Golf day to ‘bring in the green’ for street-child charity
I Care has three purpose-built family homes where they recreate the family environment, with two house parents and children living together as brothers.
SWING into action for a good cause at the I Care golf day on May 18. Held at Royal Durban Golf Club, this is the 18th golf day hosted by the organisation. It is the main fundraiser for the year for I Care, a non-profit organisation that works to rehabilitate and rehome or reunite street children with their families.
Gail Elson, marketing manager for I Care, said all proceeds support I Care’s running costs.
“I Care has been looking after street children for the past 21 years. We have some amazing success stories. We transform the lives of these children into self-sustaining and effective members of society. We believe in ‘giving them a rod and teaching them how to fish’,” she said.
Running costs include a range of programmes.
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“We have outreach workers on the streets of our city, where they build up a relationship with street children and encourage them to visit the I Care drop-in centre in Windermere. The children come in on a daily basis. It’s a drop-in centre, so they don’t stay over. We tend to their basic needs. We provide nutritional meals, run programmes and provide psycho-socio interventions with our social workers. We make contact with their families and find out the real reason why they are on the street. We also provide for medical needs – any kind of needs the children have, we help meet them,” said Elson.
Among the programmes I Care runs is an art-therapy programme.
Elson explained that children will visit the I Care drop-in centre for about three months where staff prepare them for a rehabilitation programme. Children who go through the rehabilitation programme will live at a facility on the South Coast.
“They go through quite a stringent 12-week programme. While they are in rehab, our staff will be working on their home environment and family environment. The first prize is to reunite the boys with their families, but in a lot of situations, why these children have run away is because their family life is awful. They run away mainly due to poverty and abuse,” said Elson.
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For many of the boys that pass through the I Care programmes, there are large gaps in their education.
“We put them through a fast-track education. Our house parents are amazing. In the afternoons, they do homework where they really help the children catch up with their work,” said Elson, adding that I Care also offers 12-week skills training courses.
Among the skills taught are baking, bricklaying and welding. I Care works solely with boys and young men.
“We only work with boys because the nature of girls and boys are very different and they should be handled differently. We will never ignore a girl in need. We will always take her in and help her and get her to the correct place,” said Elson.
Sign up for a day on the greens and support I Care’s work
The cost to participate in the golf day is R3 000 a four-ball. For more information, visit www.icare.co.za or phone 031 572 6870.
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