Cape town - The Elim Night Shelter celebrated its 25th anniversary and the opening of its second-phase building project while those involved in its operations and former residents swopped stories of overcoming addiction, abuse and life on the streets.
Former police detective and shelter manager Shafeek Ortell entered the shelter in 2009.
Ortell was battling drug addiction and had lost all his family and friends after leaving the police. Ortell, with his wife Liza, now manages the Christian-based shelter in Elsies River.
For the past seven years, donors and fund-raisers have been raising funds for the second-phase building, just metres away from the shelter. The building consists of 14 bedrooms, four bathrooms, two kitchens and two living areas, and can accommodate up to 21 adults, including couples, for R1 950 a month.
“The second-phase housing is for those who are ready to move on. They’ve got their salaries, (but) they don’t have money for a deposit yet, they don’t have a safe place to go to anyway.
“The next place, if they should leave, is a wendy house in a drug-infested area,” Ortell said.
Donors, supporters and other guests gathered for celebrations which included performances by shelter residents showcasing their dance and musical talents, as well as personal stories of what led to them finding the shelter, and how it had remarkably changed their lives for the better.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many pensioners have knocked on the shelter doors looking for accommodation. For several of them, the shelter would be their home until their last breath.
“To save her children from her, she came here to have a better future with them.
“She was a drug addict and she’s gone ahead in leaps and bounds, I am so proud of her,” Ortell said of a shelter resident.
Molested as a child, Tamara Gilowey had suffered deep depression and by primary school she had already attempted suicide.
“I was at my wits’ end. I was dehydrated, starving, had been through abuse and been using drugs and alcohol because that’s what my partner wanted to keep me by his side.”
Gilowey is now married and has pursued her dream of becoming an author.
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za