The Woodside Sanctuary has spent nearly seven decades caring for people with profound intellectual and physical disabilities; they need help keeping the doors open.
Auckland Park, South Africa (20 November 2023) – For the past 68 years, Woodside Sanctuary has provided full-time residential and daycare services to individuals with severe to profound intellectual and physical disabilities. Times have been tough and the sanctuary is at threat of closing its doors for good, if they do not start raising some serious funds and awareness.
There are currently 84 people living at Woodside Sanctuary, aged between 3 and over 67, who require lifelong specialised care. These are individuals who will have nowhere else to go, should the sanctuary close its doors. The team are making every effort to prevent this and needs help.
“After 68 years of service to the profoundly disabled, Woodside’s doors face imminent closure. Our savings have run dry, and donations have all but ground to a halt. For Woodside Sanctuary and especially those in our care, there could be nothing more devastating than our doors closing. For many of our residents, this is the only home they have ever known, and for all, Woodside is a place of safety, security, love, understanding, and assured dignity.
If Woodside’s doors close, our residents would be relocated to institutions that face issues like overcrowding and bureaucratic inefficiencies, and we know that many of Woodside’s residents would simply not survive the trauma of relocation. Lifelong care for individuals with profound intellectual disabilities requires round-the-clock support in compliant facilities from trained professionals in order to meet their complex needs.”
The thought of this relocation taking place is heartbreaking for all involved. The goal is to raise R4 million, which will help the sanctuary get back on its feet.
“South Africa is a resilient country that has faced so much turbulence and uncertainty, and now this Sanctuary faces similar devastating uncertainty and imminent closure. These residents need a lifeline; they need a secure future, knowing that they have a familiar, safe place to call their home.”
This sanctuary is vitally important as it offers a space for more than just the residents who call it home. They offer so many services that benefit the lives of people with profound intellectual and physical disabilities; from remedial and stimulation therapy to nursing and physical therapy. They provide nutritional and educational support and so much more.
This is more than a facility, it is a loving, caring and supportive home. The staff who work at Woodside Sanctuary are the only family many of the residents have ever known. You can read some of the resident’s life stories below. You can find more stories on the Facebook page here.
We can each do our part in helping to save the sanctuary, whether big or small. Every effort will make sure these men, women and children retain the lives they have become accustomed to.
“Woodside has never been in a more desperate situation than we are right now, and we have no other choice but to reach out to everyone who we are able to, and beg on our knees for your assistance to keep our special home open. We need your help and implore you to let your voice be heard in support of some of the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society. No contribution is too small, and every donation received can make all the difference in keeping our doors open.”
You can support the sanctuary via the channels below:
- BackaBuddy – https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/help-save-our-sanctuary
- GivenGain – https://www.givengain.com/campaign/please-help-save-woodside-sanctuary
- Quicket – https://www.quicket.co.za/fundraisers/239463-please-help-save-our-sanctuary/
- Or reach them directly on the website here.
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