GMA Coronavirus Support: Special Needs facility needs help caring for 37 vulnerable residents

BACKGROUND: Today, Huis Quanessa has 37 residents ranging from children to adults. All these residents have different needs, some have specific dietary requirements and other chronic medical needs. Huis Quanessa, named after its first resident, is not funded by the government and rely on donations and fundraising. Many of the residents don’t have any family and those that do, so not all have the means to contribute financially. The national lockdown has put added pressure on the staff and budget as no visits are allowed. They are also struggling financially as donations are harder to come by. They’ve reached out to Good Morning Angels for assistance

REQUEST FOR: Donette de Waal from Huis Quanessa for special needs children and adults

ANGEL 1: Christo Besuidenhout, now national president of the Round Table

SPONSORING: The Round Table will contribute R20 000,00 towards the expenses of caring for the 37 residents of Huis Quanessa

ANGEL 2: The Good Morning Angels Fund NPC

SPONSORING: The GMA Fund will match that donation and send R20 000,00 #AngelRands to Donette to buy the groceries and other essentials needed to care for the residents of Huis Quanessa. (#AngelRands is Jacaranda FM Good Morning Angel’s own electronic voucher, managed and distributed on our behalf by eVoucher.mobi (powered by Celbux).

ORIGINAL REQUEST:

Please assist Huis Quanessa for special needs children and adults

We want to start to say thank you to Jacaranda FM and Roundtable for considering supporting TP15’s proposed beneficiary for the Jacaranda FM – GMA initiative. Your generosity and support to this cause especially during this difficult time, will be greatly appreciated.

A little background as to why we chose Huis Quanessa and why this is so close to our hearts. I’m a tabler’s wife, Mariska and had a brother named Nico, which was mentally disabled and had very serious epilepsy. We were lucky enough to be able to look after my brother. He had everything that he needed with a lot of love and support, my mother looked after him day and night, and was he our whole world. Sadly, my brother passed away last year October 2019 at the age of 37 years, and we miss him every day. He made us appreciate the small things in life, never to take anything for granted. He had a happy full life and made a big impact on so many people’s lives because of his innocence and unconditional love.

All children are not as fortunate as my brother and through Huis Quanessa, we are able to help these less fortunate children, ensuring that they are also loved and taken care of.

Background about Huis Quanessa

Huis Quanessa is a home for disabled children in Gezina, Pretoria. Currently they have 32 disabled children and grown-ups that are staying there and being cared for 24hours per day, 365 days a year. They ensure that specialised feeding needs are met and provide stimulation programs and most important of all - love - to these disabled children.

Huis Quanessa was named after a 13-year-old girl named Quanessa, who had Rett syndrome. Due to the absence of local facilities for disabled children, Quanessa was taken in by an old age home. After numerous enquiries from other parents with disabled children, it was decided to open the doors of Huis Quanessa on 1 March 2003 with Quanessa as their first resident.

Because they do not receive government funding, they rely on donations and fundraising to ensure that all the children’s needs are being taken care of. Some parents do contribute, but most of the children do not have parents or family who can contribute. The wonderful personnel working at this organization and taking care of the disabled children and grown-ups, are for some of them the only family that they know.

17 April 2020

During this lockdown period, Covid-19 has had a big impact on Huis Quanessa. They struggle financially to pay their basic expenses such as rent, municipal account, the necessary groceries and to pay the trained personnel salaries. Due to the financially difficult times that we are experiencing now, many parents are not able to make their monthly contribution and donations also more difficult to come by.

These disabled residents do not understand lockdown and the impact that Covid-19 has on the world and especially on them. They do not understand why why cannot see their parents, or why they have to wash their hands for 20 seconds. They cannot understand why they have to stay indoors and cannot do all the things they normally do.

Thank you in advance for helping Huis Quanessa to ensure that their residents are being taken care of and that they can continue to go to bed with a full tummy and have the necessary care givers to assist with their special needs. Every day is a challenge for them and they need continues support to survive.