The VisionWe build brighter futures
At Christine Revell Children’s Home we provide full-time care for up to 49 babies and children from birth to five years of age who have been referred to us by social workers and placed here by order of a children’s court. The children are either neglected, abandoned, abused, orphaned and are accepted at the home irrespective of HIV status, race or gender.
We strive to create a warm, friendly and homely environment, but our ultimate aim is to re-unite a child with its parents or the extended family should circumstances permit. Children are also placed into foster care with suitable families in the communities and when the proper legal channels have been followed children can also be adopted. These decisions are always taken with the full involvement of our social worker, the social worker who referred the child to us, the family and children’s courts.
“We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.”
Stacia Tauscher, dancer and artist
The DetailsMore about Christine Revell Children’s Home
History
The origins of the Christine Revell Children’s Home go back more than 60 years, having been started by a community worker, Christine Revell, to care for young unwed mothers. The Uniting Reformed Church later transformed it into a children’s home and place of safety for babies and small children and named it after Christine Revell. The Home is registered with the Department of Social Services of the Western Cape and receives a small monthly subsidy per child. For all other needs the Home depends on donations.
Trust
In 2000, the Church established a Trust that took over ownership and management of the Home. According to its trust deed (IT 1921/2000) the Christine Revell Children’s Home Trust consists of between five and eleven trustees, five of them nominated by the Uniting Reformed Church and five nominated from the broader community. The eleventh member of the trust is the Director ex officio. The Trust meets four times and takes the necessary policy and financial decisions according to which the Home is run.
Management Committee
There is a management committee that meets once a month with the director. The committee consists of volunteers who support and advise the director. A wide variety of skills is required, including human resources management, financial management, PR and marketing, medical and nursing expertise, general management and building and maintenance expertise. These portfolios all form part of the director’s duties. Other staff members include a social worker and 21 full-time as well as several part-time staff members who care for the babies and children 24 hours of every day.
Facilities
We are housed in a solid double-storey building with a garden and outside play areas for the children, several areas for in-door activities, a large laundry and kitchen, bedrooms and child-friendly bathrooms, as well as offices for the staff.
The TeamMeet our amazing staff
Trustees
The Trust takes ownership and responsibility for the home. The Trust meets four times a year and takes the necessary policy and financial decisions to ensure good governance. Meet our Team
Management
The management committee meets once a month with the director. The committee consists of volunteers who support and advise the director in all maters to do with the effective and smooth running of the home.
Meet our Team
Key Workers
We are privileged to have a team of fantastic care workers who love, nurture and look after our children.
Meet our Team
Our HomeFacilities at Christine Revell Children’s Home
Our home can take 49 children aged from birth to 5 years old with a dedicated are for very young babies.
Several Playrooms – the latest has been renovated recently and is used by the Occupational therapist and speech therapist and students from UCT when they do their individual play / activities. On rainy days, staff have the option to let a few children watch TV and others enjoy muscle exercises.
Creche and pre school facility
Hosting Programme
Our children benefit enormously from visiting families and staying with them. Families and individuals who approach us are first screened by our social worker and can then take a child or children out for holidays, weekends or even just a day. The development of the children is accelerated enormously and many host parents take out children with a view to taking them in full foster care.
Foster Care and Adoption
If the parents of a child allow and it it is in the best interest of the child, the social workers can decide that a child can be taken into foster care or be adopted by a suitable family. The first concern is, however, to re-unite a child with its family if their situation improves.
‘Adopt’ a child
We have 49 children in the home. ‘Adopting’ a child is sponsoring a child for a period of time. The amounts below cover all costs for the child for the given period.
- Support a child for a year with a donation of R9600.00
- Support a child for six months at R4800.00
- Support a child for one month at R800.00
The sponsor will receive a photo, the date of birth and drawings done by the child quarterly (if the child is old enough). They will also be informed of the child’s progress at the home.