The Labor Assistance Trust was created. House of Diligence of St. John: “Institution of the first Christians of the apostolic times. comments to “House of Hard Work “Noah” invites you to stay”

This part of the Sokolniki district - between the Yauza River and the current Korolenko Street (formerly Ermakovskaya), was once the property of the Tsar's Preobrazhensky (or Staro-Preobrazhensky) Palace, which was built here for Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in the 60s years XVII century. The palace itself and all the surrounding buildings were made of wood, as was the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, erected nearby in 1671. The palace existed until 1740, when it was dismantled due to disrepair, but the church was rebuilt and remained until 1789. After dismantling the church, the entire vast territory of the former palace was sold to private owners. The central part (the block between Korolenko Street and Kolodezny Lane) was purchased by the merchant Chorokov to set up a chintz factory here. In the 1860s, ownership passed to the Borisovsky merchants, who built a small sugar factory here.

In 1897, this large property, along with all the buildings, was acquired by the Moscow City Council. In one part of it, facing Ermakovskaya Street, the Coronation Asylum for incurable patients was located, in the other (where the plant itself was located) the Sokolniki department of the Moscow City Workhouse was set up. The former factory buildings were rebuilt and adapted for residential purposes, as well as for the construction of a hospital, almshouse and workshops.

The Moscow Workhouse, which existed since 1777, was a kind of shelter for beggars, drunkards, beggars (most often brought here by order of the police) and simply poor people (often coming voluntarily), who were provided with work, housing and food. There was also an almshouse for the disabled and a children's department; later, an orphanage named after Dr. Haas was opened at the Workhouse. In 1903, the Workhouse was divided into two institutions - the Workhouse itself, which received those brought by the police, and the House of Industry for those who came voluntarily. The suspects worked in workshops - carpentry, blacksmithing, plumbing, bookbinding, and also did unskilled labor - gluing boxes and envelopes, weaving baskets, sewing buttons. The workhouse was maintained with funds from the Moscow authorities and private donations.

In the 1910s, it was decided to build a church for the Workhouse - the money was donated by the factory owner's widow, Olga Titova. The project was commissioned from the architect of the Moscow City Council Nikolai Lvovich Shevyakov, who built the temple in neo-Russian “modern” forms. The decoration of the church facades used elements and details of Pskov-Novgorod and Byzantine temple architecture; the main (western) portal was decorated with a large fresco. It is noteworthy that the dome of the temple was made entirely of concrete. The construction of the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist was completed by 1917, the main altar was consecrated on January 15, and the chapel of St. Apostle Matthew - June 10, 1917; it is believed that this church is the last of the Moscow churches built and consecrated before the October Revolution of 1917.

In the 1930s, an electromechanical plant (later MEZ No. 1) was located in the buildings of the abolished Workhouse; all existing buildings, including the church, were adapted for factory needs. The church was beheaded and surrounded by faceless outbuildings, all interior decoration destroyed.

At the end of the 2000s, the church building was returned to believers and is located here Patriarchal Compound Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Sokolniki, which also received two buildings of the former Workhouse. IN currently Restoration of the temple and both buildings is underway.

Since the baptism of Rus', giving alms and receiving strangers have been considered an indispensable virtue of every Russian person - from the commoner to the Grand Duke. Charity for the needy was the responsibility of monasteries and parishes, which were supposed to maintain almshouses and provide shelter for wanderers and the homeless. In the 18th century, attitudes towards the poor, the wretched, and orphans changed. Life, rebuilt in many ways in the Western manner, gave rise to philanthropy, when help is provided for reasons of abstract humanism, and not out of love for a specific person.

In the photo: House of Diligence in Kronstadt.

Mercy - instead of compassion (1). The indulgent charity of the prosperous to the humiliated and the orphaned will exist in society until the revolution.

In the 19th century, private secular charity developed: charitable institutions, various charitable societies, almshouses, shelters, charity houses, and shelters were founded. Needy able-bodied men and women aged 20-45 could only hope for small cash benefits and free lunches. Finding temporary work was not easy. A man in rags, exhausted, without documents, but willing to work honestly, had practically no chance of getting a job. It broke people morally and physically. They ended up at the Khitrov market, where they became professional “shooters”. Getting such people to work again and returning them to society was not an easy task.

The first decree, which talks about the workhouse, where “young sloths” who received “sustenance from work” should be forcibly placed, was given by Empress Catherine II to the Moscow Chief of Police Arkharov in 1775. In the same year, the "Institution on Governorates" entrusted the organization workhouses newly created orders of public charity: “... in these houses they give work, and as they work, food, cover, clothing or money... the completely wretched are accepted, who can work and come voluntarily...” (2) Workhouse was located at two addresses: the men's department in the premises of the former Quarantine House behind the Sukharev Tower, the women's department in the abolished St. Andrew's Monastery. In 1785 it was combined with a restraining house for “violent sloths.” The result was an institution like a forced labor colony, on the basis of which a city correctional prison arose in 1870, known today to Muscovites as “Matrosskaya Tishina.” There were also workhouses in Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk and existed until 1853.

