St. Peter Elderly Center – 2022 Fundraising Campaign

Saint Peter Elderly Center, established in 2008, is located in Chahtoul – Keserwan, 50Km from Beirut at an altitude of 1000 m above sea level.

The center cover a total area of 4500 sqm divided between 6 floors and 54 rooms with a total capacity of 104 residents.

The average occupancy rate is of 70% (70-75 residents).

The center is managed and serviced by a team of 38 professionals dedicated to the daily life, health, psychological, and even spiritual needs of the residents.

Being part of the SSVP network the center cater for poor and needy individuals, a population that has been exponentially growing in number since the onset of the Lebanese economic crisis back in 2019.

Since its opening in September 2008, backed by the generous donations from our sponsors and the community, the center main objective, was, and is still, to provide the elders with a descent and prosperous stay, never compromising on the quality and consistency of its services and offerings.

However, since the onset of the economic crisis in the country and the rapid depreciation of the Lebanese currency, the financials restraints are becoming more and more obvious and basic needs and utilities exponentially more expensive.

In addition to the rise in operational costs, the Lebanese government financial contributions have lost more than 90% of their value due to the local currency depreciation, and more and more families are no more able to financially contribute to the stay of their relatives at the center.

All the above factors coupled to the local and regional political instability are negatively affecting our cash flow with no positive outlook for the future, that’s why we are aiming for an international fundraising campaign to sustain our operation and the wellbeing of our elders alike.

Your contributions can be channeled through one of the below projects:

Project 1: Adoption Of an Elder:

The average monthly expenses of an elder at the center is of 350$/month – $4200/year.

Your contribution through the adoption of one or more elder is more than appreciated.

Project 2: Photovoltaic Power System:

Since late 2019, Lebanon is grappling with a crippling energy crisis made worse by its dependency on fuel imports.

Erratic power supplies have put hospitals and essential services including our center, in crisis mode.

The shortage of diesel and fuel, along with an antiquated infrastructure, has worsened power cuts that have been a fixture for years. Blackouts that used to last for three to six hours could now leave entire areas with no more than two hours of state power a day.

As a result, there has been an explosion in interest in alternative energy, and thousands of people and institutions are now turning to solar power for independence from an unreliable power grid.

In a country that sees about 300 days of sun per year, our center have been working on a technical study to secure stable off-grid electricity, through a full Photovoltaic Solar System, including photovoltaic solar panels, ion batteries, and solar inverters to give our team and residents security and peace of mind.

You can find all technical and financial details in the table below: 

Figure 2: Illustrative Picture of panels to be installed.

3- Project 3: Replacement of Old Diesel Generators:

Since the residents of the Saint Peter Elderly Center include people who suffer from various pathologies (respiratory distress, heart failure, etc.), it is imperative to have reliable energy sources: we cannot afford to have the slightest power cut, that is why we have planned to renew our generators, as a backup energy source to our Photovoltaic Solar System, through the acquisition of three new systems (technical and financial details in the section below) that will help us reduce our diesel consumption by more than 20% and our maintenance costs by more than 70%: The center old diesel generators are of 100 KVA and 60 KVA and have already reached 28336 hours and 20121 hours of operation respectively, directly affecting the diesel consumption as well as the servicing costs ($5871 for the year 2021 alone).

Summary of the 3 urgent needs:

Beneficiaries of the three projects: