The list of 100 attendees was made up of persons living at the City’s safe spaces, NGO-run shelters or identified by the Street People Programme Unit staff within the Social Development and Early Childhood Development Department (SD&ECD).

Apart from focusing on their emotional and mental wellness through a meditation session, various service providers were on hand to share information and options linked to the group’s reintegration journeys.

City Health conducted wellness checks, and information about its substance abuse programme, which follows the evidence-based Matrix® model.

Skills development, access to potential short-term employment opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme, and financial wellness were on the agenda too, as well as information about how participants could go about completing their schooling.

‘Events like these underscore our commitment to providing as much support to persons who want to make their way off the streets. It also highlights the many, and varied considerations that need to be taken into account in ensuring the best chance of success at reintegration. It is hard work, for everyone involved, and our objective is to help equip people with as many tools and information as possible, to make positive choices that will sustain them into the future,’  said Councillor Patricia van der Ross, Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health.

During the first quarter of the current financial year (July to September), the City’s Street People Programme Unit conducted 6 652 engagements with persons living on the street, with a view to facilitating support and services aimed at reintegration.

On 30 June 2023, the City disbursed just under R8,4 million in grant-in-aid funding to 19 NGOs for a range of projects, including expansion of shelter spaces and developmental programmes for clients in their care.

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