Tafta calls for corporates to help care for vulnerable elderly
Tafta is calling on corporates and funders to dig deep to help the aged in their care as the organisation battles to close its deficit funding gap.
THE Association for the Aged (Tafta) is calling on corporates and funders to dig deep to help the aged in their care as the organisation battles to close its deficit funding gap.
This follows a dramatic drop in state, and donor funding, and an accompanying increase in Covid-19 expenses.
According to CEO Femada Shamam, Tafta receives a state subsidy for elder care that is about seven per cent of an elder’s care needs. Shamam stated that Tafta has been receiving 50 per cent of its usual funding allocation from the state for its service centres.
“To provide a total basket of services including care, Tafta has to fund a 64 per cent shortfall in costs. After an elder’s pension contribution and the Department of Social Development subsidy we receive for care. This shortfall amounts to a R22 million annual operational deficit that Tafta meets through fundraising and investment programmes. We meet this target through various activities that include events, and activations which we have been unable to host in 2020 and this year.”
“In 2021, this deficit is set to grow to about R26 million due to a difficult fundraising environment and ongoing Covid-19 care costs. If we cannot reach out to vulnerable elders in the eThekwini region, almost 5 500 elders would be impacted. These elders depend on Tafta for their meals, community care and social support,” Shamam said.
For Tafta, the recent months have been an extremely stressful as it also tries to fill vacancies in their rental and life rights accommodation facilities. These grew to a staggering 15 per cent over lockdown, which prevented new admissions.
“We are trying to fill available rental vacancies to fit accommodation as this income also contributes towards the cross subsidisation model we use to care for our needy elders. We are continuously trying to fundraise through other means, including online appeals, and fundraising drives. We are extremely grateful for the support from individual givers as corporate, trust and foundation giving has been severely impacted.”
As an organisation with over 60 years of experience in elder care, Tafta continues to work tirelessly to protect its elders against the impact of the pandemic.
“Since our first case in June last year, we have recorded a total of 135 positive elder cases and 47 positive staff cases. Sadly, we lost 22 elders and an outsourced staff member. A further 108 have recovered, and we have now finally reached a point where infections have dramatically dropped to just five active cases. Nevertheless, the second wave hit us over the festive period with a force we were honestly not prepared for. We worked with skeleton staff as a result of the holiday period and staff struck down with infection. Staff are also experiencing unprecedented levels of burnout as we fight the pandemic with as many hands on deck as possible, and we’re sincerely appealing to those corporates able to assist, to reach out to us to meet the financial demand of elder care,” explained Shamam.
If you are able to assist Tafta contact the Tafta Income Development and Public Relations department and speak to fundraising manager, Nirupa Kasserchun, on 084-437-8615 or email nirupak@tafta.org.za or Kemmy-Leigh Moodley on 067-167-5189 or email idpr@tafta.org.za.
