ADMINISTRATION: Management, governance and staff
Sister Ethel Normoyle is the Founder and Director of the Care Centre with
a staff of a Manager and small team working in the various operating
units. On a daily basis there is a large group of volunteers from the
local community who assist with various daily tasks and projects at the
Centre.
The Missionvale Care Centre Trust, made up of volunteer Trustees from the
Nelson Mandela Metropole business community, provides financial support
and governance for the Care Centre. The Trust is registered in terms of
South African Law as a Public Benefit Organization and as a Non Profit
Organization.
COMMUNITY GARDENS
The Community Gardens provide a wonderful opportunity for people of
Missionvale to learn a new skill while producing a variety of vegetables.
The gardeners are provided with their own garden plot, seeds, fertilizer,
and the necessary tools and water to maintain the garden. They are tend
to their seasonal vegetables which may include corn, carrots, cabbage,
spinach, onions, tomatoes and much more. Many of the gardeners take
their harvest home to their family while others produce enough to also
sell to their friends and neighbors. This helps transition some of the
people away from the daily food program of bread and soup powder and
create more of a self-sufficient environment for them.
COMMUNITY HALL
The Community Hall serves many purposes, overall, it is a gathering place
for the people of Missionvale. The Care Centre offers support groups on
a weekly basis and the government offers Adult Basic Education Training
programs. The hall is available for anyone in the community for
meetings, ceremonies, graduations, etc.
CRAFTERS UNIT
The ladies of the Crafters Unit work very hard every day on a variety of
projects including curtains, placemats, hand bags, aprons, pillows and
more. These items are then sold at the Missionvale Care Centre as well as
at Art in the Park the first Sunday of each month. As the women are
taught the basics of sewing and become more adept at these skills they
have an increased chance of becoming employed by businesses throughout
the Port Elizabeth area. Once the crafters have been in the program for a
while and have obtained the necessary skills, they are encouraged to look
for work outside the Care Centre. Sister Ethel also helps them with
start up equipment and costs if they are interested in starting their own
small business. This is a great way to promote entrepreneurship among
the people.
HOME BASED CAREGIVERS/HIV AND AIDS UNIT
The Resource Centre is the home base for the 20 Caregivers of the
Missionvale Care Centre who take the love and compassion found at the
Centre into the homes of the ill and the dying. Each day the Caregivers
make an average of 30 home visits to those in need. These Caregivers
have been given the opportunity to attend an intensive training program.
This program will expand their skills for home care nursing, basic
counseling, nutrition, hygiene and a comprehensive HIV/AIDS education
component. The Caregivers will receive a certificate once they complete
this educational training and equip them with the confidence and
knowledge to provide quality health services for the people of
Missionvale. A very important part of what these Caregivers do each day
is work with the family. They teach the family how to care for their sick
family member. This may include teaching them how to bath the person,
keep them comfortable, feed them, etc.
Another area of this unit is a specialized HIV/AIDS treatment program.
This program incorporates cutting edge therapy for HIV/AIDS. Participants
attend every weekday for a three-week duration. The program is to help
improve their immune system by stimulating the body in various ways to
help with the restoration of blood cells.
There is also a once a week HIV/AIDS support group that meets in the
Community Hall to discuss, share and be there for one another. The
Missionvale Care Centre wants everyone to feel they have support in this
fight against HIV/AIDS. No one is in this fight alone.
NUTRITION UNIT
The Nutrition Unit helps the people of Missionvale each day by providing
them with a half loaf of bread and a scoop of nutritious soup powder
making it possible for them to go home and provide a meal for their
family. This service is available to any one in need. The Nutrition
Unit also distributes weekly food parcels to those families on the Care
Centre adopted list. A food parcel provides additional items of
sustenance for a family including sugar, tea, rice, pilchards, baked
beans, potatoes, onions, body soap, and dish soap. Approximately 700
food parcels are given out each week.
This nutrition program is an extremely important for all the people that
participate as well as being able to further help those who are sick. It
provides the basic substances that people need on a daily basis. Without
proper nutrition, a person cannot take the necessary medication they may
need to take to improve their health.
Missionvale Care Center has created a recycling program as part of the
food distribution process. This recycling program serves three purposes.
First, each person requesting bread and soup is asked to bring empty tins
to be recycled. This teaches the people self-respect, the food is not a
hand out, they must do something for it. Second, this is a way to have
the people help clean up the areas and less garbage is created. Third,
the Care Centre receives a small amount of money from the recycling
company to help pay for some of the bread and soup powder each day.
PRIMARY SCHOOL
Our school supplies hope, education, care, nourishment and a protected
playground for children of Missionvale. The Care Centre helps parents
enroll their children in Grade R, 1, 2 or 3. The Care Centre also
provides these children with school uniforms and necessary school
stationary. Education is the key to the future success of South Africa
and high importance is placed of these children receiving a proper
education. This school is fully funded and operated by the Missionvale
Care Centre and the contributions received from corporate or individual
donors.
SOCIAL ASSISTANCE OFFICE
As the Care Centre has expanded its services, it saw a need in the area
of social development, helping people obtain IDs and assistance with
applying for government grants. Each day, they Social Assistance Office
helps the people of Missionvale do just this. The goal is to make sure
that everyone within Missionvale has the opportunity to have an ID
created. With an ID, these people are then able to apply for employment,
register their children for school as well as apply for various
government assistance grants. Additionally, the new Resource Centre has
created an opportunity to have Home Affairs and SASSA (South African
Social Services Administration) come to the Care Centre to process
required documentation and grant information rather than having to send
all the people of Missionvale individually to the offsite locations.
The carpentry unit which began in 2007 has been giving many of the
residents of Missionvale a new sense of pride and the opportunity to
better themselves as they learn various skills in carpentry. The group
of individuals recycles donated wood pallets and other material to build
a variety of different projects. They are currently building benches to
be placed throughout the Missionvale Care Centre area offering people a
comfortable place to sit and enjoy one another’s company.
This program is focused on providing orphaned and vulnerable children a
safe and educational environment where they can spend their afternoons.
The children are able to take part in a variety of activities including
HIV/AIDS education, ballroom dance lessons, drumming, netball, and soccer
as well as receive a nutritious snack and drink before they go home.
The Clothing Warehouse is a self-sustaining unit at the Care Centre.
Donated clothing is washed, mended, and organized by gender and size. It
is then distributed in a very systematic way to the people of Missionvale.
Twice a year the adopted families of Missionvale receive clothing for
each member of their family. Families that have the unfortunate disaster
of a shack fire also receive a generous parcel of clothing and household
goods to get them started again. If you have any clothing you would like
to donate, please contact us and we will arrange to pick it up from you.