The Odessa Centre for Medical, Psychological and Social Rehabilitation for children with central nervous system and musculoskeletal disorders opened its doors in September 1996.

The Centre, with the Angel on its front sculpted by Mikhail Reva, is located on the most beautiful street of the city - Pushkinskaya - and is known far beyond Odessa. Since the Centre's opening, thousands of children, on crutches and in wheelchairs, from Ukraine and many other countries, have roamed through its rooms and halls.

The doors of the Children's Rehabilitation Centre are always open for everybody. Evaluation and treatment at the Centre are FREE.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Health has granted the Centre the highest qualification category.

The Children's Rehabilitation Centre is managed by the Charitable Foundation "Futurum" - a non-profit organization that exists exclusively due to financial and other support by private citizens and organizations.

THE ODESSA CHILDREN'S REHABILITATION CENTRE SPECIALIZES IN:

• early detection and treatment of central nervous system and musculoskeletal disorders;
• complex medical and pedagogical approaches to children with disabilities;
• work with family members;
• art therapy;
• hippotherapy;
• social and psychological rehabilitation and adaptation of children with disabilities;
• teaching computer skills

ALL THE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT WAS EITHER DONATED TO THE CENTRE OR PURCHASED BY THE CENTRE THROUGH DONATED FUNDS

The most innovative techniques of physiotherapy, balneotherapy, reflexotherapy, therapeutic exercise and other types of medical rehabilitation are practiced at the Centre. Interventions include acupuncture, manual therapy, massage, aromatherapy, speech therapy, and assistance from an on-staff psychologist.

Treatment of motor dysfunctions includes use of "Adeli" and "Graviton" weight-bearing and reflex assistive devices, developed with the help of space technologies.

Exercise therapy in the specially equipped gym plays a central role in children's rehabilitation. A sensory room and a room for general motor activity development are also available. The course of treatment can also include ancient and traditional interventions, such as hippotherapy.

Boris LITVAK, the founder of the Centre, the President of the "Futurum" Charitable Foundation, and the Principal of the Olympic Reserve Sports School for Children and Youth, says:

- The idea to establish the Centre doesn't belong to me, but to my late daughter. "Dad', she said, herself terminally ill, 'your trainers select only the most able and healthy people for the sports school. But what about the disabled ones that remain overboard? Who will work with them?..."

When our Children's Rehabilitation Centre opened, I thought I had fulfilled her wishes. However, it turned out that building the Centre was just half the job. It is a more difficult task to maintain it, keeping its idea as clean and simple as ABC's: free treatment and free access for every patient.

Dear Friends, we are thankful to all of you who have helped us in the past, continue to help us now and, we hope, will help us in the future. Thanks to everybody for whom charity is a natural need of the soul. The Centre owes you each and every day of its work. It is you, with your sincere and selfless help, who give life to the Centre and hope to the children. While you stay with us, every child will feel the wings of the Angel above.

A training computer complex was established at the Centre in 2003. Its purpose, in addition to therapeutic intervention, is to teach children with disabilities to use computers. The Centre's four floors, supplied with modern computer equipment, are split into four training levels based on age. The youngest students are 6.

Art therapy and play therapy are very important for social rehabilitation and adaptation of children with disabilities. After treatment at the Centre, children begin not just to walk and talk, but to paint and sing. A dedicated exhibition room at the Centre provides space for exhibitions by patients and professionals, performances by children's theatre groups and circus artists, poetic evenings and lectures. There is a music school, a paint shop, a theatre school, a school of ballroom dance, and various hobby groups to help develop children's creative abilities.

A theatre hall and Centre's own puppet show are a special pride. The puppet show was inspired and partly supported by the famous producer and art director Rezo Gabriadze. The theatre's curtain was designed by Mikhail and Tatiana Reva.

Only a person who has looked into the abyss can perceive its depth. Only a person who has sounded the depths of human misery can sympathize. Human mercy is the reason for angels to descend upon the Earth. One of these angels can be found on Pushkinskaya Street.

There are many houses under construction in Odessa, however just this one is guarded by an angel. Miracles happen here every day. The free treatment is a miracle in itself. It is on the verge of impossible under the circumstances of the current Ukrainian economy. Still, children are not just treated here, they are treated well. Those expected to be bedridden feel the pleasure of their first steps. Those who couldn't talk can finally be understood by friends and family. Those who couldn't hold a pencil begin to paint and type on a computer keyboard. Here the eyes radiate gratitude and the tears turn to laughter.

The House with the Angel has been created so that nothing in it reminds its inhabitants of pain. Nothing remains of hospital air and the unfriendly encounters of the outside world. The children know: they are no longer castaways, but equal beings among God's creatures, with the same right to live life and enjoy it.

Charity and generosity are never in plenty, but always in deficit. God gave each of us the ability to diminish this deficit and reduce the amount of suffering on Earth. One way you can do this is by supporting the Centre and the ideals it stands for.