General Enquiry

Youth Outreach

Welcome
Our Team
What We Do
How You Can Help
FAQ
Donors & Partners
Contact Us

Place For The Youth | Indawo Yo Lutsha

Rebuilding the shattered lives of homeless children from the streets of Stellenbosch

Youth Outreach is a home for neglected and abandoned children, providing overnight shelter and food. During the daytime we run an early intervention drop-in centre which can accommodate 40 children and serves as a first point of entry into our programs.

We are a Non Profit Organisation (005-766-NPO), Section 21 Organisation 97/17214/08 striving to help the children of Stellenbosch where we can.

Our Mission

We strive to provide in the immediate needs of the homeless and street children of Stellenbosch, through our services, facilities, programs and staff.
Focusing on the physical, emotional and psychological needs of the children including their recreational, cultural, and spiritual needs.

Our immediate aim is to lessen the children’s time in the streets and those in our care by placing them back into their communities as soon as possible, preferably reuniting them with their families, where this is not possible we aim to facilitate in the provision of appropriate alternative foster care.

Place For The Youth | Indawo Yo Lutsha

Youth Outreach provides overnight facilities for girls and boys between the ages of 4 and 18. Each of these households can accommodate 10 – 12 children. At our drop-in centre we can accommodate up to 40 children and our aim is to provide the children with:

• Meals
• Ablution and Washing Facilities
• Activities and Excursions
• Spiritual Support and Guidance
• Laundry

Other day to day activities include dropping off our live-in children at their respective schools, taking children to the clinic or doctor, buying food, toiletries and necessary supplies. Taking the children on excursions like a visit to the Fire Department.

At the drop-in centre we also assist the children with their school homework and try to help them understand the work. We also do our utmost with the preschool children in our care – trying to give them the mental stimulation that is so important in early life, this includes activities that encourage recognition of shapes, colours, numbers etc, the basic building blocks of education.

Our Operations also include:

• Making contact with the homeless children, to win their trust, to find out who they are, where they
come from, and why they are on the streets
• Encouraging them to make use of the facilities at our drop-in shelter
• Get family re-unification in progress in co-operation with the social workers and welfare staff
• Immediate reaction to crisis calls from the public with regards to street children
• Co-ordination of volunteers and support services
• Raising awareness in the community

All of these services are provided and maintained in close co-operation with many institutions, professionals and volunteers in Stellenbosch.

In a few cases we deal with children of 14 to 18 that have lived on the streets for many years and have been hardened by it to such an extent that rehabilitation is almost impossible. In this regard we strive to create a space within a phased process of rehabilitation in which education and skill training can equip them for productive employment.