U-Turn

U-turn is a Christian non-profit organisation that works with homeless or destitute men and women in Claremont and the surrounding areas. Their aim is to restore the self-worth and self-esteem of adult homeless persons by addressing their spiritual, physical and emotional needs. In so doing they help to rehabilitate and re-integrate them back into society.

ARISE has recently been launched as a daughter project to U-turn and seeks to respond to the increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children in Cape Town, especially in light of South Africa’s massive AIDS epidemic. First phase work is a vital part of U-turn’s ministry and comprises twice-weekly soup kitchens which provide an opportunity to meet new people in need of help and to address some of their physical needs, allowing them to be integrated into U-turn’s skills training programmes. These programmes are run to teach skills which help to restore their self-worth and self-esteem. Numbers vary, but U-turn feeds an average of 70 people each week.

Wednesday Soup Kitchen: St Stephen’s Church, 86 Belvedere Road, Claremont at 2pm

Friday Soup Kitchen and Bible Study: St Stephen’s Church, 86 Belvedere Road, Claremont at 10.00am

After Friday soup kitchen there is a first aid centre available for the homeless men and women.

Meal Vouchers: U-turn wishes to discourage people from giving food or money to the homeless at traffic lights or at one’s door, as this only encourages them to remain in this environment. U-turn recommends buying meal vouchers or a making a contribution to organizations that help this community. Meal vouchers can be bought from the U-turn office (R25 for a booklet of 5 meal vouchers). These contain meal tickets and can be given to homeless people for use at the soup kitchens.