Mitchell's Plain mother Janine Fabe believes that every child needs to know what it is to have a family, should the child ever be reunited with their biological parents.
As a teenager, she found out that her father had been raised in the child welfare the system. He was placed in Bonnytoun in Wynberg at the age of five up until the age of 18.
“A child needs to know what it is to have a mom, a dad, aunt and an uncle, grandma, and grandpa… a child needs to know what it means to have a family,” said Fabe.
“My dad was placed in Bonnytoun which was said to be a place for naughty children, but how naughty can you be at five years old?
“I saw the impact it had on my dad, he became an alcoholic and passed away at a very young age,” she said.
Janine was initially a safety care parent, but she soon realised there was a much greater need than just looking after one child at a time.
Determined that she would help as many children as possible to avoid becoming "lost" in the system Janine started Hannah’s Place of Safety three years ago.
“We take care of children who are in care and protection. This means children who have been removed from their families due to circumstances,” said Fabe.
“Hannah’s Place of Safety is named in honour of our daughter Hannah. We adopted her at birth after meeting her at a children’s home. She was abandoned when she was five days old,” she added.
Fabe said that the work they do is not easy because most of the children who come to her need to undergo rehabilitation due to drugs in their systems, but that it is rewarding to see them thriving by the time they leave.
This story is part of the SAPA+ #Inform campaign.