Kayleigh Pereira and Rebecca Walton
IT ALL started 36 years ago with a conversation between a city councillor and a Catholic priest.
In 1978, Sam Cross and Peter Templeton identified a need for a sustainable way to help the homeless in Green Point. This was the humble beginning of the Haven Night Shelter.
The shelter began as a bed for the night for those who needed it, with only two staff and space for 40 people.
Now, the Haven Night Shelter Welfare Organisation supports 16 shelters throughout the Western Cape.
The organisation’s original Green Point shelter will celebrate its 30th anniversary at its current location tomorrow, with an open-day.
Motivational speeches by three of the shelter’s previous residents who successfully made it off the streets will also be hosted.
One of these speakers is Edwin Manhando.
Manhando came to the shelter with two broken arms, unable to feed himself, but is now a martial arts instructor.
Brian Phiri, 25, is one of the shelter’s current occupants. Previously a Gardens resident, he came to the shelter a little over six months ago after spending four months on the street following the loss of his job and home.
“I was worried about where my next meal and shower would come from. I wasn’t worried about the future, because I knew something would come along,” said Phiri.
“Sometimes people come in here and they are discouraged. People here give them encouragement.”
The Green Point shelter now accommodates 96 people a night, and is always filled to capacity.
It is run by eight staff members.
The organisation’s chief executive, Hassan Khan, said the term “night shelter” no longer accurately described the Haven.
Khan said the shelter’s mission was to “get people back home in any way possible”.
The shelter focuses on long-term solutions to homelessness and empowering its residents to get back on their feet.
Residents must meet the shelter’s social worker regularly to create personal development programmes.
“Giving people a bed for the night is not helping homeless people.
“They must commit to changing their lives” said volunteer Garth van der Pol.
Khan said tomorrow’s anniversary open-day hopes to create awareness of the alternative to homelessness that the shelter provides.
“If you help people to stay on the street, you are not helping them at all.”