Latest news with #Streetscapes
IOL News
16-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Cape Town's Streetscape aims to secure housing for 14000 homeless residents
Streetscape's mission to house the homeless in Cape Town Streetscape, a non-profit organisation in Cape Town, is launching a new initiative to provide housing for the city's homeless population, aiming to raise R2.5 million to purchase City-owned properties. Image: supplied The streets of Cape Town are believed to be home to 14000 people. For those in Streetscape's reintegration pro-gramme, hope shines as the organisation raises funds to purchase seven City-owned properties in the CBD for apartments. Over the past year, the non-profit organisation, via their programmes, have helped 209 homeless people get off the streets and into accommodation. They have reached 3 500 people through daily outreach, with 150 in work readiness programmes and 30% of work graduates supported with formal employment. Fifty percent have graduated, having successfully completed the programme. With this success, Streetscapes now hopes to buy the City-owned units in Harrington Street, which are expected to house those who are in the programmes. They are working hard behind the scenes with crowd-finding projects to raise R2.5 million to purchase the properties and secure an additional R2 million for renovations and eco-friendly infrastructure, including solar power systems and water treatment and conservation systems. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Jesse Laitinen, Streetscapes founder and manager, said the vision was reintegration and for the project to grow. 'We integrate these systems into all our housing projects, reducing long-term utility costs and contributing to Cape Town's environmental sustainability by lowering the ecological footprint of our buildings.' She said they were now appealing for businesses and corporates to come on board, adding that they would be working with residents as soon as the discussion processes begins. 'These units are right in the CBD,' Laitinen said. 'We are working with the residents and there will be a public participation process. 'We are seeking a corporate sponsor. 'We need someone to see the value in this once off payment. 'The buildings need a lot of refurbishment and we would like companies and construction companies to come on board. 'If this goes well, it can open the doors for many NGOs. 'The seven buildings have two floors, four bedrooms, and we want to make them into apartments. 'Transitional houses where people will move from there and others to fill it again.' In response to Streetscape's plans, the City said no decision has been reached concerning the sale of the properties as yet, and they would not discuss the price tag. 'No decision has been made for these units to be sold to an NGO and therefore no details including that related to the sale price are available,' the City said. 'The City received an application from an NGO requesting to purchase City-owned properties in Harrington Street, which is still in the process of being assessed and considered. 'As part of the consideration process, public participation will be undertaken and Council approval will need to be obtained. 'The City may consider selling at a discounted rate. "Council's policy on the management of some of the City of Cape Town's Immovable Property provides for social care properties to be sold at a purchase price of between 10% to 25% of fair market value, subject to a reversionary clause being registered against the title deed limiting the usage of the properties for social care purpose.' According to Laitinen, Streetscapes has helped hundreds move from the streets into stability, through housing and daily structure, psychosocial support, and meaningful work. The reintegration unit would make a difference for beneficiaries such as Jonathan Manuel, 38, who lived on the streets of Cape Town for 20 years and is desperate to have his younger brother join him in the programme and into a home. Today, after seven months, Manuel is working and is inside a home (Streetscape programmes) and is determined to one day move into his own home and become independent. He said he and his two siblings had humble and sad beginnings with their mother dying at a young age after working as a sex worker to support her family. They landed in foster care where they were abused by one of the families, which led him to the streets. 'I am staying inside a house now and there is a feeling of warmth in my family,' he told the Cape Argus. 'I will be very glad to get my own place. My baby brother is still living on the streets." 'I am trying to motivate him. 'I am very happy, Streetscapes opened my eyes. 'They showed me to work for your money, that street life isn't the way. 'I don't do drugs anymore. They are making big changes.' Another is Clinton Hendricks, peer field worker at Streetscapes. Streetscape's mission to house the homeless in Cape Town Streetscape is raising funds to purchase city-owned units in Cape Town's CBD to provide homes for the homeless, with a successful reintegration programme that has already helped hundreds find stability. Image: supplied 'I was homeless, moving between gangs, destroying myself with drugs, dug through bins for food and robbed tourists to feed my habit," said Hendricks. "Prison became a revolving door. Those years are lost to me now. 'When I found Streetscapes, I had lost touch with reality. Weekly counselling helped me rebuild. I learned how to communicate, grew more confident, and started to believe in myself." Cape Argus
Zawya
13-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
South Africa: Plan to use properties owned by City of Cape Town for homeless project
