Winter weather means Tallinn's soup kitchens keeping busy
The cold weather which arrived with the change of year has meant Tallinn's soup kitchens are seeing plenty of custom.
While the cold is severe, in the negative double figures sometimes even during the day, people in need are not at risk of going cold and hungry, said Kille Alterman, head of the Tallinn Social Work Center. Emergency shelters accept everyone, and there are enough places.
A new centre is to open at Lasnamäe's Punane 48, offering accommodation, soup, and a day center, replacing the one on Suur-Sõjamäe, which is to be demolished to make way for the Rail Baltica development.
While shelters, soup kitchens and overnight accommodation facilities used to be located in central Tallinn, nowadays they tend to be further out, Tallinn Deputy Mayor Riina Solman (Isamaa) noted.
"They've been moved more to the outskirts, where the night shelters are as well. Building a center like that in the city center — I don't know how sensible that would be. At the moment, NGO Tänavatöö offers soup and warm clothes on Saturday mornings, near the central market," Solman told "Aktuaalne kaamera."
The soup servers themselves identified a surge in numbers towards the end of the month.
"The fifth [day of the month] is pension day, the sixth is benefit payments — then there are fewer people. That's when they get their €600–700. This week is quiet. But as soon as the end of the month approaches, more people start coming," said one of the servers, Meelis.
One guest, Vladimir, said he was in: "Temporary difficulties. I'm living alone at the moment. I'm a bad cook," adding he can often find work.
Another, Nikolai said that he used to visit the soup kitchen more often. "It's cold, freezing. We try to protect ourselves. If you get sick, no one wants to treat you. But otherwise I used to come here all the time," he said.
As for the offerings, pea soup is considered the top option, and when it is served, word spreads quickly, including via phone messenger. On cabbage soup days, however, not many people come and ask for a second helping.
The rate of usage of shelters has been at around the 600 per month figure in recent years, with addiction, unemployment, mental health issues and domestic problems being the main factors. Even as care is guaranteed, waiting lists remain long, Alterman noted.
"The waiting lists for special care services, which the state is required to provide, are often very long. And then, in reality, the City of Tallinn also has to provide some services to them," she added.
More information in English is here (Tallinn) and here (Tartu).
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Valner Väino
Source: 'Aktuaalne kaamera'
