Tbilisi Mayor’s Office opens first ever permanent shelter to homeless people

Tbilisi Mayor’s Office has ensured a permanent accommodation for the homeless Tbilisi residents to protect the people from winter freeze, summer heat and other threatening situations for a human life. 

The modern facility built for the vulnerable people through the  Tbilisi Mayor’s Office financing is located in Lilo settlement, outskirts of Tbilisi, and has a capacity of 240 beneficiaries on a daily basis. 

Together with the safe environment the facility, opened in December 2015, offers 24/7 first ambulatory medical aid and primary medicines, a service of five social workers and a psychologist if necessary, all the opportunities free of charge. 

A bedroom for the homeless people. Photo by the Tbilisi City Hall. 

The inmates of the building can also enjoy a two-time meal daily-2,800kilocalories, various personal items and hygiene products. 

The two-storey construction is equipped with a dining room, bathrooms, a laundry and drying blocks, all in service of the homeless people.

A dining room. Photo by the Tbilisi City Hall. 

Men and women use separate rooms. There are 10 people in each room and five two-storey beds are placed for them to comfortably sleep and relax. 

Who can address the facility? 

• Those homeless people who are registered in Tbilisi;  
• A homeless person must be able to care about himself/herself-wash, eat and etc…; 
• He /she must  not have contagious illnesses;  
• If meeting the criteria  it should be his/her goodwill to get the service and live in the facility, no forcible  methods are welcomed; 
• In case of poor meteorological situations the facility can also accept the homeless not registered in Tbilisi to save them from fatalities;  

Homeless people can enjoy a free medical service in the facility. Photo by the Tbilisi City Hall. 

In order to obtain additional information Agenda.ge contacted with the Tbilisi Mayor’s Office representative Khatuna Avlokhashvili. 

Q: How many people have already addressed to be accepted in the facility? 

A: Currently there are 130-150 people.

Q: How many female and male have been permitted there, are there any minors?

A: I do not exactly know the number of men and women but kids are not permitted, only homeless men and women can be accepted. 

Q: How did you calculate the number-240- the facility should have been built for? 

A: The maximum number of people we hosted last year was 210, during the period of severe freeze and cold. When constructing the building we foresaw even more space and rooms. 

Q: How long the people can enjoy the service and live there? 

A: They can stay permanently, without any restrictions. 

Q: Have you experienced a situation when a homeless person had to quit the facility against his/her own will? 

A: We had such a situation when the individual misbehaved.  

A bathroom. Photo by the Tbilisi City Hall. 

In previous years the current Government also supported the homeless people. However, there was no special building for them that time. Instead there was a "tent town”, composing of 22 tents, spread on Moscow Square, in the suburb of capital Tbilisi.  The "tent town” was administered by the state Inter-Agency Commission. The Lilo facility was built in 2015 and is under the rule of the Tbilisi Mayor’s Office.