Streetscapes is fundraising to buy seven inner-city units to expand its reintegration programme. For the past four years, Streetscapes has been running a self-sufficient laundry at its urban farm in the city centre. The organisation plans to replicate the solar- and rainwater-powered laundromat and showers at the new site to cut operational costs and reduce pressure on municipal infrastructure. Photos: Marecia Damons / GroundUp - Streetscapes is raising funds to buy seven City-owned units in Cape Town's city centre at a fraction of its value. - The organisation hopes to convert the properties into homes for formerly homeless people who are part of the Streetscapes programme. - The City of Cape Town says the units are no longer needed. But the sale of the properties would require a public participation process and Council approval. - Streetscapes currently support 150 formerly homeless people with housing, work opportunities and peer-led care. Non-profit organisation Streetscapes is raising funds in the hope of buying seven housing units from the City of Cape Town, with plans to convert them into homes for previously homeless people. James Vos, the City's mayco member for economic growth, said six of the units are vacant, and three are still tenanted. He said the units were initially acquired because of plans to widen roads decades ago. Those plans have since been scrapped, and the City no longer needs them. Vos said a sale of these properties would require council's approval, and a public participation process. The sale could be subject to a clause in the City's Immovable Property policy, limiting the use of the property to social care. 'The policy provides for social care properties to be sold at a purchase price of between 10% to 25% of fair market value,' Vos said. For the past decade, Streetscapes has worked to end homelessness by supporting people with jobs and houses. Their model aims to get people work. The organisation currently supports 150 formerly homeless people, through work, housing and and other support. In its peer-to-peer programmes, people who were previously homeless or struggled with addiction are trained to support others in similar situations. At Streetscapes, 'peers' offer guidance and help clients with medication, housing and daily challenges. Since 2015, Streetscapes has worked to end chronic homelessness by supporting people with jobs, housing and rehabilitation. Among the beneficiaries of this programme are (from left) Dolan Davis, Rudy Basson, Jonathan Manuel, Thabo Koti and Sandile Mhlongo, who all work for Streetscapes as peer coordinators. Jesse Laitinen, Streetscapes' founder and manager, said the new houses would be offered to peer counsellors and people who had been through the first stage of their programme and were now ready to find work and a home. They would be able to live with their families, close to the city, and pay affordable rent. The discounted value of the properties would be R2.5-million. Streetscapes is trying to raise R250,000 through a crowdfunding campaign and is approaching businesses to fund the rest. 'What we want to do is create a home in each of the units so that they won't be a dorm or an institution,' Laitinen said. Securing the properties would allow Streetscapes to scale up its reintegration programme for previously homeless people. One beneficiary of that programme is Sandile Mhlongo, a former soccer player who came to Cape Town from Durban in 2002. After ending up on the streets in 2005, he moved through various shelters and programmes before finding stability with Streetscapes. He began by cleaning streets in Woodstock, then moved into one of the Streetscapes houses. 'When you're part of the programme, they aim to put you in the house to uplift yourself,' Mhlongo said. 'Housing means a lot to us because some of us never had housing before.' Mhlongo now works as a peer supervisor. 'We give people medication. If they need shelter or if they have issues they can't deal with alone, we intervene as peers to try to put them back on track.' Streetscape runs a food garden in the city centre. The garden is cultivated by their formerly homeless clients as part of their programme of being reintegrated into society. Another peer worker, Dolan Davis, spent two decades on the streets before joining Streetscapes in 2021. He began working in gardens and later moved to the organisation's Kuils River farm. 'I started setting goals for myself and changed my whole mentality,' Davis said. Thabo Koti from Kraaifontein said Streetscapes had helped him recover from addiction and trauma. 'They were the first organisation that actually walked the journey with me into recovery.' The most beneficial thing about Streetscapes housing is that it restores your dignity. You forget what home is.' He currently works in a Streetscapes garden in Trafalgar and is a house co-ordinator at Chester House, one of Streetscapes' properties. 'Getting those seven units would mean they'd be able to assist more people, give them hope and give them a sense of belonging and worth,' Koti said. Jonathan Manuel from Delft was homeless at just nine-years-old after his mother died in 1995. 'I was on the streets my entire life and didn't know what it meant to sleep in a house,' he said. After getting his ID through Streetscapes, he was offered housing and work at the organisation. 'Now that Streetscapes placed me in Chester House, I feel like I'm part of a family and I feel the warmth.' The new site could also be a model for green development. 'We started experimenting with this beautiful painted container, which is a laundromat. It works completely off the grid,' said Laitinen. Streetscapes plans to replicate the solar- and rainwater-powered laundromat and showers should they get the new property. To fund construction and upgrades, Laitinen said Streetscapes is approaching solar and construction companies for cost-effective partnerships. Asked whether there was a timeframe for the public participation process, the City said it did not have one yet as it is 'still dependent on several factors'. 'The City's Property Transactions Department is undertaking technical investigations, whereafter the public participation process will commence,' the City said. It emphasised that no final decision on a sale has been taken, and that the proposal remains under assessment ahead of the public participation phase. While the programme's immediate impact might seem small, Laitinen believes its symbolic value is much greater. 'If you have 100 people off the streets in one month, that's a drop in the ocean. But it creates hope, and changes the system. This is also symbolic of how we all pull together: the state gives what it has, the NGOs give what they have, and corporates come together. 'To me, it's the model for how we can do things differently, and that is hugely exciting,' Laitinen said. One of the Streetscapes gardens in the city centre. This article was originally published on GroundUp.
