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PIETERMARITZBURG MENTAL HEALTH SOCIETY
Promoting mental health since 1945
The Pietermaritzburg Mental Health Society was founded after World War II, when many families experienced adjustment problems when husbands and fathers returned to families that were unfamiliar to them. There were also families whose fathers were killed during the war. The Society was established in order to assist family members with their emotional and relationship problems. Psychiatric clinics were set up in collaboration with Town Hill Hospital and served patients from the city and outlying areas. Mrs Joan Tennant, was the first Social Worker appointed by the Society. She later became the Director – a position she held for 32 years. Three more Social Workers were appointed during the 60s to serve Indian and Black Communities. Mrs Tennant wrote about the early days: ”The Society was very poor. Staff members were never sure whether there would be sufficient funds to pay their salaries. However, by some miracle a donation would arrive and a crisis was averted.” Auxiliary Committees were formed for each population group, which proved the most effective way in reaching communities to become involved in the work of the Society. The Auxiliary Committees functioned with their own office bearers. They identified needs in their communities and fundraised for specific projects. This enabled the organisation to respond appropriately to needs in the community and thus enhancing the lives of persons with mental disabilities. Some of these were:
- Children with special needs, which led to the establishment of Care Haven, a Special Care Centre in 1986 and several special schools:
1957: the Peter Pan Training Centre 1976: Open Gate School 1977: Lotus Haven later became HS Ebrahim Special School 1981: Ekukhanyeni Special School 1985: Entokozweni Special School All the above are now independent LSEN schools subsidised by the Department of Education.
- Training facilities for adults with limited education and training: 1972: Inkanyezi Workshop 1985: Buxton Workshop 1986: Eastwood Workshop – closed 2004 1988: MH Moosa Workshop
- Residential facilities for adults:
1978: Senior Training Centre – closed 2010 1981: Lyn House 1985: Buxton Hostel – closed 2001 1990: Eastwood Hostel – closed 2004 1992: Pathmavathie Pillay Home 1992: Sunnyside Farm 1994: Joan Tennant House 2006: ML Sultan Frail Care Centre 2010: The Palms
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The building situated in 47 Temple Street, (purchased in 1968) was the original office of the Society. In 1986 it became a Psycho-social Rehabilitation Club, after the current property between Jabu Ndlovu and Langalibalele Streets were purchased and renovated in 1985. A period of consolidation followed which necessitated termination of services that were too costly or no longer viable and restructuring of others to improve service delivery. Social Workers worked from offices in Imbali, Northdale, Eastwood and the city centre. The services where fragmented in a political changing Society, and staff often did now know each other. The erstwhile Buxton Hostel required extensive renovations. It was decided to develop that building into the Social Work Centre, with offices for all Social Workers, a training room and the B Lind Boardroom. Individuals and families requiring the services of the Society now come to one building to access these services. The office facility in Northdale was remodelled into the ML Sultan Frail Care Centre, providing 24 hour care for frail residents from the Society’s other facilities. Renovations to Lyn House were completed in December 2014. Twenty three, mostly over 60 year old, persons (from other facilities) now live in an elder-friendly environment. The Society formed a partnership with Climb Any Mountain, a UK based NGO, to develop a unique, purpose-built facility that, while providing a safe supported living space for persons with mental disabilities, it also aids the development of social and life skills. The Society have benefitted in other ways too - during November 2014 two self-advocates, a parent and a mental health professional visited Pietermaritzburg. They presented a workshop for members of the Advocacy Movement, a separate workshop for parents and met with some carers. Everybody who interacted with them was inspired:
- the members of the advocacy forum understood their rights to self-determination; - the carers had an improved understanding of the limits that perceptions place in
the way of persons living with mental disabilities; - the parents came to know that their children can have their dreams and achieve
