Homelessness costs the city of Cape Town in South Africa more than 40 million dollars a year. Winter rains draw some of the city’s more than 14 000 homeless people into temporary shelters.
But for U-turn Homeless Ministries, the goal is not just to get people off the streets. This Christian organisation offers clients a mentored pathway out of homelessness. Mark Roughton reports from Cape Town.
Source: https://homeless.org.za/
SCRIPT:
HOMELESS MINISTRY OFFERS MORE THAN SHELTER – GNA
INTRO:
More than 14 000 homeless people live in the South African city of Cape Town. This year, heavy winter rains have again forced authorities to establish temporary shelters for those in need. A 2019 survey estimates that homelessness costs the city more than 40 million dollars a year. But for U-turn Homeless Ministries, the goal is not just to get people off the streets. For 25 years, this Christian organisation has offered clients a mentored pathway out of homelessness. Mark Roughton reports from Cape Town.
TAKE PACKAGE
VIZ: EXTERIOR SHOTS OF RAINY WEATHER AND MAKESHIFT STRUCTURES ON THE STREETS OF CAPE TOWN
VO1
South Africa currently ranks as the most unequal country in the world. The average homeless person spends a staggering 8 and a half years on the streets of Cape Town.
SOT: [SUPER] [MIKHAEL MANUEL, WARD COUNCILLOR, CITY OF CAPE TOWN]
“That is a fact of any big global city, or any big developing city. It’s a very unfortunate and heart-breaking situation. And so the correct approach in that instance really is to try and help as best as possible.”
VIZ: EXTERIORS OF U-TURN SHELTER; INTERIOR SHOTS OF FACILITIES
VO 2
For U-turn, caring for the homeless is a multi-faceted, long-term commitment.
SOT: [SUPER] [STEPHEN UNDERWOOD, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, U-TURN HOMELESS MINISTRIES]
“It’s important to think about more than just basic needs. Because basic needs will help alleviate suffering in the moment, but they don’t actually take someone off the streets.”
VIZ: U-TURN CLOTHING DROP; CLIENTS RECEIVING FOOD; INTERIOR U-TURN SHOP
VO 3
U-turn Homeless Ministries was started by a member of St Stephen’s Church, in Cape Town, in 1997. Today, clients begin their journeys at Homeless Support Centres. After a phase of therapy and rehabilitation, work-readiness is developed through various social enterprises.
SOT: [SUPER] [DIMITRI CUPIDO, FOREMAN, LIVING ROOTS NURSERY]
“It gets very lonely on the streets. And that makes you do crazy things. Because it feels to you like no-one is caring about you, actually.”
SOT: [SUPER] [PATRICK SOLOMONS, U-TURN CHAMPION]
“I always wanted to run on self-will. I wanted to do things in my own way, in my own strength. And I think because of doing that, it made me actually end up at U-turn. Because I came to now realise that my life was unmanageable and that I cannot do it on my own.”
SOT: [SUPER] [STEPHEN UNDERWOOD, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, U-TURN HOMELESS MINISTRIES]
“Our clients, generally, they come to us. They’re living on the streets, they’re unemployed, they’re often struggling with substance abuse issues. And then through a four-phase journey, we really walk a long journey with them. And they all graduate sober, employed, and housed. And over 80 percent of our graduates maintain those three outcomes long-term.”
VIZ: DIMITRI AT LIVING ROOTS NURSERY; SHOP; WORKERS IN THE NURSERY
VO4
Dimitri Cupido spent 3 years as a U-turn ‘champion’, working in various charity shops. When the opportunity arose to convert an old bowling club into an indigenous plant nursery, a life-long dream became a reality for him.
SOT: [SUPER] [DIMITRI CUPIDO, FOREMAN, LIVING ROOTS NURSERY]
“I always told my occupational therapist that I love gardening and I want to open my gardening service one day. And then they remembered that, and we created this beautiful place here. And I’m the foreman and I oversee a lot of the champions that’s on the program now.”
VIZ: U-TURN ‘CHAMPIONS’ WORKING AT THE NURSERY
VO 5
Because U-turn’s social enterprises generate half of the organization’s income, they are able to support clients for as long as it takes for them to graduate into open-labor work and private accommodation.
SOT: [SUPER] [DIMITRI CUPIDO, FOREMAN, LIVING ROOTS NURSERY]
“Even a plant, for instance, it looks bad at times. But we nurture it here and we cherish it and keep it near to our heart. And after a while you would see that thing flourishes again.”
SOT: [SUPER] [STEPHEN UNDERWOOD, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, U-TURN HOMELESS MINISTRIES]
“One of the main misconceptions is thinking of homelessness almost as an identity statement. So we think of a homeless person rather than a person experiencing homelessness. And I think when we do that, we actually shut off the potential that that person has.”
VIZ: STAFF AND CLOSING DRONE SHOT OF LIVING ROOTS NURSERY
VO 6 & SIGN-OFF
However long the process for each client, U-turn maintains that “it costs less to give someone a future, than it costs to maintain someone on the street”.
Mark Roughton in Cape Town, South Africa, reporting for the Global News Alliance.
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