The Annousakeio Therapeutic Centre was founded in 1970
on the initiative of the former Metropolite and Selino, Mr. Eirinaios, making his dream to
create a residence for the elderly women in our region.
Thanks to the timely and
successful appropriation of funds donated by the late Mr. George Annousakis,
this difficult task was carried out by the former Mitropolite and his
collaborators.
Mr. George Annousakis
As the respectable Mr. Eirinaios
said: "The
conviction that genuine faith is not only rest and peacefulness, but also
effort and fight, led him to change the direction of the faithful Kissamite
from the vision of golden icons of Saints to the vision of the creation of an
Elderly’s Residence".
An important amount of money was
also offered by the former Mitropolite of Kisamos and Selino, not only for the
construction but also for providing equipment for the building. The Elderly’s
Residence was named after George Annousakis as he was the first to donate funds
and in so doing showing his task of love and affection towards his fellowman.
In July 1995, the Annousakeio
Therapeutic Centre was inaugurated as a Modern Centre of Provision of
Careunder the aegis of Ministry of Health. Two sections for elderly men were added,
while at the same time structures for Resident and Non Resident Care were being
developed.
Mr. Amfilohios, the Mitropolite of Kisamos and Selino
Today, the Metropolite and Selino
Mr. Amfilohios is the President of the Therapeutic Centre. He continues the
significant humanitarian work from his predecessor Mr. Eirinaios with the same
faith and plans to continue expanding and modernising the services provided. Mr.
Amfilohios aim is for Therapeutic Centre to maintain its ability to address the
continuously changing needs of our society.
Today, the Annousakeio
Therapeutic Centre embraces roughly 70 elderly people who are unable to care
for themselves due to social or economic factors or physical disabilities. Our
guests come mainly from the Region but also from other areas.
The essential criteria for an elderly
person to live in the Annousakeio Therapeutic Centre is the urgency of the
person’s situation. The priority to fulfill the needs of the solitary and feeble
individuals that are otherwise unable to have a good quality life.
Below is a quote from our beloved
Mr. Eirinaios regarding the “miracle” of the construction of this Therapeutic
Centre:
Mr. Erinaios, the former Mitropolite
"What was the
miracle? In the summer of 1967, George Annousakis, originally of Mesogeia
Kisamos but resident of
Springs
FieldUSA,
came to my office. He expressed his desire to gold-plate the silver icon of
Saint Spyridon in Kasteli, for whom he felt a special devotion. I
congratulated him on his devotion to Saint Spyridon but wanted to modify his
wish, so I said to him, “Mr. Annousakis, Saint Spyridon is well-dressed in
and I don’t believe that he would like anything better than that because
Saints are humble. However, if you’d like to offer something to our Christian
Church, you could give the money you are able to allocate and I myself will
add as much as I can, in order to build a Nursing home for elderly whose
number increases daily in our villages because their children move to big
cities and often leave them behind unprotected.
”I will do whatever you
say, my beloved Father', answered the faithful Christian. He added: “I can
give you fifty thousands dollars (50.000$) and I will allocate it with
pleasure for this nursing home for the elderly”.
We thanked the
humanitarian donor and we with his money bought a spacious plot, roughly ten
acres, in the region of Pyrgos of Kisamos and in 1968 began the building of
the Annousakeio Therapeutic Centre.