within their own abilities. SOCIAL WORK The Social Work team had yet another consistent and effective year of providing services to persons with mental health needs. Services were provided to 2 541 persons - an increase in persons receiving services from the Society, compared to the previous year (1 605). Some 280 persons with disabilities were assisted with administration of their grants and finances and with practical support in their day-to-day challenges; while 213 MHCUs participated in 8 support groups. The 160 new intakes are significantly lower than previously, which may be due to the facilities being unable to accommodate as many new admissions. While some are still on waiting lists for admission, others have elected to find alternative accommodation. Support to MHCUs employed on the open labour market remains an important service. This ensures that they maintain their ability to retain their quality of work, remain
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committed and able to cope with the responsibilities as an employee and manage their finances appropriately. Currently Social Workers assist the Employment Officer with backup counselling to 30 MHCUs employed in factories and companies in Pietermaritzburg. AWARENESS PROGRAMMES The Society’s awareness programme, during the awareness months of March, July and October, reached 12 694 people in the community via clinics, schools, community halls, churches, hospitals, shopping centres and Ukhozi FM, the local community radio station. Awareness Day at Maqongqo Awareness Day at Taylors Halt The first week in September, leading up to Casual Day, was spent at the Liberty Midlands Mall, engaging with shoppers and creating awareness about the services offered by the Society. This year the members of the Society’s Advocacy Forum participated and made the Society proud. Well done!
The Advocacy Team doing their Awareness table at the duty at the Liberty Midlands Mall Liberty Midlands Mall War-on-Words Campaign In July MHCUs and staff joined together to wage war on hate speech. Posters were signed publicly and thereby committing themselves to not use hateful or hurtful words and unacceptable terminology about disability - either in the home or workplace.
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Advocacy members signing the War on Executive Director, Elna Welman Hate Speech commitment and Social Auxiliary Worker Babongile Ndzingi signing the declaration COMMUNITY PROJECTS AND SUPPORT GROUPS The community project groups have remained a vital service to MHCUs and their family members. The topics for discussion are valuable and their interaction with each other enhances the MHCUs’ coping skills within the community. The income, generated by the projects, is shared among the participants and is a welcome addition to their Disability Grant income. Life skills education and training were provided to 501 persons in the community. Many members of the Advocacy Movement have been recruited from these projects which lead to further empowerment of the members. MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY MOVEMENT The Advocacy Movement has continued to grow, with meetings and training continuing bi-monthly. This year saw an increase of support from SAMHAM, situated at the SA Federation of Mental Health. The appointment of Charlene Sunkel, a well-known advocate for mental health, to the SAFMH as Programme Manager: Advocacy and Development, is an affirmation that the Movement’s voice is heard. This has also brought about an increased awareness and participation by the members. The provincial meeting of the Advocacy Movement took place twice in the past year. It affords the members the opportunity to share issues of concern, education and motivation. Self-advocates have provided inspiring stories of success and determination to rousing support from peers attending. Maintaining these meetings has become a challenge due of the cost of transport. A provincial meeting at the N Mudaly Hall
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30%
33%
37%
Location of Beneficiairies: 2541
Peri-Urban
Rurual
Urban 74%
25%
1%
Beneficiaries: 2541 Persons withintellectualdisabilities
Persons withpsychiatric/psycho-socialdisabilities
One of the highlights of the year was the visit from MENCAP Wales, (the Director, accompanied by two self-advocates and a parent) in November 2014. The interaction with persons from another country was a unique and very empowering experience, which made it even more meaningful when they were able to skype with self-advocates in Wales at the end of the workshop Self-advocates from Wales and PMB meeting each other
Parents being addressed by Dot Gallagher Advocates working hard at the workshop from MENCAP In March 2015 Social Workers and members of the Advocacy Movement met with educators from several LSEN schools to introduce themselves, the work of the Advocacy Movement and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Advocacy Movement ended the year’s activities with a picnic at the Botanical Gardens
