Rays of Hope has positively impacted hundreds of thousands of residents of Alex over the years, including vulnerable children and their families, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses.
South Africa (08 July 2021) – Rays of Hope, a non-profit company (NPC) and Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) operating in the heart of Alexandra Township, is celebrating 30 years of partnering with the Alex community to bring lasting change to its residents.
With support from its sponsors, volunteers and a dedicated team of staff, Rays of Hope facilitates nine community-based programmes focusing on the vulnerable, education and work readiness, that over the years, have moved thousands of people living in Alex from a position of vulnerability to one of empowerment and independence.
In the last 30 years, Rays of Hope has directly impacted Alex residents through improving education outcomes support, developing learner confidence, counselling, food hampers, donations and many other forms of support. This has a ripple effect on the rest of the community and benefits the families, friends and neighbours of these people too.
While pinning down exact numbers of people whose lives have been positively impacted through Rays of Hope is virtually impossible, the organisation estimates that the figure is easily in the hundreds of thousands. In this time, Rays of Hope has also partnered with over 30 non-profit organisations as well as AlexBiz (a network of over 100 small businesses) to help expand its reach and impact in Alex.
“We’re often referred to as Alex’s ‘best-kept secret’, simply because most people aren’t familiar with Rays of Hope or its impact in Alex, despite our community involvement for decades now,” says Sihle Mooi, Rays of Hope CEO. “Fortunately, the nine programmes we facilitate that have helped improve life for so many in Alex, do all the talking for us.”
Over 7,500 children have benefitted from the Rose-Act Saturday School, the programme that started the relationship with Alex and the reason why the organisation of Rays of Hope was started in 1991. They include Candice Sehoma, who attended Rose-Act in grades 10 and 11, as well as Ignition, which is a tertiary education support programme.
“I felt seen at Rose-Act. It brought out something in me that my Monday to Friday schooling did not. It was school, but it was a life skills-driven kind of approach to school,” she says, adding that her time with Rose-Act and later Ignition was what drove her to developing a passion for social development work. She is currently the Access Campaign Advocacy Coordinator at Doctors Without Borders.
Along with nurturing their educational and spiritual development, Rays of Hope is also committed to supporting orphaned and vulnerable children in Alex through its Ithemba Labantwana programme.
“We have a large number of staff dedicated to this initiative, with the goal of bringing hope and restoration to the lives of children who have experienced loss of one or both parents, abandonment, abuse and neglect. Our aim is to do this in a way that ensures sustainable futures for the children as well as their families, and this is achieved through services like homework clubs and training opportunities to develop skills, in addition to donations and food hampers,” says Mooi.
Rays of Hope has also helped 1,400 people who were sick or dying – HIV/AIDS patients in particular – in Alex, through its Home-Based Care initiative. A team of caregivers and volunteers provide advice, comfort and spiritual support, along with other necessities such as food, clothing, and fresh bed linen. They also repair and clean the shacks that the patients live in.
The impact of COVID-19
When the pandemic first hit Alex, Rays of Hope was forced to place all of its programmes on hold due to lockdown restrictions. While this seriously hampered the organisation’s efforts to provide services that were desperately needed in the community, other community needs came to light during this time.
“Many women and children in Alex were locked down with their abusers. Our counsellors would make general wellness calls and noticed an alarming spike in the amount of domestic violence cases in the community, which is why we decided to establish our gender-based violence crisis centre, to offer emotional and mental health support for past and present victims of abuse,” says Mooi.
Rays of Hope also established a hotline for women and children seeking counselling related to gender-based violence, trauma or any other crisis. People can call 079 488 8448 at anytime to speak to a professional counsellor.
In addition to the new counselling centre and dedicated professional counsellors and support staff who are available to help victims of gender-based violence, Rays of Hope and their partner non-profit organisations launched the #Hope4Alex campaign. This saw them providing food hampers and other support that impacted over 73,000 of the most vulnerable people in Alex in 2020 alone.
“All of this has been made possible by the ongoing assistance of sponsors. With Alex situated right on the border of Sandton, Rays of Hope has also built and sustained strong long-term relationships with many of the individuals and businesses that surround the Alex community,” says Mooi. “It’s these relationships, as well as long term sponsorship for our programmes, that is crucial for us to be able to provide the help that so many people in Alex have come to rely on.”
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