IRIS'S WOMEN HELPING WOMEN FOSTER HOME PROJECT

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Iris's Women Helping Women Foster Home Project

Donate to Iris's project and help build a foster home in South Africa

Project Summary

From an early age, children in Cloetesville, South Africa are forced to struggle with poverty, violence, and abandonment. Currently, over a third of Cloetesville’s residents are unemployed and have resorted to living in over-crowded informal housing. These living conditions have spurred the widespread occurrence of substance abuse, domestic violence, and HIV among Cloetesville’s families. As a result, children from Cloetesville are often exposed to abuse and neglect.

Iris has committed to change the lives of these children with Women Helping Women, a philanthropy group in Washington DC! Iris has pledged to raise $250 and work with the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project and Home for Home to provide six Cloetesville children under the age of twelve with an alternative — a loving home located in their community where they can receive the care they need to grow and thrive. All donations raised through her fundraiser will support the purchase, set-up and operations of a three-bedroom foster home in Cloetesville. In addition, the funds raised will fully support the foster home’s operations for two years including school fees, uniforms, and supplies for the children!

By helping to create a stable, family-like environment, Iris will ensure six South African children receive the love and care they need to grow and become successful adults. Donate to Iris's project, and help her build a foster home in Cloetesville, South Africa!

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What?

This project will support the purchase, equipment, supplies, and operations of the foster home for 2 years, including:
-property construction and renovations
-utilities and building maintenance
-furniture and supplies
-cost of food
-salaries for the foster mother and a part-time assistant
-school fees, uniforms, and school supplies for the children

The project will also ensure the 6 benefiting children receive the medical and psychological care they need to recover from their past trauma. It is likely that at least one of the children will have HIV/AIDS and this project will even cover the medical costs for any care a diagnosed child needs.

Why?

For many years, community members and social workers in Cloetesville have been concerned about the lack of options facing their community’s most vulnerable children. Orphans and abused and neglected youth are often unable to escape from untenable circumstances because social workers cannot place them in a safe environment where they can grow and thrive. This project will begin to address this issue by enabling Home from Home to establish a community home that will allow 6 Cloetesville children to mature in a safe, loving environment within their community.

How?

To successfully implement this project, Home from Home is grounding its work in community support. Home from Home will begin by partnering with two local churches and founding a committee of committed Cloetesville residents who will ensure the six foster children are loved and cared for once the foster home is opened. With this network established, Home from Home will use project funds to purchase and renovate a home. A foster mother will then be carefully selected for the home who will receive special training and support from community members and the partnering churches. Throughout the two years of operations that this project supports, Home from Home will provide social services and offer support groups to ensure the foster home remains efficient and effective.

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Cloetesville is a small South African community of approximately 18,000 residents located just outside of Cape Town. In the past, many of Cloetesville’s families supported themselves by working in the vineyards of a more prosperous neighboring community. However, in recent years,unemployment has become a serious challenge for Cloetesville’s residents, leaving many vulnerable to extreme poverty.

These issues have been compounded by the significant income disparities that exist within the community. While lower-middle class residents are able to maintain comfortable homes, many others live in desperate conditions; over a third of Cloetesville’s families live in informal housing without access to basic amenities. The poverty evidenced by these living conditions has led to a dramatic upsurge in substance abuse and domestic violence in Cloetesville. Tragically, the HIV pandemic has worsened this situation and left many children without parents or neglected. As a result, a growing number of Cloetesville’s children are being sent to be raised in large institutions far from their homes and community.

Learn more about Cloetesville

History of Cloetesville

Cloetesville is a suburb that lies outside of Stellenbosch, a region in South Africa recognized for its vineyards and the presence of a university. This project was inspired by Home from Home, a non-profit that has had success founding foster homes throughout Western Cape. Home from Home has been working in Kayamandi, a township close to Cloetesville, where the organization developed a partnership with The Vineyard Church. Recently, the Vineyard Church’s pastor and social workers have brought the needs of Cloetesville to the attention of the Home from Home staff. The Vineyard Church's pastor subsequently approached a local church in Cloetesville to partner with Home from Home and the Vineyard Church to found a foster home in the community. The families of Cloetesville have been receptive and are looking forward to the foster home's establishment.

Community Population: 18,000

Challenges facing Cloetesville

Cloetesville has many serious needs as a result of the community's high rates of unemployment and poverty and overcrowded and inadequate housing facilities. Among the most pressing of the resulting issues that face Cloetesville include alcohol and drug abuse, child neglect and the spread of HIV / Aids. There are very few supportive services offered within the community and families are forced to travel to seek help. The community's available social workers do not have the staff or resources to meet residents' needs.

Main Occupations

A large number of Cloetesville's residents are unemployed and depend on state welfare such as Old Age pensions and Child Support grants. Most of the employed either work as laborers on surrounding farms or as domestic workers in wealthier households.

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Direct Impact of Your Project

• Ensures 6 at-risk children can grow and thrive in a loving, safe home
• Allows the 6 children to receive the therapeutic intervention they need to overcome their early trauma
• Provides the 6 children with the resources and support they need to attend school and receive a proper education
• Trains and employs 2 previously jobless adults to serve as the home’s foster mother and part-time assistant

Extended Impact on Your Partner Community

IRIS'S WOMEN HELPING WOMEN FOSTER HOME PRO… BLOG

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MEDIA GALLERY

One Lounge Event, Aug. 26 2010
One Lounge Event, Aug. 26 2010
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MEET THE CP

Iris F.

Washington, DC

About Me: I am a 27 year old minister, teacher, and author. I joined a group called Women Helping Women in Washington, D.C. This is our first project, and we are so excited. Beyond raising between $150 and $250 on our own, we are hosting several charity events, including happy house and spa days.