WATCH: A shelter has never looked more like home

Malcolm X once said, “When I becomes we, even illness becomes wellness”. When someone feels helpless, sometimes the best help you can give is letting them know they are not alone.

This is why Wings of Inspiration Care Centre, whose charitable work already spans the West Rand and Mpumalanga, launched a safe haven for desperate women from throughout Gauteng. The non-profit company (NPC) has already helped better so many people’s lives through their Sober House, Elderly Care Centre, Soup Kitchen, Play School and assistance to Dorah’s Ark, but they wanted to reach even more people.

1 March officially marked the opening of the Wings of Inspiration Women and Children’s Shelter at 19 John Hoatson Street, Wentworth Park. The shelter will act as a safe haven for women (and their children) who need a leg up, whether it be because they have escaped traumatic circumstances and have nowhere else to go, or because they have lost everything and need help to get back on their feet.

A large kitchen, spacious garden, beautiful recreation area and comfortable bedrooms show you, from your first step through the doors, that this is no typical shelter; it is a home. At the shelter, the women and children will receive counselling, life-skills training, emotional support, three meals a day, basic toiletries, and a warm bed to sleep in. The children will also be enrolled in local schools so that their education is not put on hold while they are living at the shelter.

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The Wings of Inspiration team will work with the women to rehabilitate them back into society with the knowledge and skills of how to adequately support themselves and their children. The organisation will also assist the women with creating and updating their CVs, and help with job searches and referrals for potential employment opportunities. This is being done so that they don’t only give these women and children a safe haven, but a future as well.

The shelter is already at capacity, with all 15 beds already filled. The next plan on the agenda is to host a soup kitchen from the home that the residents will work at. “With the soup kitchen, the women who are receiving will also be given the opportunity to give,” said Project Manager, Shayne Peyper.

Phase two of this project will see the Wings of Inspiration team building a day care centre to assist mothers who are already working, but cannot afford the sometimes exorbitant costs of day cares or private babysitters. The day care centre will also cater for non-residents’ children, in order to assist as many parents as possible with quality child care while they work to support their families.

As Wings of Inspiration is non-profit, they rely on donations from generous community members and local businesses to function. At the moment, they are looking for clothes for the children and their mothers, any household items that can be used in the shelter, bread, stationery, fruit, and school uniforms for the children. If you can make a financial donation, Section 18A tax certificates can be provided.

To find out more about the Wings of Inspiration and their projects, or to get involved, visit www.wingsinspiration.co.za, email info@wingsinspiration.co.za or call 011 764 1323 or Shane on 084 318 8244.