A one-stop shop to combat the social ills plaguing children as young as six in the northern areas has been set up in Salsoneville.
Operating from a doctor’s surgery in Augustine Street, Open Hearts Foundation, along with Dr Soondramurthi Appavoo, are counselling people who face problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, absconding from school and domestic family issues.
The free service is being offered in an attempt to clean up northern areas streets.
Open Hearts Foundation founder Gerald Leander, 48, of Sanctor, said after recognising that people were in need of help, he had decided to establish the nonprofit organisation in November.
“We are trying to rehabilitate these children, some as young as six, and teenagers who are hooked on drugs and alcohol, and get them involved in sports and other encouraging programmes to keep them busy and occupied,” he said.
Leander said the foundation’s role in the community – including greater Bethelsdorp and Kleinskool – was to address problems and refer people to established drug rehabilitation facilities in the Bay.
He said it had already had scores of walk-ins in the just more than two weeks since it had been operational.
“We have desperate parents who come here with their children because they do not know how to help them.
“People are eager for help because these kids who are addicted to a substance cause havoc in the homes.
“It is amazing to hear the scary stories that come from the various households showing how broken they are, looking for help.
“Being a facility that can offer help and be that beacon of light gives me the satisfaction of knowing that we are there for the community and nothing else,” he said.
The NPO also offers the community a caregiver service – trained women who work hand-in-hand with Leander and conduct home visits to the elderly who are unable to care for themselves.
One of the caregivers, Denise du Toit, 50, of Bethelsdorp, said it was heartbreaking to see how desperate people were for help.
“This job and helping people is close to my heart because there is a very real need in this community, and serving people who are eager for help is satisfying.
“Working with the elderly has taught me to appreciate my loved ones more because what we see when we visit these forgotten people is heartbreaking.
“They don’t have people who reach out to them or help them with the simplest of things like bathing or dressing, and that’s sad,” she said.
Appavoo, who offered his surgery to the organisation, said he was happy to be a part of the work, which aims to eliminate the community’s problems.
“I am not completely involved with the project but when the need arises for me to assess a patient medically, I step in.
“The organisation is changing lives in a community where it is much-needed,” Appavoo said.