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RESIDENTIAL CARE Residential Care provides long term care to adults living with a mental disability, in a residential setting ensuring that their basic personal needs are taken care of and offering emotional and psychological support. The Society’s 6 facilities accommodated 234 residents in the past year. Seven new residents were admitted. Of the 21 residents who were discharged, 13 returned to their families and 8 passed on due to long term physical illnesses. The ML Sultan Frail Care Centre is full. The need for residents over 60 years, who require more care than what is available in the other facilities, were identified. It was decided to renovate Lyn House, (an existing residential facility which was closed for some time), for this purpose. The 22 residents, who moved in to Lyn House on 8 December 2014, are now happily settled in their new environment. With the pending sale of Sunnyside Farm, twenty residents were relocated to the Society’s facilities in Pietermaritzburg, in preparation for the move. The remaining residents at Sunnyside Farm will be accommodated on the finalization of the sale. The Mental Health Care User committees continued to meet monthly. These committees are used as a platform to address matters of concern and have proved to be a very useful channel of communication for residents to express their opinions and feelings. An elected representative then provides feedback at a meeting with the Manager: Residential Facilities. This provides valuable information and understanding of the residents’ needs to ensure suitable adjustments to enhance their quality of life. The majority of the residents attend the workshops daily. Many have allocated tasks in the facilities for which they receive a small stipend. Seven residents were in employment in various companies, ie a crèche, a supermarket, Bidvest Managed Solutions and Capitol Caterers. They are employed as laundry assistants, packers, security guards and a food service assistant. Regular contact is maintained to monitor and provide support to both the employers and the residents. PROGRAMMES and ACTIVITIES The recreational and educational programme and activities are planned jointly by the staff and residents, to ensure that their needs are met. Residents are also encouraged to participate in community activities. Recreation in a residential facility is as important as the daily norm of work. All important dates on the calendar are observed. Heritage Day was celebrated by the wearing of traditional dress, having cultural specific meals and participating in song and dance specific to each culture, thus depicting the cultural diversity in our country.
Women’s Day being celebrated at P Pillay Home
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Day outings to the beach, a picnic at the Botanical Gardens, visits to the Nelson Mandela Museum are some the activities the residents enjoyed.
The residents of Joan Tennant House outing at Wylie Park and residents of Sunnyside Farm spending a day at the Nelson Mandela Museum
Families were invited to the open days to interact with their family members and staff. Through the concerted efforts of the staff the residential facilities have proved to be a positive, enabling environment. Families visiting P Pillay Home THE COMMUNITY CARING FOR THE SOCIETY In the past year numerous members of the public people have made contact with the facilities to provide some type of service. Of note is the Sibahle Sonke Community Project from Peter Pan School, when a group of learners with special needs visited ML Sultan Frail Care Centre and provided Christmas treats and gifts to each resident. The community’s involvement within the facilities, in the form of donations in time and kind, have enriched the lives of the residents in so in many ways.
The Palms residents enjoying an A regular and loyal supporter afternoon of crafting with volunteers of P Pillay Home
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EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME The employment programme includes work skills training, contract work, crafts, sport & recreation activities. The 3 protective workshops accommodated 355 adult persons with mental disabilities, of which 239 were from the communities. WORK SKILLS PILOT TRAINING PROGRAMME This pilot training programme was rolled out in all three workshops in January 2015. Workshop Instructors were trained in the implementation of the five modules ie gardening, catering, cleaning, laundry and car wash. Each module comprises eight lessons. On completion of each module the MHCU receives a participation certificate and at the completion of all five modules a Qualifying Certificate. Those who have progressed, developed and mastered any of the modules will increase their chances of finding employment.
