With drug abuse, gang crime and violence as the norm, the environment that some young people of Eldorado Park are born into can breed self-destruction.
However, with proper cultivation and encouragement, it is easy to spot the potential in these young people.
“Young people have a passion for sport,” said Samantha Toweel-Moore, owner of a Windsor West based non-profit organisation Growing Champions. “If this is enriched, it can teach them discipline, skill, self-worth and a better sense of belonging.”
The organisation helps young people who are struggling to find the correct path through a programme of football and rehabilitation. It empowers children who come from low-income backgrounds and abusive, drug and gang infested homes to find the champion within themselves.
Growing Champions has grown so much that they are now seeking larger premises to make a difference to more than 20 young people’s lives.
“We currently house seven youths in our Growing Champions home… These children are fighting the temptation to become drug users… In this facility, children can sleep without fear,” said Toweel-Moore.
“The home provides the opportunity for our kids to shift their mindset and break free from the shackles of their destructive past.”
The youngsters start off with a football programme in Eldorado Park, that helps them to establish an alternate sense of belonging and identity, as opposed to the gang culture that they are used to.
If they show signs of visible progress to make a change in their lives, they are then housed in the Growing Champions home in Windsor West.
“We are seeking funding to build a wellness and education centre on a new property, as well as a trauma room for counselling and an entrepreneurs’ room for hands-on projects.
“We are appealing to companies or community groups to come and help us to teach our kids the skills that they need to live.”
The organisation places a strong focus on studies, and the youngsters need to maintain a strong academic record.
The youths that live in the facility, have been placed in several schools around the area, including Roosevelt Park High School.
Growing Champions would like influencers from all aspects of life to come and share their experiences with them, ranging from cooking skills to business management classes.
“We believe that young change-makers can overcome their situations and get on the right path. A changemaker is a person who hungers for health and vitality as much as they breathe… It is an instinctive desire that is bred in you.”
The organisation also helps with drug addiction recovery for children and adults.
The Growing Champions organisation works as a family to help their children ‘cross the park’ and transforms their lives from that of poverty, addiction, crime, violence and abuse to something greater.
For more information, you can contact Growing Champions on 082 803 3866.
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