As part of the CCID’s “Show you care” winter drive campaign, we’ve published a special four-page supplement called The Tough Times in the CCID’s quarterly newspaper, City Views. In the supplement, we spoke to some of the key figures in the Central City about the challenges people living on the street face.
Streetpeople face numerous challenges all year round. However, Cape Town’s cold and wet winter is a particularly tough time for people living on the streets.
According to Ian Veary, social work manager at the NGO The Carpenter’s Shop, while the winter weather pattern in Cape Town can vary from mild winter weather to storm warnings, the main concern for clients during extreme weather conditions is when they are unable to secure
indoor sleeping quarters. “This means that they are out in the open in close-to-zero temperatures overnight and in wet and windy conditions. As a result, they are prone to illnesses and other physical ailments. There are vulnerable people who may face death in such conditions due to lack of proper nutrition, adequate protection against the severe weather conditions and poor clothing that’s insufficient to guard against the cold.”
Ian further notes: “Our clients also lose out on job opportunities or income generating activities that are normally available during the summer period, as these could be related to being outdoors or having good weather. Also, during winter, many of us boost our immune system in order to avoid colds and flu but these measures are not available to our homeless clients on a regular basis.”
Manager of strategic partnerships at Khulisa Social Solutions, Jesse Laitinen shares Ian’s sentiments: “The wet and cold weather pose a great challenge for people living on the streets that snowballs into other challenges. People need warmer clothes and bedding, and lack of storage becomes a problem as people lose things they can’t store.
The winter weather also increases the risk of becoming sick, highlighting the problems in health services, especially for street people. We’ve noticed how they often get very poor service due to stigma but also due to their perceived behaviour with substances or defaulting on medication.”
The founder of Ladles of Love, Danny Diliberto explains that staying dry in the rainy season is a very big challenge to streetpeople: “They have nothing to help keep the rain off them. I have done a number of clothing and shoe drives and I am amazed to see how quickly the stuff donated disappears from them; meaning they are in constant need of these drives to keep them warm.”
With its annual “Show you care” winter drive, the CCID is once again appealing to members of the public to assist by donating generously; this could be either through donations of money or warm clothing, food, toiletries and shoes.” The winter drive is scheduled to run until September 2018 and more information on the campaign can be found on the Show You Care Facebook page.
Image by Scott Arendse(CCID Online Coordinator)