Happy participants at the Work Skills Pilot Training Programme showing off their certificates CONTRACT WORK Contract work is one of the primary activities in the protective workshops and a major source of income. The following firms provide contract work to the Society: GUD Holdings, Matelec, Rosedale Precast Fencing, Preformed Line Products, Ramsey Engineering, Venns Attorneys, Comrades Marathon Association, PMB and District Community Chest, Papini Trading, Peter Pan School, Wildlands Conservation Trust, Twin Care Group and Asmalls Clothing. Approximately 35 MHCUs (from all three workshops), accompanied by a Workshop Instructor, continued to be transported to Asmalls Distribution Center daily. They are ticketing clothing items for the retail stores. This is a very lucrative contract with an extremely positive working relationship between the Society and the contractor.
MHCUs labeling at Asmalls Distribution Centre
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GARDENING Every workshop has a gardening project comprising of a team of MHCUs and a Workshop Instructor. They maintain the gardens at the workshops and at three of the residential facilities. A dedicated gardening team from Buxton Workshop also maintains the garden at Peter Pan School.
Inkanyezi Workshop grows and sells vegetables to the local community, staff and sometimes even Capitol Caterers. CAR WASH All three workshops have trained car wash teams cleaning the Society’s cars and also private vehicles of staff and members of the community. CRAFTS Sewing, knitting and other craft projects continue to be undertaken, with some items being exhibited at the Royal Show. Many of these items have won first, second, special and highly commended prizes – they did the Society and themselves proud!!!
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WOODWORK The carpentry section at MH Moosa Workshop is renowned for its furniture restoration and often has a long waiting list of customers wanting to utilise their services. They also made various sized dog kennels to order. EMPLOYMENT IN THE OPEN LABOUR MARKET The Society is proud to have had 30 MHCUs in both part time and full time employment. They are assessed by the Employment Officer, together with the workshop managers, for suitability and placement. Regular contact with the employers, provide support to both the employer and employee to ensure a successful placement. In the past year two MHCUs have been employed as food service assistants on a permanent basis with Capitol Caterers. Another two were employed by Bidvest Managed Solutions. Both companies provided in-house training over a period of 3 - 6 months. 9 MHCUs secured employment at two steel firms and a local rubber factory. The Society also employed a MHCU as a gardener. An MHCU employed by Capitol Caterers An MHCU employed by Rogue Steel Negotiations with existing employers are ongoing for further placements. The Employment Officer is always sourcing new employment opportunities SPORT AND RECREATION An inter-workshop soccer tournament and swimming gala was held. Various cultural, religious and other days of importance were celebrated and beach outings were undertaken. Gifts and cards were made by the MHCUs for some of these events.
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65% 15%
3% 17%
Staff Population Distribution
Black
Asian
Coloured
White
19%
81%
Staff Gender
Male
Female
World Cup Soccer Day Enjoying the swimming gala Fun day at the Palms Workshops held Open Days to raise awareness of the services at the workshops for possible future applicants. A talk on entrepreneurial skills was presented to MHCUs. PERSONNEL A total of 93 persons were employed in the past year. Of these, 54 were employed in residential facilities and consisted of managers, professional nurses and enrolled nursing assistants, caregivers, housekeepers, drivers, maintenance and cleaning staff. The 19 staff members at the three workshops, (managers, an employment officer, workshop instructors and drivers) were responsible for the implementation of the employment programme. The Social Work team comprised of 7 Social Workers and 2 Social Auxiliary Workers and a full time receptionist. The Administration team of 8 at the Central Office, supports all the other programmes. The Society acknowledges the important role and contributions of volunteers and enjoyed the services of 19 volunteers at the various facilities, of which 2 were eventually employed by the Society. The services of the staff employed by the Society are supplemented by staff from Capitol Caterers. Bidvest Managed Solutions and Red Alert.
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TRAINING On-going training remains an important and regular feature of this Society’s belief that additional knowledge and skills of staff, who interact with service users, will enhance the quality of care and services provided.
SOCIAL WORK
Social Workers’ training was registered with the SA Council for Social Service Professionals. This ensures that they receive Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points that they require. Social Workers from other organisations, including the state, have also benefitted by attending the Society's Social Work training programme, so that they too can obtain CPD points.
