An impactful project in which former homeless individuals assist those living on the street is making a difference in the Cape Town CBD.
South Africa will not be able to address its drug and street-living problems until it starts to focus on people, not their problems. This is the life-changing ethos of a groundbreaking “peer-to-peer” programme which is being implemented in the Cape Town CBD by the Cape Town Central City Improvement District – a private-public company that works to improve the inner city – and its NGO partner, Khulisa Social Solutions.
In the programme, previous substance abusers and street-dwellers are trained as peer fieldworkers to provide multi-faceted support to help people who are living on the street believe that they, too, can change their story.
In Cape Town, thousands of individuals are homeless, and the number is growing. They are chronically overlooked in a very literal sense. There’s an epidemic of eye-contact avoidance; of choosing not to see or engage. Each winter, CCID Social Development department field worker Mark Williams anticipates that as many as 30 of his clients may not survive the bitter conditions. The unyielding rain and wind exact a heavy toll, compounded by the well-documented shortage of shelter beds.
Nevertheless, the City of Cape Town is vigorously striving to address this issue. The 12 CCID peers tirelessly dedicate themselves to supporting their peers around the clock. Their assistance ranges from providing a bed for the night to offering food, arranging clinic visits, assisting with ID applications and SASSA grants, facilitating work rehabilitation projects, making referrals for substance abuse treatment, and responding to opioid overdoses.
Tara Gerardy-Bissolati, CCID Social Development manager, says since the programme’s inception a year and a half ago, “the results have been remarkable”.
City of Cape Town councillor for Ward 115, Ian McMahon, says programmes like this one “are steps in the right direction”. He says, “We need to tackle the prevention aspect, which is sorely not yet enveloped, and I commend Streetscapes and the CCID for this innovative, bold step”.
Gerardy-Bissolati says the programme’s success hinges on the peers’ unique understanding of their clients’ situation. “They have been there and have come through it,” she says, “and with that comes an empathy which is hard for anyone else to emulate.”
Her views are shared by Jesse Laitinen, manager of strategic partnerships at Khulisa Social Solutions and founder of the Streetscapes work-rehabilitation programme, who believes that peers possess a unique ability to revolutionise the homelessness sector “by providing more effective and immediate solutions on the ground”. Says Laitinen, “Their first-hand experience and insight enable us to address critical service gaps.”
To support the CCID’s peer fieldworker project, visit the Social Development page on the CCID website for more information. Additionally, the CCID is currently conducting its yearly Winter Readiness programme to aid individuals during the toughest season. Those interested in contributing can donate through http://www.showyoucare.co.za/.
Copyright: www.capetownccid.org