In South Africa, the cost of living is at its peak and for many living below the breadline, their reality is to survive. The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital serves children from the Western Cape and beyond, as well as across sub-Saharan Africa. Each year, they see around 250 000 patient visits for specialist medical care.
For many of the patients and families at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, family is a bond not just based on blood but felt through the care, love, and support of medical and hospital staff, and most importantly the generous donors who with their giving, make a life-changing difference.
In addition to the dire needs of families coming from low socio-economic situations, the stress for these families going through life-changing diagnoses and long-term medical treatments for their little ones is traumatic.
To provide vulnerable patients and their families with temporary emergency relief support, the Social Work Department at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, with the help of the Children’s Hospital Trust has started the Family Care Project to provide families with emergency relief items on their road to recovery.
The Family Care Project requires R1.25million per year to ensure families and patients have what they need on their healing journey. Donations and support for this cause will be applied as follows:
- 70 patients with transportation costs per month
- 240 patients with long-term treatments such as those in the oncology ward per month
- 800 occupational and 900 physiotherapy patients who require weekly check-ups
- Little ones with diabetes whose families struggle to keep up with the high dietary costs; the diabetic clinic sees over 1 400 patients per month
- The Family Care Project also extends itself to assist the only specialised Paediatric Burns Unit in Africa – they see over 320 patients per month
“A child’s illness impacts their family system. At Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, social workers provide psychosocial assessments and counselling for children and families in respect of the emotional impact of illness and trauma, how their interpersonal relationships are affected, and the disruption caused to their family and school activities. However, there is a financial cost to illness and traumatic health incidents that many impoverished families struggle to cope with. We need your help. Families need basic material assistance during and after the child’s hospitalisation.” – Carla Brown, Head of the Social Work Department at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital
Without the support of this project, many patients will not be able to continue their recovery journey to health and will be unable to keep up with the medical demands that will allow them to heal faster and live healthier and happier lives. Amongst those are families and little ones who have lost everything in home fires or live far from home and loved ones.
For the past 28 years, the Children’s Hospital Trust has raised over R1 billion towards improving child public healthcare projects in the Western Cape. Their vision continues to improve and provide all children the opportunity to quality and accessible healthcare. 100% of your donation will go directly towards supporting patients and their families with emergency recovery items and resources.
CEO of the Children’s Hospital Trust,Chantel Cooper says: “We are fully aware of the impact of unemployment and poverty on families and children. When your child is sick, your priority is to ensure that they are taken care of. Many families who accompany their children to hospital do not have the necessities and we are there to support them while their child is in hospital. This could be in the form of clothing, toiletries, snacks, toys for children and transport/and or food parcels when going home. With your support we can help alleviate the trauma families feel when they sit by their children’s bedsides by ensuring they are as comfortable as possible.”
Donate today: childrenshospitaltrust.org.za/donate for more information, please contact: toni.erasmus@chtrust.org.za or 021 686 7860