CAREGIVERS AND WORKSHOP INTRUCTORS
A total number of 31 staff members attended one of three modules of training that were offered.
CAPACITY BUILDING
The Society continues to be a place of choice for practical training of students. A total 12 Social Auxiliary Work students and 2 Social Work students were trained. A further 6 students doing a care-givers course at Thandziwe Training, 20 nursing students from DUT and 6 students from the Methodist Seminary did practical training in the facilities. A total of 46 students have been assisted.
LOOKING AHEAD
The partnership with Climb Any Mountain has already provided training and awareness towards developing staff regarding more supportive care to increase independency by MHCUs, with the visit from MENCAP Wales. There are plans for MENCAP to be more involved in a hands-on programme in the coming year. FUNDRAISING AND DONATIONS Fundraising remains a challenge within the NGO sector. Although every effort is made to raise funds for running costs, it has become necessary for the Society to utilise its reserve funds to ensure that services continue at an acceptable level. The Dept of Health has effected a 1.5% subsidy increase for the financial year in discussion, and informed the Society of a further 3% increase wef April 2015. The Department of Social Development informed NGOs in March 2015 – the final month of the financial year – that there will be no increase for the 2014/2015 year. This resulted in a R650 000 shortfall of income that was anticipated in the light of previous practice. The Society is most appreciative of all donors, in particular those who regularly support the Society in cash, kind and time. Staff at the various facilities are committed to fundraising projects ie sale of chocolates, muffins, cakes, cards, jumble sales and street collections.
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43%
21%
35%
Board of Management
Black
Asian
White
DONOR RECOGNITION Victor Daitz Foundation PostNet Edna Burford Trust Edward Staley Murphy Trust Harcourt Palmer Trust Myrtle Anderson Memorial Trust Supreme Glass PMB & District Community Chest Department of Health Dept of Social Development Key Truck & Car (PMB) Thank you to ms Cathy Smith and ms Margaret McCullough (J Leslie Smith Inc) and mr Peter Hobden (Tomlinson Mnguni James Inc) for their on-going legal support and guidance. Every bit of support in cash, kind, professional expertise and time is appreciated. No organisation can function without good leadership and functional support. The Board of Management under the chairmanship of Mr A Naidoo comprised the following members: Mr L Ntuli (Vice Chair) Ms M Vida (Treasurer) Mr J Swart Mr N Mudaly Dr B Lind Ms T Nsibande Ms M Ntsibande Mr S Mpulo Ms R Naidoo Ms N Mkiti Ms J Liphoko Mr G Moore Ms E Welman When we look back at the modest beginnings of the Society and consider the input and kindness of committed individuals, families, professionals and others, one is humbled at the achievements of the Society and in particular those of persons living with mental difficulties! MANAGEMENT TEAM MANAGERS OF FACILITIES Elna Welman: Executive Director Philippa Manning: Deputy Director Prunes Chetty: Residential Facilities Veditha Singh: Employment Programmes Sihle Kraai : Social Work Adrian Ogilvie: Admin & Finance
Leandra Potgieter: Sunnyside Farm Rhona Forward: The Palms Leanne Roestof – Lyn House Gaby Nock: P Pillay Home Michelle Moodley: ML Sultan FCC Vadi Govender: MH Moosa Workshop Retha Opperman: Buxton Workshop Selby Mkhize: Inkanyezi Workshop
POSTAL ADDRESS CONTACT DETAILS PO Box 133 Pietermaritzburg 3200 PHYSICAL ADDRESS 133 Jabu Ndlovu Street Pietermaritzburg 3201
Central Office 033 392 7230 Socialwork Centre 033 392 7240 Facsimile 033 345 0842 E-Mail [email protected] Website www.pmbmhs.org.za Facebook Pietermaritzburg Mental Health Society
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