A letter from Care4u2

To whom it may concern

The Respite Care/Short Break for Indigent Parents of children living with disabilities was started in 2012 by a group of ladies who are passionate about making a difference in the lives of special needs children and their families.

Mission statement of Care4u2

The objectives are to empower and uplift the lives of cognitively and physically challenged individuals

WHAT IS RESPITE?

Respite care/short break is the provision of short-term, temporary relief to those who are caring for family members. Even though families take great joy in providing care to their loved ones at home, the physical, emotional and financial consequences for the family caregiver can be overwhelming without some support. Respite care/short break provides the much needed temporary break from the often exhausting challenges faced by the family caregiver.

Without this relief, not only can families suffer economically and emotionally, caregivers themselves may face serious health and social risks, as a result of stress associated with continuous care giving. Three fifths of family caregivers age 19-64 surveyed by the Commonwealth Fund reported fair or poor health, one or more chronic conditions, or a disability.
Respite care/short break is the service most often requested by family caregivers, yet it is in critically short supply, inaccessible or unaffordable. While the focus has been on making sure families have the option of providing care at home, little attention has been paid to the needs of the family caregivers who make this possible. In South Africa, often due to economic circumstances, most children and adults with disabilities are cared for at home. At present, there are no statistics for caregivers in South Africa, nor is there much help or relief for family caregivers in South Africa.
Care4u2 looks at giving the caregivers the much needed rest that they require.

We have identified a single mum who is in desperate need of Respite Care. Below is a summary of her current situation.

HISTORY:

Ms. MK is a 35 year old single mother residing in Soweto. She is the mother of two children, age 3 and 8. Her 8 year old son, has been diagnosed with autism and is currently attending Randburg Clinic School. He is a high support, non-verbal learner, who requires constant care and supervision.

She is from the lower socio-economic bracket and has her hands full with taking care of a baby and a special needs child. She has been placed under great financial and emotional strain over the past few years and has expressed how difficult her situation has been. The support based team at Randburg Clinic School believe she would greatly benefit from any respite offered.
Care4u2 has approved her application. We will be sending Ms MK with a friend that she has chosen to go away with for a weekend in January 2022. Her mum will come and look after the kids while she is away. We hope by then the expected 4th wave would have settled. If not, we will re-schedule the Respite weekend.

Care4u2 will cover the accommodation , transport to and back, food, entertainment money, pamper packages and additional small items if needed.
They will also cover food for the caregiver and children who are left behind. Transport fees for the caregiver and any additional unforeseen expenses over the weekend for the children will also be covered by us.
The kids are visited by the social worker from the school just to ensure they are ok over the weekend.
In order for us to reach our objectives we need support from organisations such as yours to assist us in bringing positive change in the lives of these individuals and families.
Thank you for kindly considering being part of our Respite/ Outreach Programme.

Kind Regards,
The Care4u2 Team

The Centre of Justice for Special Needs NPO

Special Knead Café falls under the protection of The Centre of Justice for Special Needs NPO (2018 / 535244 / 08) and money is currently being raised to get the cafe new premises and to expand the business. A crazy guy on a bike is cycling from London to Istanbul (what?!) to raise funds for this cause, but I digress – who better to tell their story than the founder of Special Knead Café herself, Kim Rundle…

“The Children’s Memorial Institute is an entity comprising of about 30 separate Organizations, mostly NGOs, providing services to Children with Special Needs (medical, educational, psychosocial or legal)”

Some of the NGOs installed at the CMI include Autism South Africa, Ernie Els Centre, Johannesburg School for Autism & Children’s disABILITY Training Centre.

Willem’s aforementioned maatjies, on seeing what Willem started at the CMI, got bees buzzing in proverbial bonnets and  started a fundraising event that will occur every year to raise funds for various CMI projects.

After attending this year’s bowling day fundraiser, my advice to all would be to fortify yourself with the yummy braai lunch on offer before heading down to the bowling green – it helps one concentrate better, especially if you have never picked up a bowling ball in your life…
The event raised just over R26 000! Well done to everyone involved.

A committee is being formed based on the park at the Children’s Memorial Institute, now known as the Willem Coetzee Memorial Park with their mandate being to manage fundraising for Willem’s legacy.
Jozi 4 Autism will be partnering with the committee to raise funds and to help where ever else we can. In addition to this, we have donated some ZAR in the amount of R5,000.00 to get the ball rolling (pun intended).

There are many future projects which need to be fleshed out, but for now we are focusing on the most urgent task at hand, i.e. further developing the park at the CMI:

• • Installing trampolines with fences for safety (currently there are holes in the ground where the trampolines should be)
  • Adding more items of sensory value in the playground (under the guidance of a sensory-integration-trained occupational therapist)

If you would like to get involved, either by donating ZAR, time or expertise – please contact myself, Karen Gouvelis @ kareng@jozi4autism.org.za or Helen Hadfield @ helen@mind-the-gap.co.za.

* South African word for close friend.
Synonyms: tjommie, china, bestie, BFF, boet

Karen Gouvelis
Director
Jozi 4 Autism