Child & Youth Care
A child will thrive if they are raised in a stable, loving, and supportive home environment.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to find long-term, suitable placements for children who have FASD or other developmental abnormalities as many children with this disability go through many failed placements. Our goal is to provide a long-term placement that balances between a family unit and a structured environment that allows for supervision and control. We believe in quality care and have deliberately decided to keep our numbers low in order to give individualized care to each one of our children.
At our child and youth care centre, we provide a comprehensive service that works to empower each child to realize their full potential, no matter where they come from or what they have gone through before. We aim to maintain a normal and stable environment and so free them from the stigma that has been attached to their condition. We are enabling each child to become capable and responsible members of society.
We teach our children practical life skills through their daily routine and "in the moment teaching" opportunities and social and emotional skills through a variety of planned programs in their daily lives. Each child also receives individual therapy and support by the in-house social worker.
Our personnel are carefully chosen with our family-oriented culture in mind, and we are proud of their willingness to learn and grow in our ever-evolving care model.
Special Needs School
Amathemba is a Xhosa word that means "our hope." We believe that every child with special needs should have the right to access education. Amathemba was founded to provide hope for children who, due to cognitive, behavioural, and emotional challenges, are unable to succeed in the traditional school system. It is one of the few schools in South Africa that provides for the unique requirements of children with FASD and similar neurological disabilities.
At Amathemba, our qualified teachers, therapists, and support staff teach from the core curriculum, which is made up of many learning programs that have been carefully chosen and adapted to our children's unique requirements. Each child’s unique needs are noted in an individualized education plan (IEP) from the start and are continuously modified as the child grows and develops. This individualised approach to learning ensures the child is prepared for either integration into a mainstream academically focused curriculum or a vocational curriculum with the aim of obtaining vocational employment.
The progress that the children attending Amathemba School are making is truly remarkable. We are immensely proud of our students, some of whom were deemed to be uneducable by mainstream schools, but have shown steady improvement and, against all odds, are now reading and writing.
For more information on how to attend Amathemba School, contact education@homeofhope.co.za
As part of expanding our services to young adults with FASD we have Anselm Farm, a small holding in Morningstar. By combining the care of land and animals with special needs, a safe space is created where our young adults are understood, fully supported, protected and where they ultimately experience peace and belonging.
The young adults on the farm partake in skills development and income-generating activities such as organic produce, free-range eggs, and organic composting, and experience social and emotional development, as they interact with those around them. As part of the Living Life Project, each young adult is offered support and mentorship by an adult walking alongside them, teaching them healthy relationships, job skills, enabling individual development and showing them how to advocate for themselves and to be proud of who they are.
We know that many young adults will never leave our care due to their functioning or not having anywhere else to go. For them, Home of Hope will walk alongside them for the rest of their lives. With a dual purpose in mind, the farm also offers a safe place during the day for young adults with special needs who want to partake in this programme, but still have a loving home and family to return to.
There are plans for the expansion of the farm to offer a wider variety of skills development, a nursery, and the offering of more formalised educational opportunities for children who can benefit from going to the farm at a younger age. All products produced on the farm are sold and used towards ensuring sustainability of the Anslem farm.
Living Life Project
This project aims to provide young adults with FASD and other special needs with the skills they need to live their lives as independently as possible.
When children in care structures turn 18, they age out of the care system, which causes young adults to either return to the households they were removed from or be put in unfamiliar environments, which causes the cycle to repeat itself.
In addition, young adults with FASD have lifelong disabilities in various forms and severities which is further exacerbated as they go through life and ultimately when they enter adulthood. They are vulnerable to secondary disabilities, such as legal issues, mental health issues, an inability to live independently, victimization, and higher unemployment rates.
Despite the severe situation that young people with special needs are in, there aren't many established support systems that can help them take the next steps toward independence.
As an organisation that works to end the cycles of abuse, addiction, and abandonment, we want to close this gap for these young individuals as they transition into adulthood. We give each their own meaning, purpose, in-house career opportunities, social opportunities, and direction to navigate life toward becoming as self-sufficient as possible through a mentorship program and a comprehensive working document called a ‘Life Plan’.
Charity Shop
Home of Hope has opened its own Charity Shop in Table View, situated at 215 Blaauwberg Road.
The Charity Shop is used as part of Skills Development for our young adults in the Living Life Project that are seeking to enter the working world.
Any goods that are donated to Home of Hope, that are not used by our children or shared with other charities, are sold in our Charity Shop to raise funds for Home of Hope with the aim of becoming more sustainable.
We provide a large selection of goods, including clothes, furniture, toys, books, kitchenware, home goods, and much more.
If you have any unwanted items that you would like to donate, you may drop off the items at the Charity Shop during our operating hours.
We are able to collect large items such as furniture or big donations. Please contact us on 061 278 4826 to arrange a suitable time according to our driver's schedule.
