Homeless men need (another) new beginning
A small group of homeless men has taken up residence on the vacant piece of land between the Boksburg Lake and New Beginnings Care Centre, seemingly causing a public nuisance.
The destitute men, who pitched their tents next to the Methodist Church in Commissioner Street, claim that they are former residents of the New Beginnings Care Centre, but they were cast out.
They said the centre management forced them onto the streets for various reasons.
Christo de Vos (22) said tough rules saw him and others being evicted from the centre. According to him, residents are not allowed to leave the centre before 5pm between Monday and Friday. “Myself and other guys were kicked out of the place because we decided to leave the centre before 5pm to visit our relatives without permission.
“These rules are very tough for us … we are also human beings, we can’t be locked inside there the whole day. We are not prisoners; we deserve the freedom to go and see our families and friends like all other people,” said de Vos
Another of the homeless men, Leeroy Yonkers said he was forced onto the streets for refusing to work on a construction site.
Both de Vos and Yonkers said they feel that they deserve a second chance and are asking for help to get off the streets.
New Beginnings manager Pastor Paul Myers said he is aware of the group of men camping outside the church.
“The care centre is a registered NPO privately run and not State or Lotto funded. We do reserve the right to limit the intake of individuals according to our prescribed rules and regulations,” said Myers.
“The individuals in question living in tents across the road from our care centre is, unfortunately, individuals who have been in our centre before. It is our policy to rather assist new applicants to our care centre than to re-allow old inhabitants.
“The individuals in question was also requested to leave our facility due to the consistent breaking of rules and regulations.
“These infringements mainly centers around substance abuse. We do not expel individuals after one infringement but after numerous opportunities, we will request individuals to leave our facilities.
“Due to the high number of women and children in our facility we are careful to continue assisting individuals who are repeat offenders.
“We have also requested assistance from the local police service to assist in the relocation of the individuals but we’ve received no assistance from them.”
