A child and youth care centre, which was forced to reduce the number of children it cared for, is hoping to raise R6 million to find a bigger premises to help more children in need of refuge.
Vision Child and Youth Care Centre, which started out as a home for four children in 1991, turned into a 14-bedroomed house for 65 children who have suffered abuse, neglect and abandonment, all thanks to community worker Sadique Jacobs and his wife Suraya Jacobs, a care worker with vast experience in working with children and youth.
The idea for the centre came about one day when Mr Jacobs was asked to deliver a parcel to a children’s home and noticed the number of children cared for at the home.
He also noticed that there were Muslim children who were not raised according to their religion.
He and some friends printed 50 000 flyers and handed them out to make people aware of the need to help children, both Muslim and Christian, who had suffered abuse and were at risk because of poor parental control as well as emotional or physical deprivation.
Mr Jacobs first housed children at his home in Surrey Estate and soon after the mosque gave them a seven-bedroomed house in Mountview which they renovated into 14 bedrooms.
Soon the numbers increased to 45 children and later to 65 children who were placed by the provincial Department of Social Development, Cape Town Child Welfare, and other organisations.
The non-profit organisation currently takes care of children aged three to 19 who all attend school and madressa at the home.
The children sleep on triple bunks and are allowed to stay for as long as they need to.
Mr Jacobs, however, said that due to noise complaints by the neighbours and the issue of parking when people dropped off donations, the City of Cape Town had instructed him to reduce the number of children to 25.
This, he said, was an injustice to children who needed a home. Since being instructed to reduce the number of children at the centre, they had managed to reunite some of the children with family members but they were hoping to raise enough funds to help more children, he said.
Mr Jacobs said the non-profit organisation is funded through proceeds of the three charity shops which they run in Wynberg, Ottery and Athlone.
“We want to thank the community for their support and hope that they will support us for many years to come.
“Our aim is to raise R6 million so that we can build a house in another area and house more children,” he said.
Asked why he decided to venture on this path, he said: “Our religion teaches us to take care of the needy and to be compassionate and that’s why I do this,” he said.
For more information about the centre, call 021 692 1129/49 or log on to http://visionchild.org.za/