Our integrated services and the MES process ensure a holistic service for our clients. The one-stop Centre of Hope which provides these services to the homeless and street people communities in Bellville, Parow, Brackenfell and Durbanville. This is a long-held dream for MES, intended to enable impactful change in the community. A property in Bellville now provides much-needed services to our homeless community. The Safe Space, which is a step down from a shelter, was opened on 24th May 2017. The Safe Space is a basic facility where street people can sleep safely, sheltered from criminal elements and the weather, and can access to ablution facilities and social relief.
This facility and service also provides a platform to engage each street person in a development cycle comprising a mentorship programme aiming at harm reduction, creating a sense of belonging and the will and ability to respond to opportunities in a “response-able” way. The Safe Space is a start to good citizenship. At its heart, the Centre aims to unite different community stakeholders from church, state, business and civil society, each drawing on the strengths of the others to deliver impactful change in and alongside the community.
Principles that guide the development of our Centre of Hope:
This facility and service also provides a platform to engage each street person in a development cycle comprising a mentorship programme aiming at harm reduction, creating a sense of belonging and the will and ability to respond to opportunities in a “response-able” way. The Safe Space is a start to good citizenship. At its heart, the Centre aims to unite different community stakeholders from church, state, business and civil society, each drawing on the strengths of the others to deliver impactful change in and alongside the community.
Principles that guide the development of our Centre of Hope:
- Planned growth.
- Integrated service delivery, providing a holistic model.
- Increasing communities’ access and connectedness to resources.
- Activities addressing the need for the economic development of communities.
- Collaboration with government, the private sector, churches, NGOs and the community.
- Services and programmes must provide incentives for development, instilling a sense of responsibility and ownership in clients.
- Monitoring and evaluation leading to accountability and innovativeness.
- Developing a model that can be duplicated.
- SEE http://mes.org.za/index.php/2015-11-17-13-25-02/mes-cape-townmes.org.za/index.php/2015-11-17-13-25-02/mes-cape-town