Providing a second chance

SHE has slept in the streets for four years, moving from one homeless shelter to the next, edging ever closer to a life of drug addiction.

But now Petra Brinks’ life on the streets could soon be over after she became one of the first two referrals at a newly-launched 24-hour homeless assessment centre in Observatory yesterday.

The Mowbray-observatory assessment centre, opened on Wednesday, was officially launched by the City of Cape Town.

It will work on referrals, where field workers from Woodstock and its surrounding areas will identify street people

‘We want the centre to feel like a home environment’

and take them to the centre where they will stay for a maximum of 72 hours.

They will be assessed on a number of factors including health, addiction and reasons for living on the streets, as well as physical, mental and emotional well-being.

From there they will be moved to a house in Maitland for three months before being integrated back into their com- munities. It is one of seven other centres planned over the next few months as part of the city’s homeless reintegration programmes.

Brinks, who lived in Ravensmead before moving to the streets, lost her home and job after she got caught up in a life of tik.

Since then she has moved between the Ark homeless shelter in Eerste River and the Liesbeek Parkway bridge in Mowbray.

“Other shelters rejected us. When we moved to under the bridge, law enforcement kept removing us but we went back every time. We would beg and then use the money for tik but that was not every day, sometimes we bought food,” Brinks said. Brinks has three children who presently live with her sister in Ravensmead. She said she wanted to get better for their sake.

“(Right now) I feel like I’m in my own home. We are all like family here (at the centre). I don’t have to do drugs anymore. I want to get a job so I can go back to my children.”

Melanie Brand from EMCE coaching, which will run the centre, said part of their plan was to secure employment for the referrals.

Work had already been secured for Brinks, she said.

“We don’t want the centre to feel like a shelter but for it to have a home environment feel so that they could get used to it. This will make it easier to rein- tegrate,” Brand said, adding that there would only be 12 people at the centre at a time.

Referrals must be at least 18 years old.

Mayco member for social and early childhood development Beverley Cortje-alcock said: “The city’s approach is to address the issue of hopelessness holistically. We believe that all people, irrespective of their circumstances, have dignity and we have great respect for that.

“We also recognise that hopelessness creates difficult situations for residents and businesses alike. We therefore remain committed to dealing with this matter as effectively and humanely as possible.”