Joint winner — Non-profit Organisations Award: Neighbourhood Old Age Homes
A rapidly ageing population and limited national pension budget have made caring for the elderly a daunting task, one the younger generation often seems unwilling to take on.
Neighbourhood Old Age Homes (Noah), a faith-based non-profit organisation, has responded by providing dignity and independent living for the elderly poor since 1981.
Its unique solution is to build oldage homes within communities, allowing residents to live in familiar surroundings. Formed by Catholic Welfare and Development, Noah raises donations to cater for pensioners who rely on a social grant of R1 080 a month.
“South Africa, like many parts of the world, is dealing with a crisis of an ageing population. We are also seeing a younger generation who are ill-equipped to care for their parents, either because of substance abuse, insufficient funds or apathy,” says Noah programme manager Anne van Niekerk.
The organisation has built 12 suburban homes — in Woodstock, Stellenbosch, Rondebosch East, Parow, Khayelitsha, Elsies River, Athlone and Atlantis — that currently house about 160 elderly people.
By enabling the pensioners to retain their independence in their communities for as long as possible, the homes promote the type of “active ageing” envisaged in the Older Persons Act of 2006.
Van Niekerk says, although the legislation has gone a long way to bringing the plight of the elderly into the formal government sector, there is still not enough focus placed on this forgotten generation.
“The huge housing backlog is exacerbating the problem of finding appropriate housing for our older folk. The social dynamics have shifted and while we used to have a culture of caring for our elderly, more often than not it is now the elderly who are the primary caregivers to our children,” she says.
Noah allows grandparents to look after their grandchildren at the homes and, in stark contrast to some of the state residential care facilities, the residents are not weighed down by routines and living conditions that are heavily prescriptive.
“We should not be propping up our elderly, we should be providing them with the security to live their lives independently and with dignity. This means we have to empower them to make their own decisions and run their own lives, but within a safe and supportive environment,” says Van Niekerk.
Other innovations at Noah include partnering the department of health to make access to healthcare easy and convenient, as well as the installation of solar heating in all the homes.
The organisation has grown at a steady pace. Although reliant on donations, it is diversifying its donor base by attracting more donors who commit to small sums over longer periods.
The Investing in the Future judges praised Noah’s success in building caring neighbourhoods for the elderly. “Their homes are the only ones of their kind in South Africa and their treatment is steps ahead of everyone else in the sector. The model should be replicated across the country,” the judges said.