The number of beggars also grew, but there were no institutions where they could be helped. The situation was especially unfavorable in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where crowds of people in need flocked in search of work and food, especially in lean years. In 1838, the charter of the Moscow Committee for the analysis of cases of begging was approved. The Moscow City Workhouse, established in 1837 with the aim of providing income to those who came voluntarily and forcing professional beggars and loiterers to work, was also transferred to the committee’s jurisdiction. The Yusupov workhouse, as it was popularly called, was located at 22 Bolshoi Kharitonyevsky Lane, opposite the Yusupov Palace. The building was leased to the government in 1833 as a shelter for the poor. Up to 200 people attended here. The shelter was maintained at the expense of the Order of Public Charity. Over time, the number of recipients increased. By decision of the committee of trustees and thanks to the donation of the merchant Chizhov, the Yusupov Palace was purchased. In 1839 it was finally taken over by the town and became a workhouse.

Chairman of the Trustee Committee Nechaev, and following his example, all committee members and employees workhouse worked without remuneration, making their own contributions. The number of people being treated reached 600 people, and a hospital with 30 beds was opened. At the same time, G. Lopukhin donated his estate to the workhouse - the village of Tikhvino, Moscow province, Bronnitsky district (3).

New entrants were given probation. After six months, they were divided into two categories: those who experienced good behavior and those who experienced unreliable behavior. The first ones did housework, receiving (4) kopecks per day and half the price for orders. The latter were assigned a guard, they were entrusted with the most difficult work and were forbidden to leave the house. Children learned literacy and crafts.

TO mid-19th century, “the magnificent palace of Prince Yusupov, a noisy, brilliant house, in which taste, fashion and luxury reigned and were willful for more than 20 years, where music thundered for entire months, fancy balls, dinners, performances were given”, became extremely nondescript, “equally huge, gloomy and sad"4. The three-story building housed men's, women's and "old men's" departments. The latter housed disabled people who required care. In the large halls, beds and bunks were adjacent to tiled stoves, statues, and columns. The police most often brought those in need to Yusupov's house, but there were also volunteers driven to extremes. Gradually, the influx of volunteers practically stopped. No orders were received, household work was not paid, and those in need refused to work. The workhouse turned into “a shelter where beggars detained by the police on the streets of Moscow spent their time in idleness” (5). The problem of employing the poor has not been solved.

In 1865, the charter of the Society for the Encouragement of Hard Work was approved, the founders of which were A.N. Strekalova, S.D. Mertvago, E.G. Torletskaya, S.S. Strekalov, S.P. Yakovlev, P.M. Khrushchov. A.N. Strekalova was chosen as the chairman. Since 1868, the Society for the Encouragement of Hard Work became part of the Department of the Imperial Humane Society. Various charitable institutions were opened, for example, "Moscow Anthill" - a society to provide temporary assistance to the poorest residents of Moscow. Members of the "Anthill" - "ants" - contributed at least 1 ruble to the cash desk and during the year had to produce at least two items of clothing at their own expense. Over time, the name “murashi” was assigned to the female workers of the “Anthill” workshops.

In February 1894, a women's home for industriousness opened at the corner of 3rd Tverskaya-Yamskaya and Glukhoy Lane. Anyone could get a job - in sewing workshops or at home. Gradually, a whole charitable complex was formed: workshops, a folk teahouse, a bakery (located in a house on the corner of 4th Tverskaya-Yamskaya and Glukhoy Lane). The bakery supplied women with quality bread affordable price. The poorest working women were given bread free of charge. While the mothers worked, the children were supervised in the nursery. In 1897, a school for dressmakers and cutters was organized for literate girls from poor families. Orders arrived regularly, manufactured products were sold at a cheap price in open warehouses. This was the first Moscow charitable institution of this type. In St. Petersburg, by that time, there were already three houses of industriousness and one in Kronstadt for 130 people, founded in 1882 with private donations by Father John of Kronstadt. Main job those desiring the Kronstadt house were pinching hemp. There were fashion and sewing workshops for women and shoemaking workshops for boys.

One of the most passionate propagandists of “labor charity” in Russia was Baron O.O. Bukshoeveden. Through his efforts, by 1895, houses of industriousness were opened in Vilna, Elabuga, Arkhangelsk, Samara, Chernigov, Vitebsk, Vladimir, Kaluga, Simbirsk, Saratov, Smolensk and many other cities Russian Empire, including the second house of industriousness called Evangelical in St. Petersburg, founded on funds collected by the baron among the Lutheran merchants. All of the House's employees were from among those who were looked after, which made it possible to reduce costs and increase the number of jobs. The institution was closed, that is, those detained in it were on full content. “Experience has shown that the workers did not know how to manage the money they received and remained in a poor condition, which prompted the council to provide them with shelter and food. In view of this, with the exception of a few married old people, everyone who was looking for work was required to live in a house of industriousness "(6).

Gradually, philanthropists became convinced of the need for two types of labor assistance institutions for volunteers: one - where a person would receive only temporary work until finding a permanent one; the other is closed, providing for the isolation of those in custody from outside world for educational purposes and, accordingly, their full content. In the latter case, there could be no question of “self-sufficiency”; financial support state and private philanthropists. The most appropriate form of institutions of the second type seemed to be an agricultural colony: “A person who came in rags to look for work is no longer capable of independent work... For such an individual, the only salvation would be a workers’ colony far from the city” (7). A person who recently lost his job could very well be helped by the city house of industriousness.

