Shelter needed to run Danville homeless project
Welfare to Work project aims to empower homeless people in Danville.
Homeless people on the streets of Pretoria are becoming a major concern.
Hence Kennard Nziramasanga has created the Welfare to Work project to feed more than 150 homeless people in Danville daily.
“The project will incorporate systems, where a homeless beneficiary is taught, humbled, mentored, and rehabilitated to be self-reliant,” he said adding that he however needed shelter to run it from.
Nziramasanga, a director of Masonwabe youth development NPO, said he realised that most of the homeless people the project fed had special skills.
“Yet they don’t have a shelter and most of them are sleeping on bridges.
“If we could teach the people on the streets to be able to create projects and to be able to own houses or pay rent. Accommodation is a major problem here.
“We want to help homeless beneficiaries to create and run projects that empower them and others,” he said.
Nziramasanga said their menu varies as per donations that they get.
“We serve pap with meat or meat bones, rice with chicken and vegetables.
“We sometimes serve bread, polony and cool drinks.”
He said they lack funding and that hindered their effort to provide food every day.
“At times we cannot meet the demand because we don’t have sponsors.
“We need funding as the homeless don’t have clothes also.”
He added that there were other organisations that come to help.
Nziramasanga said their challenge as an NPO that deals with homelessness was a lack of exposure.
“Homelessness is on the increase and this project can best support and facilitate solutions that can better them.”
He said he started the project to help those that need ID books.
Masonwabe started in 2013 with the aim of supporting homeless people in Danville, Elanstrop, Capital View and other areas of Pretoria West.
“We also aim to provide proper shelters as transitional temporary homes for those that are on drugs and other substances, mainly the youth.
“We also want to provide comfortable shelters for homeless people and empower them through skills and development programmes.
Anyone who wants to donate to Masonwabe can contact them on 083 647 3184 or 067 233 3724.
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