Open Letter
Mayor of Prague 11
Chairman of Audit Commission for Prague 11 Council
Mayor of the City of Prague
Chairman of Audit Commission for the City of Prague Council
Minister of Work and Social Matters
Government Minister of Human Rights in the CR
Karel Schwarzenberg, Senator
Chairman of the Senate Committee for foreign Affairs and Security
Public Defender of Rights - Ombudsman
Re: A protest against the closure of the Centre for homeless families in Prague 11
Dear friends,
I am turning to you on behalf of the 32nd Synod of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in a very urgent matter.
The Synod, the supreme body of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, has expressed a deep concern at the fact that in the City of Prague a long-term effort of the civic association Walking Together to create and manage a centre for homeless families and mothers with children in Donovalska Street in Prague 11 has been thwarted. The centre was aimed at mothers and families with small children who had landed in very complex life situations, often without a possibility to avert them. Thanks to the service provided by the centre, it was possible to keep families together and, as a consequence, the children did not to have to be put in children’s homes. The Ministry of Work and Social Matters and the Government Minister of Human Rights in the CR have expressed their unequivocal support for the Centre to be saved.
The Centre was managed by an independent civic association in close cooperation with a congregation of our church. Volunteers from the congregation took part in the activities of the centre and provided pastoral care to those who expressed their wish to receive it. Moreover, a church was built adjacent to the centre, so that the two buildings would create a single unit. The construction of the church in this place had the full support of the local authorities and was achieved thanks to donations from foreign churches who were inspired by the commitment to social service for the neediest people in our society.
We were, therefore, very disappointed when the administration of Prague 11 Council and subsequently, the City of Prague Council, forced the closure of the centre at the beginning of 2009 with the explanation that Prague 11 needed the building for a kindergarten. The need for more kindergartens was known to Prague 11 Council when it gave financial support for the reconstruction of the building so that it could serve as a centre for homeless families. Moreover, further reconstruction of the building to meet the needs of a kindergarten will require yet more investment.
The protests provoked by the decision of Prague 11 Council have not yet achieved their goal although various other possible solutions have been suggested. Foreign donors who contributed 25 million CZK to the construction of the church have written letters of protest against the closure of the centre directly to the Mayor of Prague. Due to these letters and also thanks to the intervention of foreign diplomats, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Czech Republic requested the Mayor of Prague to reappraise the decision to close the centre in Prague 11. Not even this request has found a willing ear.
We have, however, been astonished at a new development. The town council of Prague 11 acknowledges that there is at present a shortage of available space in existing centres for homeless families and has agreed the provision of a new centre for homeless families - in a different location.
On the basis of all the reasons given above, we would ask you to do all that you can to overturn the original decision to close the centre and to ensure that the Walking Together Centre is re-opened.
With thanks for your understanding and for taking a stand on behalf of the homeless families who could use the services of the Walking Together centre,
Yours sincerely,
Vladimír Kopecký
Chairman of the Synod of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren
Vladimír Kopecký
předseda synodu