بانگخبر،
Just before sunrise in Tehran, lights flickered on inside a residential care center on Valiasr Street. Caregivers moved quietly, gently waking elderly residents and helping them gather medications, identification cards, and a few personal belongings. Outside, minibuses waited.
Within hours, these residents would be relocated to other facilities deemed safer — a calm but urgent operation performed by staff members who had often cared for them for years.
Such scenes have unfolded across Iran recently, but while media focus on political tensions, a quieter, vital challenge has been overlooked: how to maintain continuity of care for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people during crisis.
Iran’s State Welfare Organization manages nearly 5,000 residential centers serving over 200,000 residents — elderly without family support, children without guardians, and people with physical or intellectual disabilities requiring daily help and rehabilitation.
Even in normal times, stable, compassionate care is a complex responsibility relying on structured routines: medication schedules, therapy sessions, familiar faces. When disrupted, residents’ health and dignity are at risk.
As regional uncertainties grew, welfare authorities activated emergency plans. Over 30,000 residents were temporarily relocated to safer sites. These moves required meticulous coordination, transferring medical files, medications, and personal belongings without disorienting the residents who depend on familiarity.
Psychological support expanded too. The national counseling hotline handled nearly 95,000 calls offering guidance and comfort to anxious individuals and families.
Social workers reported that anxiety ripples beyond care centers, affecting families deeply. In southern Shiraz, social worker Leila Karimi spoke of families seeking reassurance, anxious for their children’s safety and ongoing care.
Responses varied locally. Some centers relocated residents; others strengthened safety protocols and increased staffing to maintain essential services overnight.
Yet, despite upheavals, much daily life endured: caregivers continued meals and medication help, therapists ran rehabilitation, social workers coordinated support.
For many residents, routine is the foundation of stability and dignity, a lifeline through uncertainty.
By midday at Valiasr center, the relocation was complete. The bustling courtyard grew quiet. Inside, a caregiver found a small cloth bag with blister packs of medicine and a photograph nestled within — a silent testament to lives quietly lived amid change.
Outside, Tehran’s traffic flowed as always.
Inside Iran’s welfare centers, the essential work of care continues.
✍️ Saeed Khademi
Advisor to the Head of the State Welfare Organization of Iran
Director General of Public Relations and International Affairs
