New place of safety NPO wants to make a difference

The national lockdown of the past year has had detrimental effects on many, especially vulnerable groups of people like children and the elderly across Pretoria.

Janice Spencer, who has worked with Abba House and SA Cares for Life, started a new place of safety organisation in Pretoria.

It offers parents and couples the opportunity to offer a safe space to live to children who are going through the system, some of whom will eventually be put up for adoption.

Called Starfish Babies, it was launched under Starfish Projects NPO.

It provides support to temporary places of safety families who voluntarily care for vulnerable and unwanted babies or toddlers in their homes until permanent placement is arranged.

“Since our inception, about 90 babies have come through our doors and have been placed in loving temporary or permanent homes,” Spencer told Rekord.

The name Starfish Babies comes from a short story that resonated with Spencer when she was trying to think of something that accurately explained her reason behind starting the organisation.

“One day, a man was walking along the beach. He spotted a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. He asked the boy what he was doing, and the boy said he was throwing the starfish back into the ocean as the surf is up and the tide is going out.

“He told the man that if he didn’t throw the starfish back into the ocean, they would die. The man laughed and said that there were miles and miles of starfish on the beach and that throwing them back one by one was not going to make a difference. The boy politely picked up another starfish, threw it in into the ocean, and said: ‘I made a difference to that one’.”

The babies are given one-on-one care in a family environment.

Starfish babies endeavours to support the Temporary Place of Safety (TPS) with all the baby’s needs from medical supplies to nappies, formula, clothing, but most importantly, practical and emotional support.

Spencer explained that although finances are one of their biggest challenges, they always seem to keep head above water when it comes to expenses.

“We rely heavily on donations from the public. But we try as far as we can to assist TPS mums with everyday expenses, because they already give up so much of their family time to care for these children.

“We get a small government grant and use it on basic necessities. We welcome any clothing, formula milk and nappy donations, as those are the most expensive items babies need,” she said.

The NPO for now operates from Spencer’s home in Menlo Park as the lockdown hampered her plans to purchase a property to run her organisation from.

“We are looking for some office space nearby. However, we’re not in a rush because we don’t accommodate any children or babies from one central space at the moment. All our babies are placed with mothers or carers who have their own homes.”

Spencer says the process of acquiring a child involves many legal implications that social workers usually deal with.

“We are solely an NPO that brings the TPS mother to the social workers that has the child, and support these mums in their journey of raising the child. It is always hard to start caring for a child, get to know them, to start loving them and then to have to give them to a mummy who will become their family. It’s really hard, but also extremely rewarding,” she explained.

“All our mums have a special love for these babies. Doing this is certainly a special calling,” she concluded.

If you would like to get involved with Starfish Babies, visit their Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/StarfishBabiesTPS

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