Oselyata

Fifteen years ago, a group of men and women built a house on Ivana Franka street in the Ukrainian town of Vynnyky. The house was created in order to help the homeless, and people with a history of substance abuse. There is room to sleep, to eat, to bathe and to work. The community calls itself ‘Oselya’, meaning home. The residents of this place call themselves the ‘Oselyata’. Right now, around twenty men, three women and two children - one born on the premises - live in the home of Oselya. They live together in harmony, share bedrooms, have breakfast, lunch and dinner together. They are not allowed to drink or have sex. They work, they follow the daily schedule, and they have a weekly meeting every Monday morning. Oselya is part of the international Emmaus network, a solidarity based movement that consists of residential communes and second hand stores all over the world. This project is made in collaboration with writer Lisa Weeda (lisaweeda.tumblr.com).