In the village of Chornyi Ostriv, 20 kilometers from Khmelnytskyi, there is the only social dormitory in the region for orphans and children deprived of parental care. Adult Ukrainians aged from 18 to 23 live here most often, who, due to the lack of close relatives, simply have nowhere to go after completing their studies. Currently, the main residents of the dormitory are young men and women from the city of Toretsk, in Donetsk region. They were evacuated from there at the beginning of the war.

Meals in the social dormitory were free of charge until 2017 – the institution had funds for this allocated from the budget. Now, according to the regulation, approved 6 years ago, there is no funding for this type of expenses, but there are conditions for preparing meals.

According to the director of the institution, Vira Danyliuk, there is a kind of barter between the residents of the dormitory and the villagers on Black Island.

“The children work part-time, helping the peasants in the farm. The peasants bring potatoes and preserves to the hostel. Public and religious organizations, private entrepreneurs also help”.

A typical problem of those who can claim to live in a social dormitory is improperly prepared or missing documents.

“We renewed passports and identification codes. If a child does not have any payments, we issue a survivor’s pension. This is a flaw of all previous educational institutions. After all, according to the law, if children do not have parents, they must receive such a payment,” notes Vera Danyliuk.

In addition to the already mentioned documents, copies of the death certificate of both parents, documents on the existing status and documents certifying the right to benefits in case of disability are required for settling in the dormitory. If an orphan is entitled to housing, an act of its inspection is required.