THE Bellhaven Memorial Hall in Stamford Hill has been turned into the ”African Centre for Hope”, bringing hope to the previously hopeless men and women living on the streets, addicted to substances. The Centre is run by a team led by Monique Marks of The Urban Futures Centre at DUT, and continues a drug medication programme that was started under lockdown. It is also bringing on other services specifically to help people manage their addictions, their withdrawal and, hopefully, their rehabilitation. Speaking about the project, Marks said a week before lockdown, the Task Team for the Homeless convened to find a response to the homeless. She said there was the concern regarding every day medical assistance, including serious cases, where hospitalisation would be required, the link to chronic medication for the homeless, and the knowledge that 40 to 60 per cent of the homeless would be in forced withdrawal under lockdown. “There were two logics behind how we would do this. We had to treat these people in a humane and not punitive way, and ensure that they stayed in the shelters erected for them. We formed a private group, including Urban Futures, NGO Advance Access and Delivery, a private psychiatrist, three registered nurses, and social workers from TB/HIV Care in Umbilo, and another NGO. This was a private response on a government site, and this needed municipal go-ahead. The deputy mayor, Belinda Scott, was very pro us going in and getting things done. She has championed our cause and brought the City on board with her,” she said. ALSO READ: Durban drug therapy project is changing lives for the better The team went into the shelter set up at Moses Mabhida Stadium during the first week of lockdown to run Opiod Substitution Therapy (OST) treatment, where the homeless battling withdrawal were treated with periodic doses of methadone, an opiod used to manage pain relief and drug addiction. Michael Wilson from Advance Access, said they started by handing out packs to treat symptoms but they realised people were in active moderate to severe withdrawal.
“The team was on the ground from the minute lockdown happened, seven days a week for 10 weeks. We were the only city in South Africa that had a full time team dealing with this. This was the first time there had been a comprehensive approach to deal with the wellness of the homeless in Durban There was no way that in level 5 of the lockdown that the homeless would’ve survived without this intervention,” she said.
Now that the wellness programme is based at Bellhaven, the people on the programme go in to receive treatment, feeling relaxed. Marks said there had been no antagonism from the neighbours or businesses nearby, and there had been a major shift within the municipality towards this treatment. Marks said heroin use is on the rise in Durban and was shaping the city. She said there needed to be a response to this otherwise more people would get ill if the City doesn’t grasp the severity of the problem. “From May 2018 where the municipality closed down the syringe and injection project to the point now where the City whose executive and council has approved a building for harm reduction centre, we have come far.” ALSO READ: Drug users want suspended programme reinstated She said there had been private donor funding for the project which has been running for the past five months, and there were still funds for another four months.”In total 200 people access this service, and we are aiming to have another building in the CBD. We are in communication with Urban Lime regarding this. One of our clients has said that for most, Covid has been a nightmare, but for the homeless it has been a blessing,” said Marks. Homeless in the spotlight MARKS said the crucial point was that this centre puts the homeless people of Durban, who would seem to be invisible, in the spotlight in the community. “This has given the nurses and social workers the chance to really look at these people,” she said. One such person is Sr Leoness Meth. Meth comes from working in a hospital setting, and this is the first time she has been part of a programme of this nature.
“I was afraid of the homeless before, but working with them has been amazing. I realise now that their situations are all different and real. Even in my community I have understood that you can’t judge people with addictions, you don’t know their circumstances,” she said.
She said every day she encouraged the people visiting the centre, and tried her best to instill in them positive behaviours, such as keeping clean and hygienic .”One of the men said to me that he was very thankful to me for helping him to feel like a person again. He said I hugged him and made him feel loved, something his family didn’t do. I am thankful for that acknowledgement. It is hard for them to want to change, I have heard so many stories, this has been a transforming experience for me as a nurse,” she said.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za). At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations
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