Almost all labor houses were subsidized by the state or private benefactors. The average additional payment to cover the costs of the House was 20-26 kopecks per day per person. Mostly unskilled people came, their work was low paid: plucking hemp, making paper bags, envelopes, mattresses from sponge and hair, ruffling tow. The women sewed, combed yarn, and knitted. Moreover, even these simple crafts often had to be taught to those in need first, which significantly increased costs. Some of the houses of industry, as already said, simply turned into houses of charity. The earnings of a laborer in the workshops ranged from 5 to 15 kopecks per day. Work on street cleaning and sewage dumps paid more, but there were not enough such orders for all those desired.

House of hard work for exemplary women in St. Petersburg. It was opened in 1896 on the initiative of O. O. Buxhoeveden and with the support of the Trusteeship of Labor Homes and Workhouses (see Trusteeship of Labor Assistance), which allocated 6 thousand rubles for the construction. Originally located at: Znamenskaya st. (now Vosstaniya St.), 2, by 1910 it moved to Saperny Lane, 16. The chairman of the Trustee Committee in the 1900s was a bar. O. O. Buksgevden, then - V. A. Volkova, secretary - G. P. Syuzor.

The establishment provided women with the opportunity for intelligent work and constant income “until a more lasting arrangement for their destiny.” As a rule, graduates of secondary schools applied here educational institutions, orphans, widows, ladies abandoned by their husbands, often burdened with children or elderly parents and who did not receive pensions.

There were houses of hard work and for children- in Kherson, Yaroslavl, Yarensk. The Kherson Society generally believed that such institutions were necessary, first of all, precisely “for the younger generation, in order to give them the right education from childhood and to eradicate the beggary and begging of children that had developed in the city. For the time being, it seemed less necessary to establish a home of industriousness for adults due to the very favorable conditions with finding work and sufficiently high wages for almost the entire year..."(8) In Yaroslavl in 1891, the local Committee for Charity of the Poor opened a cardboard-binding workshop for the poorest children in order to divert them from beggary. She had a cheap canteen. For their work, children received 5 - 8 kopecks a day. They could stay in the House from one month to a year. Child labor was even less likely than adult labor to recoup the costs of charity.

The budgets of the houses of industriousness consisted of membership fees, voluntary donations, proceeds from the sale of manufactured products, fees for city work, funds received from charity concerts, lotteries, circle collection, as well as from subsidies from the state and the Society. “The meaning of labor assistance is not always correctly understood by local leaders of industrious homes. There is a significant difference between labor assistance, which is provided to a person under the condition of actual work, and such assistance to an elderly person or a child. The work required of them has no real character. It happens that the home hard work becomes an end in itself, forgetting that it must be a means to another higher goal" (9).

Until 1895, 52 houses of hard work were established in Russia. In 1895, a regulation was issued on guardianship under the patronage of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna to assist and provide financial assistance when opening new houses, as well as to maintain existing ones. By 1898, there were already 130 houses of industriousness in Russia. In November 1897, the Committee of Trustees began publishing the magazine “Labor Help”. The idea of ​​labor assistance is firmly embedded in public consciousness: “We give a piece of bread, which the poor man pushes away with bitterness, because he is left homeless and without clothes and cannot get by on bread alone. We give the beggar a coin to get rid of him, and we realize that we are actually pushing him deeper into poverty ", since he will drink away the alms given to him. Finally, we give clothes to the undressed man, but in vain, for he returns to us in the same rags."

On May 15, 1895, hereditary honorary citizen S.N. Gorbova addressed the City Duma with a proposal to establish, at her own expense, a women’s house of hard work named after M.A. and S.N.Gorbovykh. For construction, the Duma allocated a site in Bolshoi Kharitonyevsky Lane. The two-story stone building, facing the alley, was designed for 100 workers. On the second floor there were two workshops where linen was sewn, on the first floor there were apartments for employees and a people's canteen, transferred by the founder to the management of the city. Female workers received lunches consisting of cabbage soup, porridge and black bread for the price of 5 kopecks. Free meals were often donated by philanthropists.

Women came to the House on their own or were directed by city trustees and the Council. These were mostly peasant women and bourgeois women aged 20 to 40, often illiterate (10). Upon admission, each student was given a pay slip and was provided with a sewing machine and a cabinet for storing unfinished work. On average, 82 women worked here every day. They received wages once a week - from 5 to 65 kopecks per day. The cost of material, threads, and deductions to the House were deducted from earnings. In 1899, a nursery was established at the House. Product sales were ensured by regular city orders for various charitable institutions. For example, in 1899, the City Council received an order to sew linen for all Moscow hospitals.

In more difficult conditions There was a city workhouse that provided labor assistance to both volunteers and those delivered by the police. Until 1893, it was under the jurisdiction of the Committee, which had very meager funds, for the analysis and charity of those asking for alms. No work was carried out here; mainly the beggars brought by the police were looked after (the number of volunteers was minimal). Soon the Committee was abolished, and the charitable institutions under its jurisdiction were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Moscow City public administration. Gradually things began to improve.

