Excitement as a new House of Opportunity opens its doors during October, in the city of Comrat.
The House is part of Building Resilience in Vulnerable Communities (BRVC), a joint project between House of Opportunity and Beginning of Life, a Moldova NGO with 25 years’ experience in community support development work. House of Opportunity Comrat is now home to six young women from impoverished families in the Gagauzia region of southern Moldova.
“We are delighted that House of Opportunity Comrat is now open”, says Chris Mould, Chief Executive. “The team there have done a great job in getting the project to this point. The war in Ukraine and the subsequent refugee crisis has placed a lot of stress on Moldova. Our friends in Comrat could have been excused for wanting to delay, but their approach has been one of urgency – the need is only growing, so action is required now”.
If all goes to plan, a second House will be opened in Moldova either this year or next, in a community in the north of the country.
“The House of Opportunity Programme is needed out in the regions”, explains Serghei Mihailov, Director Beginning of Life. “There are some options for young people in Chisinau, but the smaller cities and rural areas really have nothing to help teenagers who are at risk from falling into poverty or crime. In Comrat, the six young women in the programme have great potential, but they are all from very poor families. They had no chance of going onto further education if they stayed at home, but until the House of Opportunity opened, they had no options to escape the same life their parents have endured. That is why we are so happy that we are in a position to help them, and we are working towards making more places on the programme available in Moldova”.
You can donate towards the BRVC project in Moldova and beyond here.