An NPO to support those in need
Their work covers the areas of assisting and placing displaced families, children and individuals.
At Bereshith Centre, they strive to address substance abuse and various addictions through the provision of specialised education, prevention, treatment and aftercare services, focusing on skills development and reintegration into society.
Bereshith is a registered NPO with the Department of Social Development.
The organisation was registered in June 2019 and have been actively involved in social upliftment for many years.
Their work covers the areas of assisting and placing displaced families, children and individuals.
“We are active anti-drug activists, we lobby against women and children abuse and we assist recovering addicts on their road to recovery. We take care of the families that are affected by drug abuse, such as parents, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and children,” said Sajida Smith, the founder of Bereshith.
Most of their work is done in Gauteng, but the areas where they are most active in is the Ekurhuleni district, as well as the South of Johannesburg. However, they are not limited to the area and do interventions wherever the need arises.
Vision and mission
They strive to address substance abuse and various addictions through the provision of specialised education, prevention, treatment and aftercare services, focusing on skills development and reintegration into society.
“To be the leading and most effective NPO in the field of prevention, treatment and aftercare of substance abuse and most of all to upskill, educate and give back to society strong, healthy individuals to build our future,” said Sajida.
The centre provides you with a map to sober, healthy living thereby enhancing the quality of life and helping to restore their self-respect and dignity.
Current projects
“As part of our recovery programme, we encourage our recoverees to give back to society by way of social upliftment. We have adopted various old age homes and child care centres where our recoverees get involved in the upkeep, maintenance and renovations of these homes as and when needed,” said Sajida.
Most of their recoverees have skills that have been dormant during active addiction, so it is their core function to get to understand what their skills sets are, to hone in, sharpen and encourage them to use those skills to not only better themselves but also the society they have been taken away from during active addiction.
“We continuously serve the most vulnerable in our nation, with food parcels, baby care packs and lady care packs. During the pandemic, we have been at our busiest with the distribution of food parcels and essentials.”
Goals
Bereshith’s motto is “A New Beginning”.
“We believe everybody deserves a new beginning after the trauma that life may have dealt them. A new beginning can be a very daunting task for a person fresh out of a six-week rehabilitation programme.
“Most have been in active addiction for well over five years or more. This being said, most will have been unemployed or school-leavers or unskilled for the formal work sector,” Sajida added.
According to her, they have found that when a recoveree leaves a rehab facility after their six-week detox and step-work classes, most of them are still displaced, without a home, no support structure, no job nor any skills to find a job.
The six weeks spent at rehab covers only the first four steps of the 12-step programme. This is not enough to keep them strong or holding on to sobriety.
At Bereshith they have developed a programme that can be implemented as part of the recovery process to complete the rest of the eight steps of the 12-step programme, as well as to get the recovery upskilled in his field of strength.
How can you assist?
In the words of Nobel peace laureate Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela: “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”
If you would like to donate or sponsor towards any of their ongoing programmes, contact Sajida on 079 794 7045 or Harry on 079 881 3820 or Gloria on 082 550 7776 or send an email to Sajida@bereshithcenter.org or Gloria@bereshithcenter.org
Those who want to make a financial donation can pay money into their account, which is Bereshith TC, FNB account 62851781940 and use your name and surname as your reference.
People can also visit their website at www.bereshithcenter.org