In 1895, the House was provided with work at the Spasskaya sewage dump, and the bookbinding and envelope workshop and the basket and linen workshop were revived. P.M. and V.I. Tretyakov donated two thousand rubles to the House. In 1897, 3,358 people were already accepted for voluntary charity. About 600 people had shelter directly in the House (11).

Those sent to work were divided into two categories: those who had their own good clothes and shoes and those who did not. Workers of the first category formed an artel and elected a leader who supervised the work and received an increase of up to 10 kopecks in their daily earnings. Those belonging to the second category also formed an artel, but worked under the supervision of a supervisor. Earnings were up to 25 kopecks a day in the summer, and up to 20 kopecks in the winter. Volunteers of the first category received 5-10 kopecks more than those of the second. The latter were given clothes, shoes, and underwear - of course, very, very second-hand ones. Here is the testimony of S.P. Podyachev, who described his stay in the House in 1902: “The clothes they were given were old, torn, smelly and dirty... They were given out differently: one received a short “stage” sheepskin coat, another from a thick cloth, either a jacket or not. then the underwear... The pants were also different: some were made of thick cloth and quite strong, others were blue, thin, like a rag... The legs were soft, made of woolen cords "chuni", exactly the same as what women wore pilgrims go to St. Sergius in the spring..." (12) "Chuni" were woven from old rags and lined with felt. Such shoes had to be tied with a belt or rope, which were not always provided, so workers sewed “chuni” to their underpants. “The worker’s legs are constantly sewn up, as if in a bag, and then he has to sleep in the chunya, and work, and walk from one end to the other,” notes Dr. Kedrov (13). He writes that “many workers have to go to work with a headscarf, a torn shawl or a scarf tied around their heads, including any dirty rag or cloth that comes to hand. The workers are belted with ropes and washcloths; they go to work and at the same time sleep on it, spreading it on the floor and covering themselves on a bed that is not only dirty, but almost always with torn sleeves, collars, and hems.”

Over time, about 500 people accumulated in the House, designed for 200 people. S.N. Gorbova temporarily provided the workhouse with most of the premises of the house of industriousness. In 1897, the city administration opened a branch of the workhouse in Sokolniki on Ermakovskaya Street, building 3, purchasing an estate for this purpose former factory Borisovsky. The two- and three-story buildings accommodated more than 400 prisoners. The Sokolniki department gradually expanded, which over time made it possible to accept more than 1000 people, as well as open workshops - blacksmithing, shoemaking, carpentry, box-making, and basket-making.

In the Moscow workhouse there were also children and teenagers brought by the police, who in 1913 were transferred to an institution called the Dr. Haas orphanage. In the children's department of the orphanage, street children under the age of 10 were raised. There were also nurseries for the children of workers at the home of industriousness and the workhouse.

One characteristic touch. “Ask anyone how I got here,” S.P. Podyachev writes in his essay, “by being drunk... We are all drunk... We’re just too weak... addicted to wine.” (14). Or another testimony: “Our grief drives us here, but main reason- a weakness for the wine business... I’m a merchant... I made so much money in the wild, but now I’ve been doing nothing for five days and I can’t leave, I’ve drunk myself to death. We need to be beaten with a whip, bugged, so that we will remember..." (15)

The working day began at 7 o'clock. We got up at 5 o'clock in the morning. Before work, they received unlimited quantities of tea with sugar and black bread. “You can drink morning tea from clay mugs, which are kept under the pillow of the deceased or tied to their belts” (16).

However, according to the memoirs of S.P. Podyachev and Doctor Kedrov, “Morning tea, due to the lack of teapots and mugs for workers, is always taken with a fight. In view of this, to brew tea from a common cube, instead of cups and glasses, workers use clay flower jars (from greenhouses), covering the bottoms with bread or putty. Some of the workers manage to make “cups” for tea from ordinary bottles. The bottle is cut into 2 parts, the neck is sealed with a stopper, and 2 “cups” for tea are ready. At noon, workers received lunch: hot food and porridge with lard or vegetable oil, and in the evening - the same dinner. “Bread and “sparrows” (the so-called small pieces of meat) were given out at the door of the dining room. Before getting into the dining room, you had to wait a long time in the cold... Cups of cabbage soup were already standing and steaming on the table - each for 8 people - and there were spoons , more like village chumichki. They began to eat, waiting until the full set was assembled, that is, when all the tables were occupied...” (17) Workers employed outside the House took with them a piece of black bread and 10 kopecks of money, for which they drank tea twice, and on their return received a full meal and tea. The total working day was 10-12 hours.

On holidays and Sundays most of those who were awaited were resting. In their free time from work, those who wished could use the library and take books to the bedroom, where they read aloud to the illiterate. On Sundays they also gave concerts in the hall of the Sokolniki branch. There was an amateur choir in the central department. Those who wished could participate in dramatic productions. For example, in February 1902, Gogol’s comedy “Marriage” was staged here. The prisoners and two workhouse employees took part. The production of “The Inspector General” (18) enjoyed great success.

