Our Projects
We provide a range of services at the Denis Hurley Centre to respond to the needs of marginalised groups in inner-city Durban especially homeless people and refugees. People of all faiths and nationalities work here side by side to help all communities.
We have four core projects:
- Nkosinathi programme for the homeless
- Usizo Lwethu Afrisun Clinic
- Refugee pastoral care
- Sewing for Africa
In addition, there are community arts and education projects open to all.
And there are planned future projects to help the poor and marginalised of Durban.
Nkosinathi Project for the Homeless
The project is run by a group of volunteers whose efforts are coordinated by a paid coordinator. Thanks to a partnership with the Grey Street Mosque and SANZAF, we have Christian and Muslim volunteers working side by side to help the homeless.
The Nkosinathi Project provides:
Food
We offer breakfast and a cooked lunch four days a week, serving over 4,000 meals a month (250–350 meals each day). Although some of the food is purchased, Nkosinathi makes use of food donations and special agreements with local traders as well as donations of cash from the Cathedral parish, volunteers and well-wishers.
Showers and clothes
We provide showers and clean second-hand clothes to help homeless people improve their sense of self-respect and personal dignity.
Referrals and Advice
We refer clients to our Clinic for health problems as well as to the other outreach projects for the specific help in which each specialises. Year 4 Social Work students (as part UNISA’s Bright Site initiative) help out in the project to interview clients one-to-one and to assist in identifying their needs.
Advocacy
We speak out on behalf of the homeless community and also help them to advocate for their own rights. For example, we provide an office at the DHC for a committee of homeless representatives; we organise forums for homeless people and the police to come together and listen to each other; we sponsored a theatre programme to help tell the true story of drugs on the streets. We are currently playing a leading role in the City-sponsored research project on homelessness with the Human Sciences Research Council. We also partner with Safer Cities (eThekwini Municipality), Urban Futures Centre (DUT) and Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry to try and identify creative and effective ways to help the homeless.
Volunteers
We are always open to new volunteers who want to come once or more regularly, on their own or in small groups (from a family, from schools or offices, from parishes and other religious groups). Volunteering is for any amount of time that you can offer, between 8.30am and 1.30pm, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, with safe parking available.
For more information on Nkosinathi, or if you wish to volunteer or donate food, contact the Co-ordinator, Sr Cathy: cathy@denishurleycentre.org or 031 301 2240
Refugee Pastoral Care
Refugee Pastoral Care is a commission for the Catholic Archdiocese of Durban established to deal with foreign nationals in the area of the archdiocese. The organisation focuses on providing pastoral services to all foreign nationals who need it.
The commission has been in place since 1999 but became fully operational in 2002 and since then has been under the guidance of a full time chaplain. Several programs are in place to assist our disadvantaged refugee brothers and sisters by offering pastoral and social services with a view to restore their lost dignity, faith and hope. For more information, have a look at the Refugee Pastoral Care website: www.refugeepastoralcare.co.za
Sewing for Africa
Sewing for Africa (now a stand-alone, independently run project) provides a foundational course in sewing skills for women to prepare them for factory work or for setting up their own tailoring businesses.
Small groups of women learn and practice sewing skills with a specific focus on experiencing for themselves how they can make money from using these skills.
The initiative for the project, and the initial donation of equipment, came from a long-standing Durban-based Hindu organisation, the Divine Life Society. The project has also benefited from a generous donation from the US-based Conrad Hilton Fund which specifically assists programmes run by Catholic religious sisters like Sr Marion Millane, the Holy Family Sister who used to oversee this project. The project is currently run by Nozipho Tembe.
Skills in Action
The project uses industrial and domestic equipment and is led by two trainers with outside assistance from other tailoring experts. Each group of 10-12 students comes in 3 days a week to learn and practice skills for a period of 3-4 months.
Much of the work that the trainees do is for paying clients who have commissioned the group to provide small scale tailoring, for example, finishing and embroidering pillowcases and napkins for hotels and restaurants, or liturgical clothes for church groups, sodalities and choirs.
For more information on Sewing for Africa, or if you are interested in commissioning work from the group, contact Nozipho Tembe: noziphopatrica@gmail.com / 082 536 6076.
