There are no more independent living houses in Alytus

Alytus hostel administration received a letter signed by Nerijaus Cesiulis, the mayor of Alytus city municipality, that the municipality will not renew the contract for the use of the independent living home from May of this year, before last year’s Christmas. In addition, accommodation services for residents of other municipalities have been refused, and the number of offices for employees is also being reduced.

According to Inga Gervelė, head of the Social Services Department of the Alytus hostel, there are 20 places in the House of Independent Living, and 19 people lived there recently. The unpleasant news reached them before Christmas. The residents, who were already preparing to leave these dwellings, received the news calmly, but for those who had nowhere to go, it was a painful blow. Some needed medication, others started drinking alcohol again, and still others openly expressed their disappointment in the mayor they voted for during the election.

“Independent living houses were inhabited by working people with professions who could afford to pay utility bills themselves, among them there were those who graduated from schools with red diplomas, but temporarily lost their homes due to circumstances,” emphasized I. Gervelė.

Most of the residents have already found new homes, only four are left, one of them is waiting for their turn in a nursing home, the rest will be moved to hostels next week. There are almost no residents from other municipalities in the hostel.

At the moment, the premises of the Independent Living House are being vacated. Some of the furniture and household appliances are moved to the hostel, refurbishing the worn ones, and some are moved to the warehouse.

It is intended to install social housing in the vacated premises, and the residents of the hostel have come to terms with this, but the ambition to use part of their offices for the same purpose is difficult to understand. In a letter, the municipality was asked to vacate the director’s office, the rest room where employees have lunch, as well as one employee’s office and a women’s toilet. Of the available premises, only two offices remain for the hostel staff.

“Since these premises were given in trust, the question of taking them over must be decided by the council. We have sent letters to all councilors requesting that the work premises not be taken. In addition, according to hygiene standards, the institution must have toilets for men, women and persons with disabilities on each floor. If we lose the mentioned premises, this demand will be ignored”, said I. Gervelė.

In the opinion of the leader of the opposition of the municipal council, Šarūnas Klēgeris, what is happening with the demand to vacate part of the hostel employees’ offices is probably the result of the quarrel between the mayor N. Cesiulis and the head of the institution, Artūrs Galakvoščiaus, which will worsen the quality of social services in the city. “However, there is another, much more important thing, this is the third precedent when there is no council decision yet, and actions are being taken.” Changing the purpose of the premises (if they are granted by the right of trust) is the competence of the council. The cart before the horse was built with the new polyclinic project, and the last precedent was due to the education reform. It is disturbing how these processes work. Sometimes one gets the impression that the representatives of the majority are not deeply involved in what is happening, or decisions are made in a circle of a few people, and they have a long-term perspective, which is particularly disturbing.

“I would invite the townspeople to contact the members of the ruling majority council so that they communicate with people, go deeper and think about what they are voting for, and understand the impact of their decisions on the town,” said Š. Kläger.

According to the member of the municipal council Valerijaus Venciaus, the taking of the administration premises is a matter of competence of the council, and regarding the Independent Living House, after the end of the use contract, you can do whatever you want, but at least it should have been discussed at the committee level. If the council had made a decision to hand over the premises under a contract of use, and in addition, they were equipped with EU money, then the council should have made a decision whether to extend their operation or not. “Now it turned out that the mayor, taking advantage of the fact that the contract was ending, decided alone. In my opinion, Home for Independent Living is a solution to a social problem. However, only moral responsibility is possible for such actions”, asserted V. Vencius.