In 1902, both labor assistance institutions, located under the same roof and having a common administration, received independent status. In addition to those serving sentences under the sentence of the city presence, the workhouse included prisoners from the children's department and the department for teenagers unable to work, as well as chronicles. This improved life and simplified the procedure for accepting volunteers. First, they went to the prefabricated department, located in Bolshoi Kharitonyevsky Lane, where they were kept for no more than two days. All those accepted went to the bathhouse. “The washing procedure did not last long, because they were in a hurry and rushed. Those who washed and dressed were not allowed to stay in the bathhouse, but were ordered to go outside and wait there for the others to come out...” (19) Then they received outer clothing and "transported" to Sokolniki. Mostly artisan workers were concentrated there, and unskilled laborers lived in the central department or in the Tagansky department (on Zemlyanoy Val, in the house of Dobagin and Khrapunov-Novy). The largest orders for work - removing snow from the tracks - came from railways. The main problem remained the provision of employment, as the number of people wishing to enroll in charity became more and more every year.

Another house of hard work opened in 1903 on Sadovaya-Samotechnaya Street, in the house of Kashtanova (maintained by the Labor Aid Society in Moscow). 42 women worked in the House. There were institutions that helped in finding work. The Moscow Labor Exchange named after T.S. Morozov, which began functioning in 1913, made it possible for workers and employers to easily find each other. It was founded on a donation from M.F. Morozova and was located at the Ermakovsky shelter on Kalanchevskaya Street. Up to 200-250 people were hired here every day, mostly rural workers. Employers came from Yaroslavl, Tver, Ryazan and other provinces. The two-story stone building housed employment contracts. The exchange provided services free of charge.

As we can see, the measures taken by charitable societies and the government were very thoughtful and targeted. However, they did not solve the problem of poverty and unemployment in general. This problem, aggravated by the revolution and civil war, Russia had to decide Soviet era. “Post-perestroika” Russia is again suffering from the same problem today...

Notes

1. Ostretsov V. Freemasonry, culture and Russian history. M., 1998.
2. Speransky S. Workers' houses in Russia and abroad. P.19.
3. Tikhvin estate, later withdrawn from general management workhouse, will become an agricultural colony, where there were few people in need: mostly hired workers worked, engaged in the removal of firewood, brick burning, stone quarrying, and carpentry.
4. Yusupov’s house and those cherished in it // Modern chronicle. 1863. ? 4.
5. Prison newsletter. 1897. ? 8.
6. Gerye V.I. What is a home of industriousness // Labor assistance. 1897. ? eleven.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Moscow city institutions based on donations. M., 1906.
11. Moscow City Workhouse in its past and present. M., 1913.
12. Russian wealth. 1902. ? 9.
13. Medical conversation. 1900. ? 8.
14. Russian wealth. 1902. ? 8.
15. Ibid.
16. From the life of the Moscow workhouse. M., 1903.
17. Russian wealth. 1902. ? 9.
18. News of the Moscow City Duma. 1902. ? 2.
19. Russian wealth. 1902. ? 9.

E. Khraponicheva
Moscow magazine N 9 - 1999

Peter I, when starting to create city magistrates, thought to charge them with the responsibility of establishing orphanages, almshouses, hospitals, workhouses and straithouses “to provide work and food to everyone who can correct any work.”

The public charity system created by Catherine II provided for the opening, along with a hospital and an almshouse, of special institutions for employing the unemployed, beggars and vagabonds. In accordance with the Institution for the Administration of Provinces, published in 1775, it was obligatory to create workhouses and straithouses. In 1785, a strait house was created in Moscow. Unlike the workhouse, which was intended to provide labor for volunteers, the straithouse was a forced labor colony where individuals were interned for antisocial behavior.

The workhouse and the straithouse soon merged and became a forced labor colony, on the basis of which a prison was subsequently formed. Since 1870, the restraint house began to be called the Moscow City Correctional Prison.

In contrast to them, one can name the emergence of houses of industriousness, whose activities were

aimed at solving the problems of the unemployed. Purpose of houses of industriousness

consisted of providing the poor with the opportunity to earn bread by honest labor - with the assistance of society. These institutions were created as a means of reducing beggary, preventing crimes often committed due to hunger, and to promote the development of national labor." Most often, the houses of industriousness did not have an "educational-correctional character.

The main reason for coming to the house of industriousness, according to Guerrier’s observation, was “reduced ability to work”; help from the house of industriousness could be needed, for example, by a woman with a child, an elderly person who has become lazy, an alcoholic or a teenager.

In 1882, the first house of industriousness opened in Russia. The idea of ​​its foundation is tight

associated with the name of the spiritual shepherd - Father John of Kronstadt.

At first, guardianship, without yet having a special home of diligence, was forced

It was enough to be content with what was made up of those in need of work in the artel, which were hired by the day for “menial” work. After collecting donations for the year to build the house of industriousness, the house was opened in 1882. The house of industriousness was designed for men; they were invited to pluck hemp. The house performed well and in 1896 alone it provided work to 21,876 people.

in 1886, the first house of industriousness appeared in St. Petersburg. At first, the financial situation at home was unsecured, because finding Good work it was difficult for men. And in 1892 the men's department was closed. This house was reserved only for women and girls.

In 1886, another house of industriousness opened in St. Petersburg. In the house there were accommodations for men who were considered the only ones to stay at home. In parallel with this, the house of industriousness could carry out one more task and stop issuing wages, which should go to support those in need, but meanwhile it is often spent on drinking and debauchery. Now those in need do not receive any wages, but are only given a small reward.

