Noxolo Miya
Pretoria - The Sinoville Crisis Centre, which provides trauma counselling and feeding schemes, is in need of public assistance to keep its doors open.
The 24-year-old non-profit organisation (NPO) has been providing the services, including free counselling to victims who have experienced trauma, for years.
The organisation based in Pretoria is pleading for financial support to keep its doors open.
“The regular donors dried up during the Covid-19 pandemic,” the Sinoville Crisis Centre said.
“The centre is dependent on the debit orders received from two churches in our area.
“We are very grateful and humbled by their continued support, but it is not enough to cover the escalating running costs of the centre.”
Their current running costs are R8 500 per month, and only the cleaner earns a salary.
“Please support us with any monthly contributions.
“If we don’t get urgent funds, we won’t be able to keep our doors open,” it said.
The centre stated that although it operates as an NPO, it still needs to pay for services “like any other business” and “does not get any funding from the government or the National Lottery”.
Sinoville Crisis Centre manager Colleen Strauss said: “We have been running the centre since 1999, but since the pandemic, things have been very difficult for us in terms of finances.
“Our monthly expenses are mostly to cover maintenance, administration and pay for our cleaning lady.”
She said since putting up the post highlighting their plight on Facebook, they have had only one business reaching out to them.
Strauss also appealed to residents to assist them in keeping the crisis centre open.
Pretoria News