His Hands Care Centre was established, as a need was identified for day care for children with special educational needs. Since the closure of the Justin Selby Centre in December 2014, there was only one other centre able to accommodate children with severe physical and mental disabilities and this centre was filled to capacity. As a family from a strong Christian background, we realized the need for day-care for children with special needs, as well as the implications of loss of employment for 6 women who were the bread-winners for their own families. During the December holidays of 2014 we thus closed our own businesses for the Festive Season and started our yearly well-deserved holiday by creating a safe day-care environment for these special kiddies that would give parents and caregivers peace of mind when they had to return to work in January 2015. With brooms, paint brushes and lots of cleaning equipment, we all jumped in and with the help of some wonderful friends opened up a centre on the 5th of January 2015 to be proud of.

The aim of His Hands Care Centre is to provide a safe day-care facility based on Christian principles for children with severe physical and mental disabilities of all ages from the East London area, where they will be stimulated to develop to their full potential. Currently we have 16 children with disabilities including Cerebral Palsy (CP), Autism, Hydro-cephaly, Down’s Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome etc.

The goals of the centre are to provide educational programs that are individualized to each child’s specific needs, abilities and challenges. Each individual program includes input from other professionals in town eg. Speech-Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy and these principles are incorporated into each child’s program. It is thus not just a baby-sitting facility, but really offers each child the opportunity to develop to their full God-given potential. We also provide two balanced meals, as well as 2 snacks per day. Staff members are also supplied with daily meals.

Currently we employ 7 permanent staff members – 6 caregivers and an on-site hands-on manager, who has many years experience working with children with disabilities. Our caregivers’ skills and knowledge are expanded through training on a continuous basis in different areas to ensure that the children receive optimal intervention on a daily basis. The centre also aims to provide support and information to the families and caregivers of these children, who are often left in the dark as to what the future holds for their special kiddies – To be a beacon in the dark also for them in challenging times. Through our fundraising efforts, we contacted many companies and individuals, who have come aboard in amazing ways to support us in our venture.

      

Challenges & Projects

The centre’s costs per month amount to just under R45 000. This includes rent, water and electricity, salaries, meals etc. Currently our main source of income is from school fees – R1800/month/child – and we currently have 16 children enrolled.

It must however be noted that many of the children cannot afford the school fees and are thus paying a reduced fee, ranging from R600 to R1400 a month. The actual income from school fees is thus significantly lower. We aim to raise funds from other avenues as well, as we cannot and will not show a child away due to parent’s financial challenges.

This thus leaves a clear short-fall in our monthly costs. To cover these costs, we have the following programs/processes in motion:

Application for Funding/Grants from Dept Social Development Application to National Lottery for funding of Projects We have also approached many companies and individuals for monthly donations

of food to enable us to feed our staff and children daily

To ensure a safe and educational environment for our children in which to develop, we have the following BIG projects –

Playground: Play is an essential part of development and we thus need to supply the children with an opportunity to play in a safe and appropriate play area. Despite upgrades done to this area, we still need to include Astroturf to cover the paving, as many of our children crawl (costs estimated at R50 000)

Fencing : As we share the premises with a second tenant, we need fencing erected between the two businesses, to ensure safety of our children. A temporary structure has been erected while funding is being sought (estimated costs R 15 000)

Transportation : As we envision swimming and horse riding therapy for our children, we need suitable transportation for the children from the centre to these activities (estimated costs R390 000)

Fundraising events 2015 –

o Golf day - This was held in March, where 76 players came together to have fun and raise funds at the same time. There was also an auction with items including weekends away and signed memorabilia from Ernie Els and Gary Player.

o Music Festival at the Guild theater on the 23rd and 24th of April with Humble Man and Mistree

o Flea Market and Fun walk in Kidds Beach in November

Planned Fundraising events for 2016 –

February Cupcake month March Raffle Fun Walk Golf day Flea market and fun day

Accolades

Overall winner of the Mercedes Benz Forgood Inspiration Awards 2015 Local Dispatch Hero’s of the Community Finalists

Once again we would like to thank you for being part of this amazing journey we have embarked on! Never would we have thought last year when we opened our doors for the first time that we would’ve achieved all we have thus far. And none of this would be possible without the support and generosity of people like you! You have truly made a difference in the lives of these children & without the support you have given us we wouldn’t have been able to provide them the “home” they had in 2015. Our prayer is that we can continue to provide a safe home for our special angels – because every child deserves to have the opportunity to learn.

May 2016 hold an abundance of blessing in for you & your business!

Warm Regards,

 

The His Hands Family

Portfolio of Needs for His Hands Centre for Children with Special Needs

General needs:Hand Rails on the side of the walls to assist children in walkingHand railing by outside rampHospital bed for Changing area (able to lower for easy transfer from wheelchairs)Gifts for staff members and children for birthdays                 Printing paperVeggie seedlings to start our own veggie garden                    Printer InkStationary for office use                                                               Photo copierColour printer with affordable ink                                              Toilet PaperAir Freshener                                                                                   Cleaning productsSheets and Pillows for resting timeCot size mattresses for resting timeCell phone to be used for communication with parentsAirtime to be used for communication with parentsShelter from front gate to front door for rainy daysFencingNew sand for our sandpitOur own property with a gardenShelter for children to eat outsideAstro turf to cover play areaWheelchair friendly Transport to take our children on outings, as well as swimming and horse riding sessionsFinancial contributions in the form of cash donations “Sponsor a child” “Sponsor a meal”

Child-care needs:Nappies sizes 3 to adult size small                                               Wet wipesAqua Cream                                                                                     Nappy CreamAirwick Air fresheners with refills                                                Hand sanitizerSurgical Gloves

Kitchen needs:Toaster                                                                                            Urn Cutlery                                                                                            Mixing Bowls                                      Toys Needs:Soft toys                                                                                            Toy CarsToy Animals                                                                                      Sensory ToysEducational Toys                                                                              Plastic pool Specialised hammock swing for disabled children                    Sandpit toysPegboard puzzles                                                                             Craft itemsBooks

Food needs:Milk                                                                                                     YoghurtSugar                                                                                                   CoffeeRooibos Tea                                                                                       ButterCustard                                                                                               Rice

Pasta                                                                                                   FruitJelly                                                                                                     Instant PuddingChicken                                                                                               MinceSamp                                                                                                   VeggiesCheese Curls                                                                                      MarshmellowsLays Lightly Salted chips                                                                  Marie BiscuitsBread                                                                                                  Peanut ButterBovril                                                                                                   Jam

Therapy Equipment:Standing frames for therapy                                                           Walking framesRocking Horse walkerAlternative Communication (AAC) Systems (details on request)Wheelchairs sponsorships for individuals with needs

Time & Services Needs:First Aid training for staffRepair of fridgesRepair of donated Big-screen TVRepair access gateRepair Security systemMove of security CCTV system to OfficeVolunteers: Cleaning centre weekly                       Cleaning centre yard                        Cleaning toys weekly                        Reading stories                        Assisting with craft                        Play outside with the children                        Assisting with outings                        Assist with feeding time daily