Children’s shelter needs help to stay open
The Mckay Child and Youth Care Centre and Shelter is asking for help to keep the centre running.
THE Mckay Child and Youth Care Centre and Shelter (Mckay CYCC and Shelter) is located at 28 Mckay Estate, in Redan, and operates under a cluster foster basis.
This means that the relevance of the constitution to cluster foster care is to provide for a child’s rights to family care, or to alternative care in the absence of a family environment.
The Mckay CYCC and Shelter was founded in December 2013 and received its first child in February 2014. The centre runs on a private basis with no government support.
It only started receiving SASSA support as of November 2016. Since then the amount it receives has gradually increased to R11 500 per month for all 27 children.
“We have always had between 20 to 30 children and currently have 27 children. We were planning that once we were officially known as a child and youth care centre, to accommodate 60 to 100 children, funding permitting,” said Dean De Afonseca, operations director at Mckay CYCC and Shelter.
De Afonseca, a Brackenhurst resident, said the shelter for abused and abandoned women and their children was opened in August 2015 and could house up to 40 people. It was privately funded by the board chairman with no funding from the Department of Social Development.
“In both cases, we jumped through all the hoops and requests to get registered for funds from the department. With regards to the shelter, we were informed that there is no funding to assist us and we must try again next year. This has led us to the decision to close the shelter and retrench the seven employees at the end of June 2017, which has subsequently happened because we could no longer afford the bills and the up-keep of the shelter. We are now faced with a similar case with the Mckay CYCC and Shelter,” said De Afonseca.
The centre also runs other projects to try and help the impoverished community in the Vaal area, including:
• Word of Life Church, in Sharpeville, by hosting feeding schemes for about 100 children on Saturdays.
• Letsha La Ethesda, by supplying vegetables and blankets for the under privileged.
• Vaal Elite Soccer Academy, which was set up to keep children in school and off the streets. The centre supplies about 100 children with either food or vegetables for them to take home.
• Miemie Fourie Hof (old-age village) by hosting feeding schemes on Tuesdays and Fridays every week for about 150 people.
• Leeuhof (impoverished community) by hosting a feeding scheme every Thursday for about 150 to 200 people.
The centre’s only supporter and benefactor (one business owner) has depleted his funds.
“He has been a victim of SARS. They incorrectly took monies from his account in 2008, which at the time lead to the closing of his business and the retrenchment of over 300 staff. SARS has agreed that they are at fault but have not paid back a cent yet, and the Tax Ombudsman just keeps referring this to SARS and nothing further,” claimed De Afonseca.
De Afonseca is pleading with communities to help the children and 13 staff to save the centre from closing down by the end of July.
For more information on how you can help or if you would like to contribute to the centre, contact Dean on dean@mckaycycc.co.za or call 084 608 7005 or 084 347 3370 or find the shelter on Facebook : Mckay Estate CYCC and Shelter.
READ:
https://www.citizen.co.za/comaro-chronicle/141406/nelson-mandela-day-timeline-madibas-journey/
For free daily local news in the south, visit our sister newspapers Alberton Record, Comaro Chronicle, Southern Courier and Get it Joburg South Magazine.
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. You can also email our offices on cvdwalt@caxton.co.za, juliem@caxton.co.za or luckyt@caxton.co.za
Add us on WhatsApp today! Alberton Record: 060 644 5264 Comaro Chronicle: 079 427 8074 and Southern Courier: 079 404 5789.
