A meeting dedicated to helping people suffering from drug addiction and supporting their loved ones was held in Yekaterinburg as part of the XVII Interregional Conference on Church Social Service. The participants discussed the current church rehabilitation programs, exchanged experiences and outlined ways of further cooperation.
The thematic session "Topical issues of church assistance to drug addicts" was attended by 35 clergy and laity involved in social assistance to addicted people.
The meeting was led by Bishop Methodius of Kamensk and Kamyshlovsky, head of the Coordination Center for Combating Drug Addiction of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service. The bishop spoke about the principles of the church-wide system of assistance to addicts and presented methodological materials intended for specialists, volunteers and relatives of people who are faced with this problem.
Representatives of the Synodal Department for Charity, the Alapaevsk, Kamenskaya and Chelyabinsk dioceses, as well as charitable organizations shared their practical experience. Special attention was paid to the interaction of church rehabilitation projects, the exchange of experience and the support of families of addicts.
According to Alexey Lazarev, head of the Drug addiction department at the Synodal Department, one of the main objectives of the meeting was to strengthen cooperation between specialists from different regions of the Ural Federal District. The participants were able to get to know each other, talk about their initiatives, discuss emerging difficulties and establish professional contacts.
The XVII Interregional Conference on Church Social Service was held in Yekaterinburg from October 27 to October 30 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. The forum brought together more than 360 participants, including heads of diocesan social departments, coordinators of volunteer services, representatives of the sisterhoods of mercy, charitable organizations and authorities.
The conference was organized by the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service, the Yekaterinburg Diocese and the Orthodox Mercy Service of Yekaterinburg.

Photo: Anastasia Kuznetsova.