• Please list links to your Website and Social Media Platforms here:

Facebook
Heart – to – Heart

  • Describe in detail what your Organisation does:

Heart – to – Heart has three main areas of services which include :

Health
– HIV Prevention & Education Interventions : Raising awareness about HIV , prevention and inviting people to fight stigma in the community.These services done in partnership with schools and clinics.
– Nutrition: Providing daily nutritious meals to vulnerable children attending our After School Club. Fresh fruit and vegetables and meat parcels are handed out to Vulnerable Child headed families and main care givers who are HIV positive.
– Reproductive Health: Our Pregnancy Care Center is dedicated to care and support teenage girls and women who find themselves in a crisis due to unplanned pregnancy, including pregnancy tests, prenatal care and Teenage moms support group.
– Access to care: Our Community and Youth Care Workers conduct weekly home visits. The Children’s health and growth are monitored, ensuring that those who need medical care are referred to Clinics/Hospitals for medical assistance or nutritional support.
– Psycho-social support: Tailored individuals or group psycho-social support helps children cope with bereavement, trauma and other crisis they may experience in life.Circles of support help care givers to better cope, ,manage their situation and challenges.

Education
– Uniforms and stationary: We provide new uniforms to enable Vulnerable Children to attend school and feel more confident around their peers.
– Training for older children: Homework assistance, practical life skills, such as budgeting, peer pressure, healthy life choices, ect. empowering them to break the cycle of poverty.

Child Protection
– Community and Youth Child Care Workers have increased knowledge and child care and protection, assisting children to obtain Birth Certificates and identity documents that are essential for registration at school, access to healthcare and to make application for social grants.
Our core purpose is to protect all aspects of the child, from providing shelter to ensuring a safe environment for personal development, protected from abuse.

  • How long has your Organisation been operational?

Heart – to – Heart has been operational since July 1998

  • In your opinion, what has been the most challenging aspect of running your Organisation?

Securing long term funding.

  • Describe your Nonprofit Journey in three words:

A Great Adventure

  • Do you collaborate with other Causes? If yes, would you like to mention them?

Yes we do, Africa cares for life, Mossel Bay Child care forum, Cape Town Community Chest, NACOSA ( National Aids Council of South Africa), Public schools and clinics, Early childhood development centers, companies community social investment projects, Juvenile correction facility.

  • If you had one Organisation wish, what would it be?

Long term unrestricted funding.

  • In your opinion, which skills do Nonprofits in your Country lack?

In my opinion Nonprofits in South Africa lack the skills of sourcing donor funding and building donor relationships, as well as technical skills and social media marketing skills.

  • Looking back at your Cause Journey, what advice would you give a newbie Organisation?

My advice to a newbie Organisation would be to make sure its your passion , to choose your board and staff wisely, make sure you are legally registered and have all the policies needed in place, as well as build lasting network relationships and stay focused.

  • If you could change one thing about the Nonprofit Landscape, what would it be?

It would be to change the fact that society expects NPO to solve their greatest issues at no cost.

  • Which Cause achievement are you most proud of? Feel free to elaborate on why and include any links:

We are most proud of our Orphaned and Vulnerable Children’s Community Systems Strengthening (OVC CSS) Programme. This programme is our greatest achievement thus far.
Since this programme began in June 2013 it was grown from strength-to-strength achieving lasting impact in our community through numerous programme components, namely:
– The launch of the Mossel Bay Child Care Forum in July 2013
– First place in the Sexual Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS Category for Best Practice Programme at the No More Victims International Summit (Held in Mossel Bay)
– ‘Leadership in Pioneering Education’ certificate of recognition awarded by Preferred Future.
– Eight trained Child and Youth Care Workers qualified in the end of 2015
– Thousands of community members have been reached and lives enhanced through our Packages of Care provided to every family we work with. These packages of care include the following services services: clinical nutrition, child protection, HIV Support – HCT, HIV & ARV, Sexual Reproductive Health, pshyco-social support, educational support, household economic strengthening, access to Tuberculosis(TB) services, facilitation of birth registration, access to grants and schools, provision of clothing and educational needs, weekly fruit/veg/food packs to 20 beneficiaries on treatment for HIV or TB and emergency food parcels.
Apart from Packages of Care this programme includes:
– Parent/carer and children support groups;
– Community dialogues at out local schools;
– After School Clubs at three local primary schools; and
– Life Intervention Services through two Child and Youth Care Workers permanently placed at a local High School.

Our mentor organisation, NACOSA, for the start of the programme had the following two quotes to say about our OVC CSS Programme:
1. “We are very happy to see how Heart-to-Heart Care Centre thrives in OVC community systems strengthening. NACOSA is very proud to have partnered with such a great champion.”
2. “NACOSA has found Heart – to – Heart Care Centre to implement high quality financial management and monitoring systems. They have a particular strength in community systems strengthening and their Child care Forum and Community Dialogue implementation model has been used as best practice examples for other organisations and government departments. They have a strong focus on HIV Testing Services (HTS) and sexual reproductive services that are provided through trained HTS Counselors and Child and Youth Care workers.”
– Both quotes are from Mokgadi Malahlela, NACOSA Provincial Manager: Western Cape.

  • Last question, if your friends had to describe your Organisation in three words, which would they use?

Professionalism, Integrity and Caring

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