Pretoria - Non-profit organisation Homeless Solutions continues to stand firm to curb homelessness across Pretoria and integrate homeless people into society.
Fresh and innovative, its core objective is “to reform attitudes and policies towards homelessness by providing an individual with a place to sleep, making sure they get a proper meal three times a day, and provide them with clothing and toiletries”, said administrator Sechaba Potse.
The main purpose was to see men and women on the streets economically active for good, he said, stressing that they strictly took in persons eager to work and empower themselves and determined to exit their situation.
“We do not allow drugs among those we are assisting and we don’t tolerate laziness,” Potse added.
They did serve a more male society, as they dominated the streets, he said, but this was not to the exclusion of women and children.
“Our vision is to see empty and abandoned buildings in the city being renovated into modest homeless economic zones where the homeless community can stay and work.”
They received funding from the public and asked for more support.
“In Gauteng we have about 600 000 confirmed homeless people living on the streets of Joburg and Pretoria.
“We provide temporary accommodation for them, but space is limited. We try to equip them with skills – woodworking, bricklaying, welding and cement casting – so that when they are ready they leave. Our beneficiaries also create different items for fund-raising.”
Pretoria News