When Liezl Matthews first opened her home as an act of love to create a safe haven for her nieces and nephews, she never imagined it would become the very lifeline for those in need in her community. Despite her incredible impact, she’s been operating under enormous strain… until the right people heard about her efforts and were moved to help.
Hout Bay, South Africa (04 June 2025) – Back in 2011, Liezl Mathews lovingly opened up her Hout Bay home and yard to her nephews and nieces to create a safe space for them to play and stay off the streets.
Over the years, Aunt Liezl’s home, now known to many as Little Angels, grew into a vital community hub offering a crèche, pre-school, aftercare program, youth support initiative, feeding scheme, and a safe house for women and children.
A source of hope and dignity for many young and old, Little Angels has been a lifeline in the community. But even lifelines need to be sustained, too, and with the organisation receiving no stable funding, it was becoming harder to weather hard seasons.
This financial strain had forced Little Angels to reduce their capacity across critical programme areas and placed them at risk of losing staff, while also preventing necessary maintenance to make the centre warm, safe, and fully functional.
But when The Star Foundation discovered Liezl’s incredible work, they stepped in to help the best way they could.
“With the generous support of funds donated by the 1609 Group, we are contributing R200,000 monthly to help little Angels restore their ability to operate at full capacity,” Star Foundation said.
“In addition, we’ve helped them become a recognised CBO beneficiary with S.A. Harvest, enabling weekly deliveries of perishable and non-perishable food — a lifeline that directly improves food security in the community.”
The boost in support extends beyond meals, helping ensure that Little Angels has the essential resources to continue serving the community with dignity and care.
“From educational tools to basic necessities and staff development, we’re committed to strengthening their foundation.”
Little Angels extended its heartfelt thanks to the Foundation, saying that the support has offered hope for things they could previously only dream of:
“Like an extra bed in the safe house. That means one more woman or child away from abuse. More food for the feeding scheme. That means less children will go hungry this winter. More blankets for the creche. That means less children will have to share during flu season. Stable salaries for the teachers. That means women who have worked for nothing for years can see a doctor when they need to or pay school fees for their own children.”
Sources: The Star Foundation
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