The Sinoville Crisis Centre has launched a Women’s Month donation drive aimed at restoring dignity, hope and self-worth to mothers and women facing difficult circumstances in the community. The initiative, themed ‘Together we Give, Together we Celebrate Woman’, encourages residents, businesses and organisations to donate food, personal hygiene products and beauty items that can be distributed to women and families in need. According to the centre’s manager, Jerry Mosuoe, the demand for assistance continues to grow, while available resources remain limited. “The number of families needing assistance varies from month to month because the centre generally provides support on a once-off basis. However, in some cases, families have been assisted more than once,” said Mosuoe. He explained that food shortages have recently forced the centre to turn away approximately 10 families, including more than 15 women and children who required assistance.

“We are also faced with people who come from outside our operating areas seeking assistance. We have feeder shelters that we refer homeless people to, and those shelters also need assistance from us. The majority of the people in those shelters are women,” he said.

Mosuoe added that the centre strives to ensure that people referred to shelters have necessities such as toiletries and food to ease the burden on the organisations that accommodate them. The Women’s Month campaign was inspired by the belief that women are often best placed to understand and respond to the needs of other women. “We believe that women can relate to the needs of other women, coupled with the fact that they are naturally caring. “By receiving the required products, they realise that the aim is to restore their dignity, self-esteem and confidence, especially for those who may have lost it,” said Mosuoe.

The project is about more than providing immediate relief, as Mosuoe said the centre hopes the donations will help beneficiaries regain a sense of stability and direction during difficult times.

“The project aims to restore self-worth and dignity while providing temporary relief. This gives beneficiaries an opportunity to plan a way forward without the stress associated with hunger and a lack of basic necessities,” he said. At present, the centre’s most urgent needs are non-perishable food items and toiletries; donations of canned foods, maize meal, rice, long-life milk, soap, toothpaste, and toilet paper are particularly welcome. Looking ahead, Mosuoe said the centre’s vision extends beyond emergency assistance. “The crisis centre would like to go beyond providing temporary relief to vulnerable households. The goal is to empower families so that they move beyond dependence, restoring their dignity and self-worth and enabling them to become self-reliant,” he said.

Over the past three months, the centre has dealt with more than 130 cases, the majority of which involved women.

To strengthen its support services, the organisation is training counsellors. It plans to recruit additional trainee counsellors in the coming month to expand its capacity and assist more people across the area. Residents wishing to contribute can drop off donations at the Sinoville Crisis Centre in Konavle Street, Sinoville, after contacting the office on 012 543 9000 to arrange a suitable time. Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok or WhatsApp Channel