Mental Health South Africa Project #59280

Social care services for the homeless in Cape Town

by The Hope Exchange (r/a The Carpenter's Shop)

Social care services for the homeless in Cape Town

Project Report | Jan 11, 2025
Feeding more than 350 individuals and serving more than 10000 meals

By Marie Slundt | Marketing and Fundraising Executive

To everyone supporting The Hope Exchange,

Thank you! We hope you had some lovely holidays and a positive start to 2025.

We have been busy! Some of our staff have not had a break for the past 30 days because we serve lunch to the homeless every day throughout the festive season as so many organisations take a break. It is tough and financially demanding, but making sure that on average 350 individuals get a nutritious meal every single day in that period - is what it is about. And to let them know that they are not forgotten at a time of the year when more fortunate people can enjoy meals with family and loved ones. We are a little behind in raising enough to cover the total cost, so please consider donating.

Besides that, we have been occupied with preparing new social work programmes which in the next year will offer more clients more daily opportunities to make a positive change in their lives.

Please reach out for more details about the work we do.

Warm regards,

The Hope Exchange (r/a The Carpenter's Shop)

Links:

https://thehopeexchange.org/feed5000/

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Sep 13, 2024
Greeting and update from The Hope Exchange

By Marie Slundt | Marketing and Fundraising Executive

Women's Day high tea

Dear GlobalGiving supporters,

Firstly, a warm thank you from us, our shelter residents and homeless clients.

Finally, we are starting to experience spring and better weather here in Cape Town. This winter has been unforgiven. Some might be surprised that we complain about cold in South Africa, but it can be and this year was pretty bad. We even had snow on Table Mountain one day. Those circumstances are especially hard for those of our clients who live on the streets, so we tried our best to hand out blankets.

We started two new art therapy programmes in July and it is going really well. One is a mixed group of individuals who experience homelessness and the other is specifically for women to have a safe space to address GBV. Entering the room when a group is in session - gives you this sense of calm and reflection in a safe space created by the therapists and among the participants themselves.

In August we celebrated Women's Day here in South Africa and The Hope Exchange marked it with a high tea for our female clients where we had several speakers and general talks about the power of sisterhood.

Besides our day-to-day social care programs and services, we are busy preparing for World Homeless Day in October. Now being the third year doing so, it has become a tradition to mark the day with a social and fun run with our clients - #thehomelessrun. We have been collecting well-kept used sneakers, so each participant gets a pair before the run. We then all run together and end the afternoon with food, medals and celebration. Our clients love it and it is a good way to show the outside world that we are all humans and we enjoy the same things like social activities.

We appreciate the support we receive, but we do hope you will share our cause with your network. Organisations like ours experience cuts in funding from the city and regional government and we rely more and more on private giving.

Please reach out if you would like to know more about our work and have any questions.

Kind regards

Marie (marie@thehopeexchange.org)

Art therapy session

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May 16, 2024
Update to The Hope Exchange's social services

By Marie Slundt | Marketing and Fundraising Executive

Dear Supporters of The Hope Exchange,

I want to express my gratitude to all those who have generously donated to our cause since our last update. Your contributions, no matter the size, warm our hearts and play a crucial role in assisting our homeless clients.

In recent months, we have observed an increase in the number of individuals utilizing our ablution facilities in the mornings. While it is disheartening to see new faces, as it signifies more people experiencing homelessness, it is encouraging that they seek out our gates for a safe space to wash and clean. This provides an opportunity for The Hope Exchange's Social Care Team to engage with them and introduce them to our array of social services, which can potentially lead to transformative changes in their lives.

One of our former clients, who was also a shelter resident, shared with our staff how using the showers at The Hope Exchange had a profound impact on him. He mentioned that after starting to utilize the facilities, something clicked in his mind. Walking back onto the streets washed and with clean clothes made him less identifiable as homeless to passersby. This restoration of dignity spurred him to make positive changes in his life with the support of The Hope Exchange. These changes culminated in him securing employment, advancing to a better job, and now living independently.

Unfortunately, we are currently facing a shortage of essential toiletries that we provide to our clients. As a result, we are preparing a campaign to rally our local supporters, their families, friends, colleagues, and networks to donate toiletries. For those unfamiliar with Mandela Day, it is a day when many South Africans (and people worldwide) come together to engage in acts of kindness to honour the late Nelson Mandela on his birthday, the 18th of July.

Additionally, our Social Care Team is actively screening candidates for our upcoming barista training program, which we hope to initiate soon. Skills training is highly sought after by our clients, as they aspire to improve their circumstances. Attaining a recognized barista certificate, coupled with job readiness training, can create opportunities in a bustling tourist city like Cape Town, with its abundance of cafes, restaurants, and hotels.

Once again, I extend my heartfelt thanks for your unwavering support and belief in our mission. Please feel free to reach out to us with any inquiries or concerns.

Warm regards on behalf of The Hope Exchange,

Marie

Links:

https://thehopeexchange.org/

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