Hope and healing for the homeless
Obslife, Mar 2011
HETTIE Marais, a long-time homeless inhabitant of Observatory, also known as Anita, wept for joy when she held her own ID book in her hands for the first time in her life.
“This (is) the reason why I love this job so much,” writes Kenneth Roman, the Observatory Improvement District’s (OBSID) field worker for the homeless, in his first annual report.
Hettie’s story is one of several highlights in Kenneth’s overview of the period from 1 December 2009 to 30 November 2010. Another story is that of Baba Tshazibana, 36, and his son Ayavuya, 2, who were found destitute on the streets of Observatory. Baba had come from East London to look for Ayavuya, whose mother had fallen into a life of addiction in Sea Point. He found Ayavuya after days of searching, but had run out of resources to return home.
On the same night Kenneth found them, they boarded a bus back home to the Eastern Cape with a ticket sponsored by OBSID.
Give Responsibly - street people initiatives
Mar 2011
GIVE RESPONSIBLY
Buy a voucher for R5 or R10
One of the organisations working with street people in our area is Home Street Peoples’ Ministry. You can support their work and ensure that your money is used constructively by buying a lunchtime meal coupons from Pick and Pay. Each coupon costs R5 and this money will be used to fund the soup kitchen which supplies hot lunches every weekday at their centre in Shelley Road, Salt River.
Loaves and Fishes is a second-phase shelter in Rochester Road. They supply hot suppers to street people on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday evenings. Meal coupons can be bought at the Observatory Spar in Station Road for R5 a coupon. By buying a meal coupon (rather than handing out cash) you know that your money will be put to good use. Whether or not the coupon is used, this money goes to Loaves and Fishes.
The first step towards getting a person off the street and into a programme is assisting him or her to find a place in a shelter. The nearest shelter to us is the District Six Haven shelter. R10 'passports' which enable a homeless person to sleep overnight in the shelter are available from the Observatory library.
These efforts are fully supported by the City of Cape Town, by the Observatory Improvement District, by the Observatory Civic Association and by NGOs that work in the area.
Helping the homeless
AN Indigent Committee has been set up by the Obsid to find solutions for the homeless in Observatory.
The committee is charged with working out how best to spend the R200 000 set aside in the Obsid budget for social development and responsibility.
Plans have yet to be fleshed out, but talks are under way with various local NGOs who work with homeless people.
One of these is Home SPM, a homeless people's support organisation based in Salt River, which is planning to set up a 96-bed night shelter for the homeless.
Home SPM is expected to present plans for cooperation with the Obsid at the next directors' meeting.
Striving to make OBSID the best
Obslife, Sep 2010
CONCERNED at what he saw as the slow decay of Observatory, Kris Marais found himself at the very first meeting of concerned residents which led to the creation of the Observatory Improvement District (OBSID).
The former corporate manager took on the task of drafting the first business plan for the idea which was then known as the Residential-Commercial Improvement District.
Although the name changed, the OBSID was indeed the first improvement district in the City to include residential and commercial areas. Most improvement districts are commercial areas only.
Today Marais, who is the chair of the OBSID's social issues committee, is determined to help make the OBSID the foremost improvement district in the metropole.
"I want the OBSID to fulfil its vision to make Observatory safer, cleaner, smarter as its first priority, especially in its first 18 month bedding-down period. Thereafter, it can include a focus on Observatory's heritage, culture, history and very important, its aesthetic." Marais moved to Observatory in 2003 and soon became convinced that ratepayers needed to do more than simply rely on the municipality and police to provide services.