Due to the long period of stay in the house, those destined for him found him

type of work that is closer to them. The house had several workshops: carpentry, bookbinding, cartoning, shoemaking, tailoring, metalworking and others. The house provided training for those in need in their chosen specialty.

The internal regime is quite strict, but the main means to maintain it are

serve as persuasion rather than punishment. The most serious punishment is removal from the House, and the rest of the ladder of punishment consists of either a reduction in remuneration or the deprivation of certain general rights (eg the right to smoke for a certain period).

In 1896, at the Moscow workhouse, it was founded Women's House hard work. He had workshops equipped with sewing machines, where women who came could earn a living.

diligence: “In addition to the main task - to provide urgent,

short-term assistance by providing them with labor and shelter - this kind

institutions have a number of other functions: - food, overnight accommodation, care for workers' children, - finding employment.

In 1895, the Trusteeship of Houses of Industriousness and Workhouses was opened,

later (in 1906) renamed the Trusteeship of Labor Assistance. It helped set up and maintain various “labor assistance” institutions. Since anyone who wanted to work could find something to do in the Houses of Industriousness, they introduced

here are crafts “that do not require any special professional knowledge.” Among the unskilled jobs there were: plucking tow, bast, hemp; gardening and horticulture; gluing bags; cleaning the premises and caring for the house; chopping and sawing firewood; cleaning streets and squares; carrying and transportation of goods; cleaning and plucking of feathers. For those who had any qualifications, workshops were opened in the houses of industry.

Work here was paid more modestly than it would be in a permanent workplace. IN

permanent place. In most Houses visitors were provided with food, and in some

received full shelter.

Jul 08

The House of Diligence “Noah” (a shelter for the homeless from the Temple of Cosmas and Damian in Shubin) invites people to stay, various reasons who find themselves in Moscow and the Moscow region without a roof over their heads and are ready to live an honest, working and sober life. For those staying with us, the shelter provides assistance in restoring Russian documents and finding employment. Doctor's appointments and legal advice are provided regularly. Three full meals a day are provided, there is an opportunity to wash and wear clean clothes. We prohibit swearing and assault.

We accept people who are sober and who have undergone (if necessary) disinfection treatment.

Contact phone numbers:

Sheremetyevo 89262365415

Yurlovo 89645289784

Yamontovo 89262365417

Khovrino 89263723872

Office 89262365415

Emilian (manager) 89262365415

11 comments to “House of Hard Work “Noah” invites you to stay”

1. Kovalenko Lev Nikolaevich wrote:
   

   “People who find themselves without a roof are invited to stay,” but for how long and what will they have to do?
   The fact is that just a week ago, a person being released from the maximum security penal colony IK-2 in Engels approached me with a request to advise him on which monastery he could go to in order to move there for permanent residence, given that he is paralyzed left hand and leg. He is about 60 years old. I would like to know; could he count on permanent residence in the house of hard work “Noah”?
   If we recall similar cases, we remember that several years ago the Engels nursing home sheltered three people released from prison. But soon these guests were denied shelter, because... They persistently began to establish Zonov’s rules in the shelter. In this regard, the question is: how are “Noah” going to ensure conflict-free living? problem people?

2. Vladimir wrote:
   

   Good afternoon
   I have a difficult situation and will soon be homeless
   Could you tell me more about your living conditions?
   with respect Vladimir
   8926-496-81-47

3. Yulia wrote:
   

   How much money do your women earn per week? And what kind of work do they do?

4. Eremin Yuri Mikhailovich wrote:
   

   I am homeless and temporarily live in the Ryazan region. Caring people gave shelter so they wouldn’t freeze in the winter, but there was no food! I don't smoke or drink! I’m trying to get out of this situation, but so far I haven’t had any luck in prison, not on drugs but quite an adequate person possessing useful skills, such as a tinsmith, a cook, making blocks for the economical construction of buildings and utility rooms, but my dream is to create an Orthodox radio station for residents who cannot attend services! And I can do this immediately upon arrival in Noah! Within a few days, all you need is the Internet and one assistant! Everything else will come with me! I will be glad to answer all your questions. Georgy.

5. Vitaly wrote:
   

   HELLO everyone!!)) Alena, Nikolai, Vladimir and others.

6. Vitaly wrote:
   

   I lived in your house for some time. I am THANKFUL for your support!!

7. Andrey wrote:
   

   My name is Andrey, I have arms and legs, I can work, I ended up in Moscow because of the war in Ukraine, I was left without documents and housing. I’ll send you help

8. marina. wrote:
   

   my name is Marina. A month ago I lost all my documents and money. The house in which I lived after the sale of the apartment is not suitable for habitation. I became a victim of realtors. Now I live with a friend. This will not last long. After restoring my Vryatli passport, I will restore the money, cards and similar. I’m thinking about the monastery, I don’t know how to get to obedience. Help. I'm 62 years old

9. Sveta wrote:
   

   Good time days! By chance, on this site, I am ready to help Marina if she has not found shelter, or another woman who is in a difficult situation. The fact is that I live in Moscow, my mother is in the provinces, lives in big house, where there is gas, water, sewerage in the house, a large vegetable garden, outbuildings. She lives alone and she is 70 years old, so that she does not get bored, we are ready to accept a decent woman into our home for permanent residence, she will have a friend for her mother and she will not be bored. Not for the sake of self-interest, if anyone thought so, we have everything. It’s just that the mother is bored alone; together they would plant a vegetable garden, keep chickens, etc. tel.89067044342

10. Andrey wrote:
    

    Help needed:

    With money: 35000 rub.
    Collected: 35,000 rub.

