Girls’ home in need of support to continue providing services to girls in need
"We are pleading with the community and businesses to assist us to ensure these girls are looked after."
Uitkoms Home for Girls in Observatory is in need of donations and financial assistance.
The home is asking for any donation for the daily running of the home.
Uitkoms provides residential accommodation and care for pregnant teenage girls and vulnerable girls who have been referred by the courts.
The home was established in 1944.
The home’s administration officer, Yolanda Erasmus, said the home, like many NPOs, is in need of donations to be able to continue providing a service to the girls in need.
“The home gives residential care, which includes provision and protection, nutrition, clothing, housing, school supplies, developmental programmes and therapeutic programmes. All these services and activities, like any other household, cost money. We are pleading with the community and businesses to assist us to ensure these girls are looked after,” said Erasmus.
The developmental programme offered by the home includes schooling at local schools and in the case of girls who cannot attend due to pregnancy or short-term care, they attend Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) classes.
The home is in need of a lawnmower, stationery, groceries, crockery, bread cost per month of R1 000, funds to cover fuel for vehicles, maintenance of vehicles, school shoes, school uniforms, school bags, and electrical rewiring of the buildings. Additionally, the home also needs funds for pocket money for the girls, which is R120 per girl per month.
“The home receives a subsidy from the Department of Social Development, but the balance of the funding needs to be obtained from other sources. We really need donations, it could be money or the needs of the home. Our home has provided a valuable service to the community for many years and maintains its uniqueness in the care of pregnant teenage girls.
“We would like to continue well into the future to assist vulnerable teenage girls to take back their lives and become productive, self-sustaining future citizens,” said Erasmus.
Those who would like to assist the home can contact Yolanda Erasmus on 011 487 0357 or at admin@uitkoms.org.za
Also, those who are interesting in knowing more about the home can attend their annual general meeting (AGM) on October 22 at 10am. The meeting will take place at Uitkoms, 124 St George Street, Observatory.
