The Maltese Relief Service is completing a project to transform a former polyclinic in Sambir into a space for internally displaced persons. The building has three floors and an area of almost 800 square meters. Now the installation and commissioning of engineering networks are being completed, and soon the Sambir City Council will be able to settle more than 100 internally displaced persons here.
“In just six months, we managed to renovate the premises for comfortable living of IDPs. It was not easy, because we worked even during the power outage. The locals know that this building has not been functioning for years, and now only the walls remain of the former building. We completely replaced the roof, windows, floor, and utilities. Everything has been done for people’s comfortable living. They will have some privacy: separate rooms, family rooms, kitchens, hygiene rooms, showers, laundry rooms. This house is self-sufficient, you can move in tomorrow and live here,” said Pavlo Titko, head of the Maltese Relief Service in Ukraine.
This project was planned as a multifunctional building that will first serve as a shelter for IDPs and later for the needs of the community, for instance as a municipal hotel for young athletes.
“Our community is home to more than 3,500 internally displaced people, so there is a huge need for housing. This shelter will be home to 105 people. The rooms are equipped so that families can live there. We plan to move the people who are currently living in the kindergarten here, which will improve the living conditions of IDPs and allow the community to reopen the kindergarten. We will soon complete the exterior works and people will move in,” says Yuriy Gamar, Mayor of Sambir. “We want this building to serve as a municipal hotel after the victory, particularly for athletes, as there is a stadium and a sports school nearby.”
The reconstruction was carried out in accordance with the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Lviv Regional Military Administration, the Maltese Relief Service and the Sambir City Council.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale war, about 600,000 internally displaced persons have found their new home in the Lviv region. About 2 million more crossed the border with other countries through our region. Since February 24, Lviv region has been devoting all its efforts to helping all those in need. With this project with the Maltese Relief Service, we demonstrate that people in difficult life circumstances can and do receive decent living conditions and support from communities and the region,” said Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration.
The project was implemented with funding from Malteser International and Aktion Deutschland Hilft.
