Epress.am News from Armenia
Haykakan Zhamanak daily newspaper reports that according to unofficial data, the number of homeless people in Yerevan is around 400, 300 of whom sleep on the streets of the city, and only 103 – in a homeless shelter.
Speaking to the daily, Shavarsh Khachatryan, the director of Yerevan's sole homeless shelter, said that their establishment is able to take in only a hundred people at a time. Besides, he added, there is still no specific definition of who can be considered “homeless” in Armenia.
“Shelter is usually provided to those who apply to us themselves, as well as those whom we get notified about or who are brought here by ambulance or police,” the director said.
Khachatryan noted that their beneficiaries usually find themselves in a state of homelessness due to difficult socioeconomic conditions, or alcoholism: “Under the current procedure, shelter is provided for a period of 3 months. During this time, the management tries to find them jobs, or return those banished to their families.”