    Ongoing projects

    “Noah Workhouse” for the homeless

    “Kakpomoch.ru” asks to support the work of our colleague, Emelyan Sosinsky, wonderful person, whom we have known for a long time and with whom we collaborated on previous assistance projects. For the last four years, he has been helping and rehabilitating homeless people in the Moscow region. The scale of his activities is enormous! Alas, we are not able to help fundamentally, but we believe that we are able to bring at least some benefit to this noble cause, which, unfortunately, there are so few people willing to do. We are raising funds to buy a washing machine (from 7 kg) and a used freezer for the shelter. Approximate total cost = 35,000 rubles. If any amount remains unspent when purchasing goods, it will be transferred to Emelyan for other needs of the shelter and its inhabitants.
    Below is an excerpt from an article by Moskovsky Komsomolets about the work of the Noah shelter, the life and fate of its inhabitants.

    7 985 211 16 74 / This address Email protected from spam bots. You must have JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Muscovite Emelyan Sosinsky has been working with the homeless for many years. He is not an official, not an oligarch - a simple driving instructor, the father of three children. Neither social services nor the government help him. Only the Lord God and good people. Thousands of people passed through Emelyan and his workhouse “Noah” (that’s what he called his shelter): drunkards, drug addicts, former prisoners, fallen women. He collects them at train stations, one-day shelters, under fences and in entrances. It gives work and, most importantly, hope for human life.
    A year ago, he opened a social home for homeless people who cannot work and feed themselves: for mothers with babies, the elderly, the sick, the legless and the armless. There are now 70 such people under his care. They are fed and supported by the homeless themselves, only those who are able to work. As they say, saving drowning people is the work of the drowning people themselves. But the crisis has hit everyone, especially the most vulnerable. There are fewer and fewer jobs for his wards, construction is ongoing and there are no vacancies.

    
    It all started four years ago (although Sosinsky has been working as a volunteer working with the homeless for many years). Using donations, he rented a cottage in the Moscow region for two months and began housing homeless people there who were ready to change - stop drinking and go to work. The homeless looked for work for themselves, mostly low-skilled - on construction sites, as auxiliary workers. 60% of earnings went to pay for housing and food, the rest was taken into account. The workhouse became self-sustaining within six months. Now there are nine such houses.
    “In Noah, we help everyone who has not violated discipline for a month to restore their passport,” Sosinsky’s assistant, Igor Petrov, tells me. - Well, for those who have been living normally for six months - working, not going on binges, not violating discipline - registration is issued. In the Vladimir region, benefactors donated a house, and you can register there.
    Igor himself was homeless not so long ago. He didn’t even know such words: “press release”, “PR”, “ social media" His vocabulary included completely different words: “bubble” (a bottle of vodka), “three axes” (cheap port wine “777”), “clearing” (a place where homeless people constantly gather), “nishtyaki” (valuables found in a garbage dump). Traces of a difficult life will remain with him forever. The huge scar alone, crossing the entire head, from the eyebrows to the crown, is worth it.
    “I crashed my motorcycle,” he explains. - I don’t remember how, what, I was drunk. We were drinking somewhere in the Polezhaevka area, where all the bikers hang out. I asked for a ride, I don’t remember how I drove...
    For the last four years, the Noah workhouse has been his home. Igor is having a wedding soon - his bride is from St. Petersburg, the other day he is going to meet her parents. She is a person from another life, who has nothing to do with the homeless and alcohol.
    - How did I become homeless? Yes, like everyone else. At 21, he came to Moscow from the Tyumen region to work; his father helped me get a construction job. I quickly became a foreman, money started coming in, so I started working in taverns. I drank myself to death very quickly, and not a year had passed. I was kicked out of work and lost my documents. He quickly joined the company of homeless people who cluster on the Arbat. You work during the day - or in the parking lot, or beg at the church - and have a drink. Well, there have never been any problems with food; excellent food is thrown into restaurant trash heaps. At the “Peking Duck” they brought out the hot bird directly, but for the dish only white meat is needed, and the rest goes to waste. Yes, we ate caviar and other delicacies. We slept in the entrance where the offices were. Opening a combination lock when employees have gone home is not a problem at all.
    - So the beggars who ask for alms for food or for the way home are lying?
    - Well, maybe not all, but the majority. In 90% of cases, if you give money, know that it goes exclusively to vodka. And all these pity stories are nonsense. Yes, I’ve become so skilled over the years that I can already read by their faces who needs to tell what story in order to give them money. Getting money for a ticket home or for food is a matter of one day. But why go there if life is already good in a drunken stupor? Alcoholism is the main problem.
    One day Igor came to eat at the temple of Cosmas and Damian, which is in the very center. There I saw Emelyan for the first time.
    - I had lived in different centers for homeless people before. But he always went back to the street. Because there is deception everywhere. Some people act like this: you work, and for this you only get food and shelter and are treated like the scum of society. Or others: you can stay there for a short period of time - a month or two, but they don’t give you any work, they don’t restore your documents. So, you can get hold of some food and some clothes. I remember you are waiting for the end of this period like manna from heaven: you would rather be free to get drunk again. To government shelters or social centers I'm not allowed in. They are only for former Muscovites. But 95% of all homeless people on the city streets are newcomers. Once I even went to prison on purpose. I was tired of drinking, I wanted to wash myself and sleep, especially since winter was starting. I planned everything specially - I went to a sports store, dressed for 5,000 rubles and went out. When everything started beeping, I stood up and calmly waited for security. They tied me up and took me to the cops. In the end, they gave me three months, and I served time in Butyrka. And in the spring he returned to Arbat again.

