Ex-addict helps needy children
Desiree wants to serve as a conduit between the community and the care centres so that the children can be helped.
RECOVERED addict Desiree Francisco (32) from Forest Hill wants to help needy children who were born in families with addiction problems.
Most of the time such families neglect or cannot afford to raise their children, and the children eventually end up in care centres. However, these centres sometimes struggle to make ends meet due to the influx of children.
Desiree wants to serve as a conduit between the community and the care centres so that the children can be helped.
She said her recovery has been an eye-opening journey as it is very difficult to come ‘clean’ in the South.
“I have been involved in helping people to get clean. I was an addict since the age of 12 years, hard on crystal methamphetamine. I’ve been clean since April 2016,” explained Desiree. “As a society we need to help vulnerable children. I was so heartbroken in December when I saw parents buying toys and other necessities for their children, because I thought of those needy children in centres. They too deserve to be spoiled, however their parents dump them because of addiction.”
Desiree wants to work with four local homes which cater for children from 0 to 4 months. At the beginning of this month she posted this idea on her Facebook page and the response was overwhelming, which is why she wants to go further with her idea.
“Apart from clothes, toys, formula and food, these children need love. So I urge the community to donate their time, just to go there and cuddle a toddler,” she said.
One other thing she mentioned is the stigma of addiction. “People will judge you. We need help because this is a lifelong disease. To people, I will always be an addict though I am a recovered addict,” noted Desiree. “My life has turned around for the better, I am a mother of two daughters and a newborn son, and I’m about to be engaged.”
Anyone who wants to donate to Desiree’s project can contact her on 060 900 3488 or des2bubbles@gmail.com. She is willing to collect any donated goods. The most critical things needed are: children’s clothes (0 to 5 years), wet wipes, nappies, aqueous cream, Nan 1, 2 and lactose-free. She will collect these until the end of February because she wants to deliver the goods to the centres at the beginning of March.
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