This isn’t a once-off CSI project to make us look good. This isn’t a tax write-off, or “community development”. We’re a small team of people like you who want to try and make a difference.
Why do we care?
Because Gender-based violence has touched each of our lives. Because some of us, or our loved ones, need mental health support. Because our youth face so much adversity. Because our aged fear loneliness, abandonment, dementia and poverty.
So, we’re doing what we can. We’re spreading the word. We’re working with local NGOs. We’re extending our hand out to yours, hoping you’ll hold it.
Because we’re all Heart. And Heart Cares.
Gender Based Violence
What if we took an extra heartbeat to listen and understand? What If we showed respect, instead of demanding it? What if real strength took kindness? What if it took speaking up? Not looking away? What if it took standing up?
Standing up for women in a society that’s taken a while to wake up is daunting if we do it alone. It’s so powerful when we do it together. Today, and every day in the year ahead, we choose respect. We choose kindness. We choose to listen. We choose to stand up against those who cross the line. Because every woman. Every mother. Every sister. Every child, deserves to feel and be, safe.
Our Partner – MOSAIC
MOSAIC is an African feminist organisation that prevents and responds to domestic and intimate-partner violence, helping survivors access healing, justice, safety, and gender equality, through counselling, court accompaniment, and access to shelter and care.
For more, visit https://mosaic.org.za/. In the case of an emergency, please contact your local police station or contact one of our Social Workers on Duty: Chelsea Solomons on 067 425 3828 (December) and Nosiphiwo Vuza on 082 297 0795 (January)
Mental Health
Less than one generation ago, to speak about one’s sexual orientation was taboo. To be anything other than “fine” or “okay” was to be labelled. But times have changed.
Our childhood wounds are valid. Abuse we’ve suffered is valid. The challenges we have getting through each day are valid. Real strength is no longer measured by how much you can take. It’s measured by how well we share.
We share our feelings. Our fears. Our doubts. The thoughts we think we shouldn’t dare say out loud. 1 in 4 US adults are on medication for mental health. More are getting the help they need through counselling and therapy. Let’s make it available to all, because none of us are meant to do life on our own.
Our Partner – Cape Mental Health
Cape Mental Health provides mental health services across the Western Cape, challenging stigma, discrimination, and social barriers. They offer mental health promotion, public education, social work services, tele-counselling, and emotional support. They also offer Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP), workshops, and presentations, as well as rural outreach, training, and tele-psychiatry support. The YouthMatters programme supports mental health in schools. They also provide specialised services for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, as well as virtual and face-to-face advocacy training. For more visit https://capementalhealth.co.za/
The Elderly
Nobody tells you. That you can achieve so much, and yet still have to face so much alone. The truth is, our later years can be the loneliest. The poorest. The most heartbreaking. And yet, our grandmothers, mothers, fathers, uncles, and neighbours are the best of us. They’ve seen so much. Survived so much more. They unlock stories that connect us and enrich our hearts, adventures to inspire us, and wisdom to strengthen us. Spend time with our seniors. Spend time with the best of us.
Our Partner – Nazareth House:
Nazareth House Cape Town is a senior residential care facility dedicated to providing compassionate, dignified, and holistic care to older persons. Rooted in a long tradition of service, Nazareth House offers a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment where residents’ physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs are respected and met. Nazareth House provides residential care and assisted living services delivered by a multidisciplinary team of committed staff, and values community, respect, and person-centred care, creating a homely atmosphere where seniors are treated with dignity and kindness. To learn more visit https://nazarethcare.co.za/, or to support their work email Megan Schilder at life@nazarethcare.coza
Youth
Our youth face massive challenges. Opportunities to study or find work are scarcer than ever, with youth unemployment at a record 66%. Functional literacy for Grade 4’s is at 55%! Set against a backdrop of broken families, high rates of violent crime, and pressure to join gangs, or do drugs, many lose hope in life when it’s barely begun. Join us and let’s try to create real opportunities, and make some dreams a reality too. Because our future depends on them.
Our Partner – Youth Capital
Youth Capital is a youth-led campaign fighting one of South Africa’s biggest injustices: mass youth unemployment. We turn young people’s lived experiences into evidence, use that evidence to push decision makers, and organise communities to demand accountability and better public investment in jobs and education. At their core, they believe young people are not lazy, the system is. For more visit https://youthcapital.co.za/.