    
    - How does it work for you?
    - Everything is somehow fair here. When you work, you get a salary at the end of the week, initially 40% of your earnings. For those who have proven themselves a long time ago, it’s already 60%, if six months. And 70% - if a year. You can also go for a promotion, become a senior worker in a work house. (These are houses or apartments that Emelyan rented out and where former homeless people live. - MK) If you get drunk, inject yourself, they kick you out for three days. Come sober, but you will be fined for a month - no salary. And all these fines are not in the pocket of anyone there, but for this social house, for example. To help others. That is, the homeless themselves feed the homeless, you understand? Is there anything like this somewhere in Russia or in the world? I did not hear. Emelyan came up with this idea. That year, he gathered all the labor leaders home, former homeless people like me, and said: “We have collected a decent amount in reserve. I kept thinking about how to use it profitably. Let’s open a social home and accommodate everyone who can no longer work on their own.” Well, we agreed immediately. The house was filled instantly. Mothers with children, old people, and the sick flocked to us. In winter there were 100 people. But we didn’t expect that the money we had put aside would run out so quickly.
    Each homeless person in a social house costs 10,000 rubles a month. The lion's share of expenses is for renting the building itself and paying utilities(imported gas + electricity). All the work - cleaning, washing, cooking - is done by the residents themselves. Plus they do simple, home-based work.
    “We’ve done it before,” Igor sighs. - We made funeral wreaths, knitted socks, sewed bed linen. Right now there are no orders at all. And we really need them.

    
    I saw Emelyan himself only in the evening in the labor house on Sushchevsky Val. A tired man, very simply dressed, driving a modest old car.
    - Tell me, why do you need all this? It’s okay with the working contingent, and now there’s also a social house... Three children of their own.
    - Oh, my wife always tells me that I will burn in hell for my family. Because I devote much less time to children than to my wards. Now my wife has softened a little, because I stopped spending my salary on the homeless. In the meantime, I was a volunteer, until I organized Noah, so half of the family money went to charity. What for? I don’t know... I succeed in this business, I manage to help people, and through them I can save my soul. I am a church person and I believe that God gave me this skill for a reason. That's what I do.
    When asked about the social home, Yemelyan sighs heavily.
    “I didn’t even imagine that it would be so hard.” January and February are always difficult months because there is no work. I know that in order to get out of winter unemployment, you need to have 2 million in reserve and move on. And here we have a certain reserve - large sum in addition to these two million. So they decided to open a social home for old people, women and the disabled. But it never occurred to anyone what this would lead to. Firstly, the crisis hit and completely knocked us off our feet. If in March we usually accumulated profit, then this year we barely even broke even by May. Social house, as you already understood, is supported by 9 labor. It costs a million rubles a month. This turned out to be too much money for us. We save on everything - we don’t pay bonuses, we temporarily refused to repair work houses, etc. What will happen next is scary to think about.
    - Does the state help?
    - No. They tried to get a grant several times - to no avail. So I am very grateful to the police and the Federal Migration Service that they are in Lately They stopped actively trying to put me in jail. Of course, there is no help from them, but now there is no harm. And this is already a huge benefit.
    - Are there any most pressing needs? Spicy.
    - Men's shoes and clothing are always very necessary. While they are earning money, they have to climb into the trench in their only shoes and dig. Diapers, baby food, medicines, medical help. Since the end of April, we have given up doctors in order to save money, and before that, we had a therapist come to each house once a week. And there were no flu epidemics or other troubles. Now one benefactor gave money specifically to pay for the doctor, for two months, with the condition of visiting once every two weeks. Another fund promised to buy medicines worth 100,000 rubles. Usually we spent 150, but at least this way. More lawyers are needed. There is one that directly repels attacks on the organization. But each resident has a lot of legal questions - to restore housing rights, register for disability, pension, benefits. Well, and a number of other narrow specialists - a catechist, for example, who would conduct spiritual conversations, an anti-alcohol therapist, and so on. I can list for a long time.
    Emelyan is not discouraged and plans to continue expanding. He has already agreed with the leadership of the Federal Penitentiary Service that prisoners preparing for release will be told about labor houses. We also agreed with the railway workers to have information posters hanging at all stations. Continues to travel to free church dinners and overnight shelters.
    - We'll cope with God's help.
    Dina Karpitskaya