“Welcome to page of Eluxolweni Child and Youth Care Centre that is a home to the vulnerable and neglected young boys who are in need of love and care.”
Est. 1994
A home away from home
Number of children in Centre : 22
Maximum intake: 33
Vision
We are to rehabilitate marginalised and/or abandoned children with special emphasis on neglected and vulnerable children. To create a sustainable, loving, and supportive environment which will make a meaningful contribution towards the quality of life and restoration of human dignity and self-worth of the young people we serve.
To facilitate a process for the physical, social, mental, spiritual and educational development of each child, meeting their individual needs and challenges.
Mission
To establish a well-run Child and Youth Care Centre in which severely, socially marginalized children can feel at home and secure. To re-introduce each child to appropriate schooling programmes designed to meet their individual challenges .To support children psychologically, spiritually, and socially by providing psychological services, opportunities to attend church, participate in a range of extra-mural activities and provide medical intervention when necessary. To employ caring and dedicated staff who will put the interest of the child first. To maintain good relationships with a large number of social partners.
How you can help?
We would love to have you on board with us
Volunteer your skills and time.
Donate unwanted clothes, food, shoes, books, games & toys.
Money donations are welcome big or small they make us smile.
Our History
- History of the establishment of Eluxolweni Child and Youth Centre and how Eluxolweni CYCC came to life.
In the early 1990’s theology students from Grahamstown identified the need to provide a place where children living on the streets could come to have a proper meal. They began by providing the children with a mid-day meal each Saturday at the Presbyterian Church. The children at this time also began to attend the Cathedral church on Sunday evenings where they received hot tea and sandwiches. The Masincedane Children’s Project was launched by these two churches and the Grahamstown Child and Family Welfare Society.
It was decided in 1993 that a building was needed to provide children with a safe warm place to sleep. Transnet Limited was approached and the former train driver’s rest house was purchased. Transfer of the building took place in 1994, and so the Masincedane children’s Shelter was launched. The shelter was run by a sub-committee of the Grahamstown Child Welfare Society, donations and assistance were received from the religious and business sectors as well as from various community service organizations in Grahamstown.
In 2001 The Eluxolweni Charitable Trust was launched and the shelter was renamed Eluxolweni shelter [This means a place of safety and forgiveness]. A management committee responsible for overseeing the functional running and policy development was established and is answerable to the Board of Trustees. A Manager/Fundraiser was appointed to run the organization. The Eluxolweni Shelter was re- registered as the Eluxolweni Child and Youth Care Centre by the Department of Social Development in April 2015.
The concept has broadly grown over the years since the establishment of the Eluxolweni Child and youth Care Centre .The Eluxolweni C.Y.C.C does not only show love and care for boys in need of care who are from Grahamstown. It has been able to expand its reach and services to all parts of the Eastern Cape namely East London, Uitenhage, Queenstown, Port Alfred etc. The Centre admits boys through an applications system and focuses mainly on vulnerable and neglected young boys from the age of 8- 18. Aftercare services are rendered to ex – boys of the Centre.
Our team
What do we do and who do we work with? (beneficiaries)
We have a holistic approach to child care with the help of many volunteers from our surrounding community members and school societies. More serious cases are referred through to the Department of Health to psychologists at the Fort England Psychiatric Hospital Outpatients Clinic to care for the mentally and emotionally needy boys. Boys who become ill or who have dental problems are accompanied by a child care worker to the nearby Settlers Day Clinic which also has a dental clinic. Eluxolweni supplies the boys with toiletries on a monthly basis. We also keep a well-stocked first aid box which includes drug testing kits and medication.
Socialization is facilitated through participating in a range of activities which encourage interaction with many people of different backgrounds. The Rhodes University Community engagement Programme plays a supportive role in encouraging students to volunteer in many extra mural activities with our boys, as do many of our other social partners and surrounding schools. Education is a corner stone of our work and school attendance is compulsory. Each and every boy admitted to the Centre is enrolled to the schools in the community.
Eluxolweni child and youth care centre: A home away from home 