The Haven Night Shelter makes a daily impact on the lives of the homeless in the Western Cape. Their operations are effective, and the public can easily assist too.
Western Cape, South Africa – The Haven Night Shelter does countless good things for the homeless in the Western Cape. Time and time again, we share inspiring stories about the men and women who better their lives thanks to the help they get from the shelter.
Many of our readers wonder how the shelter operates, so we have written up about the things they do to help the homeless as well as what the public can do to aid the shelter.
“Our method is to make temporary shelter, rehabilitation opportunities, social welfare services, family reunification services, physical care and support available to adult people living on the streets who are committed to reintegration.
To partner and co operate with religious institutions, organisations, welfare bodies, service providers, businesses, government departments, local authorities and individuals concerned with the care and welfare of the destitute.
To promote community awareness of the social problems arising out of destitution and to encourage the participation of the public in the alleviation of such problems.
To reduce the opportunities for people to continue to live on the streets.”
The shelter employs full-time field workers that visit the homeless and offer them help. They explain how the shelter works and encourage them to get help there. The field workers also visit local businesses, properties and the City to work at reducing the amount of space the homeless can take shelter; this then drives them to the shelters.
The field worker’s role is to actively encourage and create opportunities for the Homeless person to get back to their loved ones and family. They do this by registering the homeless men and women to a database. Collect as much information as possible that could lead to reconnecting with family members and then working to reunite them. Once this is all done successfully, the person is removed from the homeless database.
Each shelter has social workers as well; this is to assist the homeless to work through anything they may need help with. They perform assessments and build a personal development plan.
Related Story
“The PDP requirements will indicate what needs to be done and for how long the temporary shelter is necessary in order for the client to successfully complete the requirements in the PDP.”
The homeless become known as a client. They complete a registration form and get something to eat. The help begins from there, and they are charged no fees for up to 5 days.
Part of taking responsibility is that clients have to pay R12 per day for services if unemployed or R750 per month if income exceeds R1400.00 pm. Clients can earn their stay at a shelter by working for in the shelter.
The public can also help by paying for beds for the homeless, volunteering, making donations or getting corporates to support.
“The buying beds campaign is especially for a homeless person with no income. We have more than 2500 new clients per year. So your help is highly appreciated.”
You can access full details to their volunteer programme on how to donate here.
by 