Hope is also a registered Charitable Trust in New Zealand and is set up via a Deed of Trust. It has a board of Trustees overseeing the governing of the charitable trust.
Rachael studied fashion design in Auckland, NZ, had her own business for a while, then went overseas where she volunteered in the Israeli Army, then moved onto England where she worked as a nanny before going to Russia.
Vladivostok is in the far east of Russia. It’s a port city located above North Korea on the far eastern side of the continent between China and Japan.
It’s impossible to put an accurate figure on the number of homeless kids in Vladivostok as circumstances have changed dramatically over the years. But at one stage there were over 800 documented cases.
The kids range in age from 8 through to 18 years of age. Sometimes there are younger kids on the streets trying to survive. Living Hope has worked with kids as young as 4 on the streets.
Children live on the streets for a number of reasons. These may include loss of parents, neglect or abuse by caregivers, along with lack of food and a safe place to sleep. Some children also choose to live on the streets to be with friends or peers.
Living Hope provides all sorts of essential daily items to the kids:
- soup kitchen
- shelter during the day
- schooling and literacy lessons
- showers and clean clothes
- help with getting back into school
- emergency aid if the kids get sick
- a compassionate ear and
unconditional love for all of the children.
Living Hope also provides counselling to the children and holds two plus camps per year that children can attend. The camps aim to show children what life off the street can be like and tries to get them back into becoming contributing members of society.