Not only does Rand Aid assist indigent Elders in need and men suffering from substance use disorder, who are accommodated at our own facilities, we also invest in our surrounding community through various outreach programmes.
SANCA Wedge Gardens, for example, offers its clients the opportunity to hone and develop marketable skills, and provides meaningful work experience for them at the rehab centre. The programme has been so successful that many of our clients form part of our daily operations.
In 2009, Rand Aid’s Thembalami Care Centre established the Zamokuhle outreach programme to assist Elders in need in nearby Alexandra, River Park and East Bank.
Run from Thembalami, in Lombardy East, three mornings a week, the programme assists pensioners so that they can remain within their own community for as long as possible.
The programme also:
- Provides a platform for them to meet and socialise with other members in the community.
- Allows for the transfer of skills.
- Provides breakfast and lunch, which enables participants to further socialise, while meeting their nutritional needs.
- Empowers participants about Elders’ rights, via a monthly abuse awareness programme.
- Provides spiritual upliftment.
- Assists with problems the participant may be experiencing.
- Provides education about ageing, chronic diseases faced by the elderly, dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
- Facilitates an intergenerational programme in which participants make and hand over knitted teddies to local schools.
- Fosters participation in the Johannesburg Older Persons Forum’s meetings and events, including the Choir Festival and games.
Your financial support will enable us to continue to help these Elders in need. To donate to this worthwhile cause, click here.
Joseph Gerard Foundation
An organisation of the Catholic Church in Alexandra, the Joseph Gerard Foundation runs a frail care centre for 36 Elders and an educare centre for 150 pre-school children.
Rand Aid has supported the foundation for over 20 years, working steadfastly towards building the capacity and infrastructure required for independent management.
Rand Aid enabled both the care centre and educare centre to register in terms of all applicable legislation, source National Lotteries Commission funding to upgrade their facilities, applied successfully for operational subsidies from the Department of Social Development and assisted with the appointment of management staff.
Rand Aid’s goals were achieved at the beginning of 2019.
Rand Aid’s only commitment to the organisation now, is the provision of meals, which will continue until the foundation is able to render this service independently.