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It was a stinking problem at Lootusemaja, the homeless shelter in Tallinn, Estonia–and one that is being solved by the generosity of soldiers at the Reading Central Corps in England.
Major Wes Sundin, regional officer, reports that there was a “crisis of the sewer at our homeless shelter. Tallinn has had extremely cold weather this year, resulting in even the sewage system becoming frozen.”
As a result, the sewers backed up on the property, causing in a health hazard to the men on the program. “Unfortunately,” said Sundin, “the city government says that they are not responsible for the water or sewer system there, and no one wants to take responsibility to fix the problem.”
It would cost a lot of money to repair.
Enter the Reading Central Corps in England. Former Fort Collins, Colo., soldier David Mortlock spoke to the missions group at Reading Central regarding this problem. They had already held many fundraising events, and decided that their 2500 British Sterling Pounds will go to Tallinn to help in this crisis.
This is not the end of the story, for there are private enterprises located near the homeless shelter which have been involved in shady dealings in the past, and who now claim that they supply the sewer system for the area, but are not willing to fix the problem.
“In the meantime,” Sundin said, “the cold continues, the sewer pipes continue to be frozen, and we have a mess on our hands, and precious little money to fix it all.” The donation from the Reading Central corps will go a long way towards normalizing this potential health crisis in the homeless shelter. “We are grateful to David and to Michael Bennett, another Reading Central soldier, for their support in the corps taking on this project,” Sundin said.