Hadassah Centre for Women celebrates five years in the fight against substance abuse
Women need a centre tailored to catering to their needs
The scourge of substance abuse has left many victims in its wake.
Those caught in the grip of addiction run the whole gamut. Fathers, mothers, teenagers, young boys, and girls are all susceptible to addiction.
Rehabilitation centres are springing up in the hope that lives can be rebuilt through sustainable programmes which recovering addicts can use to reconstruct broken lives.
The story of the Hadassah Centre for Women (HCW) is one which started out in a very ironic way. The land on which the centre stands was a drug manufacturing facility repossessed by the bank.
HCW officially its doors on March 12, 2012, and has seen many addicted people through their journey of recovery.
Come Back Mission assigned board members to seek land on which a centre could be built to cater to the needs of women who were battling addiction.
According to Cheryl Pillay, CBM founder, and director, “We realised the desperate need for a women’s treatment centre; one that is accessible to women irrespective of financial and social status.
“Sadly, despite the enormous increase in female addicts, there remains a profound lack of existing treatment facilities that have programmes tailored to these unique needs.”
Women addicted to drugs are exploited by boyfriends who pimp them out in order to support their habit and the centre has a flood of stories of sexual abuse by partners and, in some instances, close family members.
Pillay added, “Research indicates that 70% of addicted women report histories of physical or sexual abuse, thus making them vulnerable to infection by HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
“They are a lot less likely to seek help for chemical dependency than men and often don’t seek treatment due to shame and fear.
“Women are expected to be moms and caregivers and cling on to these roles. Yet their addiction threatens the very roles they don’t want to lose.”
Substance abuse is tearing at the very fabric of our society and women bear the brunt of the disease within our community.
HCW provides women of all races and backgrounds the opportunity at a second chance by treating the illnesses associated with substance addiction.
Communities in South Africa facing desperate economic hardships have been hardest hit by the drug pandemic, leaving women vulnerable to falling prey to the disease.
The CBM Women’s Treatment Centre provides programmes which aim embrace a holistic approach to the healing process of which their individual counselling sessions seek to create balanced individuals through physical and mental wellness exercises.
Now in its fifth year, HCW has seen a total of 320 women between the ages of 17 to 38 enrolled in the programme. A staggering 257 completed the six-month programme and the centre has seen 15 graduations within the past three years.
The danger of relapsing is a demon which haunts many graduates, but the centre keeps its doors open for returning women who relapse once being integrated into their communities.
A number of success stories have emerged from HCW, such as 28-year-old Jerrica H.* (not her real name), who entered the programme after an eight-year battle with addiction. She has been clean for three years and was employed as personal assistant to Pillay.
Sonono W.* (not her real name), recalls spending countless nights in ‘lolly lounges’ after a lifelong battle with addiction.
After her stint at the centre, Kelly has shown herself to be a budding entrepreneur who runs her mother’s baking business while completing her schooling at a FET college.
As communities ostracise victims of drug abuse, the Hadassah Centre for Women continue their work behind the scenes, impacting positively on lives ruined substance abuse, mending rifts between families affected by the scourge and creating whole women.
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