The Home of Hope began as a safe house in August 2005, operating from the family home of Richard and Eleanor Brook in Table View, who together with their own children, took a leap to provide a much needed interim place of safety. The reason for the establishment and existence of this safe house was to create a support system for the local social worker and a place of safety for children:
- Abandoned in dustbins to die
- Violently abused
- Raped
- Hungry and neglected due to poverty
- Victims of domestic violence
- Infected with HIV and AIDS
- Born bearing the effects of excessive drug and alcohol abuse during pregnancy

However, as the project developed, research and statistics showed that the problem of child abuse was far bigger than what was realised. It became necessary for us to realign ourselves to be able to provide a broader and more effective service for the protection of children and not just that of interim places of safety.

The Home of Hope is a voluntary association, registered as a non-profit organisation providing Child Protection Services, registered with the Department of Social Development, as well as a public benefit organisation established in August 2005.

Mission: Home of Hope is a registered Child Protection Organisation which provides services for the safety and well-being of all children in need of it, with a holistic approach through protection, education and support with the aim of breaking the cycle of abuse.

Our vision statement:
- Continue to build a credible and sustainable support operation through transparency, honesty and accountability.
- Raise awareness through information and education within the communities the plights and needs of children.
- Create an environment where children can be nurtured holistically to develop to their full potential.
- Cultivate a shared responsibility towards the continually changing socio – economic problems faced by communities, which affect children.
- Partnering and networking with other organizations, businesses and individuals to be more effective in saving our children and families.
- To define the specific needs of each community, and ensure the correct application and division of supplies to enrich and assist that community in achieving their own goals

To achieve our vision we manage different projects:

Community based homes:

Our aim is to provide children with a home as close to a family environment as possible where a solid foundation can be laid, giving them the best chance in life to develop to their full potential.

It is not always possible to find individual families for each child and with the challenges of the HIV / AIDS epidemic facing South Africa, as well dealing with children that are affected by FASD (Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) with the Western Cape being one the areas with the highest percentage of FASD in the world. We believe the solution to this is in families. It is only in a family where there is the love and care of parents in which a child will be able to learn the values that will assist him/her in becoming a socially responsible adult, investing in the future generations.

This is achieved by:
- Having family homes within communities.
- Not having more than 6 children per family unit with a balance of a natural age gap between the children.
- Providing a home for siblings ensuring that they remain together.
- Providing support, training, counselling and back up systems for our house mother/parents.
- Assisting and ensuring the implementation of each child’s individual care plan.
- Addressing the child’s therapeutic needs.
- Continuous monitoring and assessments of each home and the care of the children.
- Committed volunteers as an extension to the family support system.
- Networking within local communities to assist with the support of homes ensuring sustainability.

Before a child is placed within the community home, we look at the child’s personality and their specific needs and how it is going to affect the existing family unit. We believe that if we are going to break the cycle of abuse we need to take special care to nurture the children we have and place the right children within a family as close as possible to a natural family unit.

Home of Hope runs three community based foster care houses, namely the Ikhaya Luthando House, and Christopher House, both based in Table View and Tullow House in Phoenix. All the homes have a capacity o f six children each. The objective of these homes is to ensure an environment where children can be nurtured holistically to develop to their full potential and a solid foundation can be laid. Our success in these homes is due the fact that we do not have more than 6 children. The children are in different age groups, thus encouraging the family environment, where older siblings can assist with the younger ones. The children are also integrated into the community and function as close as possible to a normal family. Two more homes are in the process of being implemented.

Due to changes in legislation, Home Of Hope will soon be registering a Cluster Foster Care Scheme, which will enable this organisation to manage various foster homes, ensuring more stability for the children we serve.

Special needs school:

‘Free the child’s potential, and you will transform him into the world.’ – Maria Montessori

Our aim is setting up a school especially for children suffering from FASD. Home of Hope believes that children can be successful and contribute to society and their communities if given the chance to show the world what they have to offer and are allowed to grow to their fullest potential.

One of the greatest challenges facing Home of Hope is that approximately 80% of children in our care suffer from Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). FASD is an umbrella term used to describe the range of permanent conditions that result from alcohol exposure of the foetus during pregnancy.

- Alcohol has a more devastating and longer lasting effect on children exposed prenatally than street drugs do.
- There is no cure for FASD and the child will not “grow out of it”.
- The Western Cape has the highest rate of FASD in the world and about 65,000 to 70,000 children are born every year in South Africa suffering from this condition.
- The organ most affected by alcohol is the child’s brain.
- The brain damage caused by the alcohol is permanent and is expressed in the form of inappropriate behaviour.
- Children with FASD tend to be hyperactive, moody, aggressive, impulsive and have learning disabilities. Typically they drop out of school early and often begin to abuse alcohol or drugs and get into trouble with the law.
- 85% of children with FASD are not being raised by their birth parents (usually they are in foster care or in children’s homes) they come from families that are often unstable with the child being at greater risk of physical abuse, sexual abuse or neglect.
- Most children with FASD are not diagnosed with the condition and their problems only come to light when they start school.
- Their learning differences and behavioural problems make it difficult for them to succeed in main stream school.

Home of Hope experienced this first hand when the children in their care started school. Although FASD is permanent and cannot be cured, the effects of it can be minimized through intervention. Successful intervention comes in the form of providing the child with a happy and stable home and through education. Using specific teaching methods and techniques, these children can learn at their own pace and in time learn a skill or trade.

Currently there is no school designated to teach children with FASD in the whole of Africa despite massive numbers of children in the Western Cape suffering from the condition.

At present we have established a pre-school staffed by volunteers at our offices in Table View, with the aim of initially assisting our children from our organisation, the end goal is to work towards purchasing property to build a larger school to accommodate children from other areas affected by FASD.

Distribution:

Home of Hope has networked with other organisations, and has a good working relationship with the local and district advisory committees in the poverty pocket areas (Joe Slovo Park, Maitland, Dunoon, Doornbacht, Atlantis, and outlying areas). When there are fires, floods, we distribute excess foodstuffs, clothing, bedding, and any other goods as donated to us by the greater community.

Operates in: Cape Town, Western Cape
Established in: August 2006

Non-Profit Organisation Number: 050-226
Public Benefit Organisation Number: 930022887
Section 21 Company Number:
Trust Number:

Contact person: Eleanor Brook
Phone: 021 556 3573
Fax: 021 557 3720
Email:

Website: www.homeofhope.co.za

Physical address: 13 Clam Road, Table View
Postal address: 13 Clam Road, Table View