THE Open Door Crisis Care Centre in Pinetown still remains as a beacon of hope for abused victims since its establishment in 1997.
The non-profit organisation was started by Thora Mansfield at the request of the local South African Police Services to assist women and children who were victims of rape and domestic violence after seeing the work she did, working and helping women in township areas.
ALSO READ: Dual awards highlight Open Door’s success
The aim of the centre is to sustain a holistic, multifaceted one-stop crisis and trauma centre offering counselling, social services and support groups.
The homeless, victims of trafficking, the broken hearted, the abused and abandoned children or women who face violence on an ongoing basis are the people who the centre reaches out to everyday.
“Being able to make a difference in the lives of hurting people or families in our community is what inspires us to carry on, this is how we define success,” said Mansfield.
Today, the centre is regarded as a lead organisation in the country, lobbying for better service provision for victims of all forms of crime both in homes, communities and in the workplace.
“Our services reach beyond the boundaries of the eThekwini Municipality addressing the many social needs of our communities within a multifaceted, multidisciplinary structure. From small beginnings our ‘one stop crisis care centre’ has reached more than 400 000 men, women and children through direct and indirect services,” explained Mansfield.
Offering place of safety
The Open Door opened its first accredited shelter for abused women and children, Ikhaya Le Themba, in 1998 offering a place of safety and refuge in a quiet undisclosed residential area at their times of crisis.
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Through counselling, social services and support, broken lives are brought to a place of healing and restoration – to arise from the cocoon of despair fragile like a butterfly, but free.
Mansfield said in July 2018 with a small amount of financial support from the Department of Social Welfare, The Open Door opened one of the first accredited Men’s Shelters in the country.
“This shelter is to be known as Men for Change. In this short space of time, we have already sheltered many men,” she said.
Mansfield said the Open Door’s real success is not measured by their impressive statistics, the praise or the 22 awards they have received but by the success stories of broken lives that have been restored, providing comfort to a child that has been a victim of incest or left abandoned.
“Our success lies in ensuring that a rape victim receives the proper medical and legal treatment, reuniting a lost child with his/her parent, or providing a meal to a person in need. Daily, we respond to the call of men, women, children or families that have been victims of crimes of violence.
“Being able to make a difference in the lives of hurting people or families in our communities is what inspires us to carry on, this is how we define success,” said Mansfield.
The Open Door has a team of 38 committed staff, social workers, lay counsellors, interns and volunteers.
Their offices at 7 Windsor Road Pinetown are open Monday to Friday for counselling, psycho social and support services and operates a 24 hour emergency line.
The continued success of changed lives and addressing these social crimes relies heavily on financial support.
Anyone who would like to support the centre or is in need of a support structure can contact the centre on 031 709 2679.
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