Eyewitness News
12-05-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Plan to use properties owned by City of Cape Town for homeless project
Non-profit organisation Streetscapes is raising funds in the hope of buying seven housing units from the City of Cape Town, with plans to convert them into homes for previously homeless people. James Vos, the City's mayco member for economic growth, said six of the units are vacant, and three are still tenanted. He said the units were initially acquired because of plans to widen roads decades ago. Those plans have since been scrapped, and the city no longer needs them. Vos said a sale of these properties would require council's approval, and a public participation process. The sale could be subject to a clause in the City's Immovable Property policy, limiting the use of the property to social care. 'The policy provides for social care properties to be sold at a purchase price of between 10% to 25% of fair market value,' Vos said. For the past decade, Streetscapes has worked to end homelessness by supporting people with jobs and houses. Their model aims to get people work. The organisation currently supports 150 formerly homeless people, through work, housing and other support. In its peer-to-peer programmes, people who were previously homeless or struggled with addiction are trained to support others in similar situations. At Streetscapes, 'peers' offer guidance and help clients with medication, housing and daily challenges. Jesse Laitinen, Streetscapes' founder and manager, said the new houses would be offered to peer counsellors and people who had been through the first stage of their programme and were now ready to find work and a home. They would be able to live with their families, close to the city, and pay affordable rent. The discounted value of the properties would be R2.5 million. Streetscapes is trying to raise R250,000 through a crowdfunding campaign and is approaching businesses to fund the rest. 'What we want to do is create a home in each of the units so that they won't be a dorm or an institution,' Laitinen said. Securing the properties would allow Streetscapes to scale up its reintegration programme for previously homeless people. One beneficiary of that programme is Sandile Mhlongo, a former soccer player who came to Cape Town from Durban in 2002. After ending up on the streets in 2005, he moved through various shelters and programmes before finding stability with Streetscapes. He began by cleaning streets in Woodstock, then moved into one of the Streetscapes houses. 'When you're part of the programme, they aim to put you in the house to uplift yourself,' Mhlongo said. 'Housing means a lot to us because some of us never had housing before.' Mhlongo now works as a peer supervisor. 'We give people medication. If they need shelter or if they have issues, they can't deal with alone, we intervene as peers to try to put them back on track.' Another peer worker, Dolan Davis, spent two decades on the streets before joining Streetscapes in 2021. He began working in gardens and later moved to the organisation's Kuils River farm. 'I started setting goals for myself and changed my whole mentality,' Davis said. Thabo Koti from Kraaifontein said Streetscapes had helped him recover from addiction and trauma. 'They were the first organisation that actually walked the journey with me into recovery.' The most beneficial thing about Streetscapes housing is that it restores your dignity. You forget what home is.' He currently works in a Streetscapes garden in Trafalgar and is a house co-ordinator at Chester House, one of Streetscapes' properties. 'Getting those seven units would mean they'd be able to assist more people, give them hope and give them a sense of belonging and worth,' Koti said. Jonathan Manuel from Delft was homeless at just nine-years-old after his mother died in 1995. 'I was on the streets my entire life and didn't know what it meant to sleep in a house,' he said. After getting his ID through Streetscapes, he was offered housing and work at the organisation. 'Now that Streetscapes placed me in Chester House, I feel like I'm part of a family and I feel the warmth.' The new site could also be a model for green development. 'We started experimenting with this beautiful painted container, which is a laundromat. It works completely off the grid,' said Laitinen. Streetscapes plans to replicate the solar- and rainwater-powered laundromat and showers should they get the new property. To fund construction and upgrades, Laitinen said Streetscapes is approaching solar and construction companies for cost-effective partnerships. Asked whether there was a timeframe for the public participation process, the city said it did not have one yet as it is 'still dependent on several factors'. 'The city's Property Transactions Department is undertaking technical investigations, whereafter the public participation process will commence,' the city said. It emphasised that no final decision on a sale has been taken, and that the proposal remains under assessment ahead of the public participation phase. While the programme's immediate impact might seem small, Laitinen believes its symbolic value is much greater. 'If you have 100 people off the streets in one month, that's a drop in the ocean. But it creates hope and changes the system. This is also symbolic of how we all pull together: the state gives what it has, the NGOs give what they have, and corporates come together. 'To me, it's the model for how we can do things differently, and that is hugely exciting,' Laitinen said. This article first appeared on GroundUp. Read the original article here.
