OUR MISSION
We as the Hope Town community
love God and love people
by creating opportunities for
holistic development
through education,
skills training
&
mentoring.
OUR INVESTEMENT
Ocean View
We invest in a community called Ocean View, where about 40’000 coloured (a South African term used for those who are not “black” or “white”) people live. Ocean View is built on a hillside with a truly lovely view of the ocean! The coloured people are lively, loud, good entertainers and have a love for good music and dance.
There are though also multiple challenges facing the people here. High unemployment, drugs, crime, prostitution and young people falling out of school are daily issues we encounter. Be believe God is busy doing something special! God is moving here even if it’s not always seen.
We want to bring hope and perspective to the young people at risk. In 2016 we founded HopeTown a youth community and youth movement in Ocean View. We gather with different groups, once a week in our HopeTown Base and eat together, listen to each other and to God and experience a kind of a family what supports each other and where people find a place of belonging. Our family members are not those you would easily find in church. Gang members, teenage mother and fathers, school drop outs and young people who struggle with addiction learn to love each other and are discovering God. Our HopeTown family is diverse, wild and imperfect and hungry for change.
Our HopeTown family is diverse, wild and imperfect and
hungry for change.
We believe unconventional love means to accept the fact that the people are on a journey to find true identity. Out of experience we know, this journey is often longer then we hoped for. We invest with a long term perspective and support in a holistic way.
OUR SERVICES
Community
HopeTown is a community of young people who want to change and grow in life. We meet in different age groups (kids, teenagers, youth) and build into healthy trustworthy relationships. We cook amazing meals, eat together, serve each other, support in crisis, pray for each other and learn more about life. The community aspect is the foundation for every project we do in HopeTown.
Skills Training
There is huge unemployment among the young people in Ocean View. Those who have dropped out of school, often have no chance to get a job. We believe this doesn’t need to be the end.
We offer internships and train local, young people on the job. Our workshop areas are:
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Screen Printing (T-shirt, Hoodies, bags, kids clothes...)
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Jewellery making (Brass & Copper Jewellery, keyrings)
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Sewing work (bags, aprons, purses)
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Leatherwork (keyrings, wallets, labels, bags)
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Artistry painting (spoons, piggybank, pots...)
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Beauty Training (basic training in hair and nail treatment)
We want to see them grow in social skills, work ethics, character, teamwork, quality control, self-confidence and to become more job-ready for their next step in life.
HopeTown Student Hub
We provide a safe space for struggling High Schoolers to learn and grow in their academics. On three afternoons our centre is open to support, encourage and tutor the young people in their homework and help them to achieve better marks.
We challenge them to grow, train their learning skills, to get a vision for education and qualifications and to help them in finding direction towards their professional future.
art Education
We invest into creativity. There is so much more in life to be discovered and explored and we love to help them on the journey. We train the young people to think outside of the box and how to start to draw from scratch. We aim to to raise young, passionate creative people with a sense for beauty and the basic skills to design their own picture.
HopeTown surf
We take groups of Kids and Teenagers out of Ocean View to the beach. We teach them how to swim and how to behave in the open ocean. Once this is done, the surf adventure begins. It's amazing to see how they change from anxious, quiet kids to confident, strong and outspoken personalities. They are not "kids-at-risk" or "problem-children" anymore. They are surfers.
HopeTown Discipleship House "Eden"
Vision for the house:
Our purpose is to provide a Christ-centered, safe, and structured living environment in Ocean View for young people at risk from Ocean View.
Mission:
Through assisted living, we support young people for 1-3 years, with clear structures and healthy parenthood on their way to an independent way of life. Our care empowers them to enter a learning process to make one's own healthy choices. Work integration and household training are part of the internal training of the young people.
HopeTown Floorball
A couple of times a week we play a great game in the community what is called Floorball. We introduced this amazing sport a couple of years ago to the kids and they love it. It is a kind of street hockey and can be played in the middle of the community. We know that sport is such a great key to reaching people's hearts. Floorball is exciting to play and watch, because of the speed and action during the matches, the quick transitions and the number of possible goals. Our team believes in the nurturing of youths in the development of mind, character and fitness through the game of floorball.
HopeTown Afternooon Clubs
We love to invest in girls, and boys and use different activities (dance, sewing...) to build a healthy community. For example, dance is a great tool to reach their hearts. It is not so much about being a good dancer but more to learn to be confident in your body and to love yourself. We help the girls and boys to grow in character and self-respect and allow them to speak about themselves.
HopeTown BAsic internships
1-2 years
We love to invest in young people deeply. We’re dedicated to empowering young men and women to put their God-given skills to work and train them on the job. We see the people we serve as individuals created in God’s image. Instead of charity, we offer a training opportunity that affirms their potential as a positive influence in the community. Our tools are skills training, character training, serving the community, mentoring and basic self-leadership training. The Basic internship is 12 months but sometimes can be extended to 24 months.
HopeTown Industrial internship 1 year
The internship can be extended to a second year, called the "Industrial Internship". This includes more training in one of the chosen skills where they get in-depth training and prepares them even more for a job in the industry.
After this year if they succeed, they can apply for a job in HopeTown in production (terminated contract for one year) to experience real work experience and to build a bridge into their next step in life. The goal is: to make them ready to venture into the industry, to sustain themselves and to find a job in their respective skill.
Our Industrial internship is happening outside of Ocean View in a Production Workshop space in Imhoff Farm.
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HopeTown Social Business
We got the amazing opportunity to run our own shop from the Imhoff Farm property in Kommetjie. All our products (t-shirts, hoodies, kids clothes, leather products, jewellery, cards and many other articles) you will find in our beautiful shop.
Every Rand from our profit stays in Ocean View to support the youth activities and training in the community.
Come and see our trendy products... you will not regret it.
By the way... we also have our products in 8 different shops in South Africa, Germany and Switzerland. These shops sell our products on our behalf and they love our style and quality. We are proud to be represented all over the world with our hand made products.
HopeTown Academy
Start February 2024
As HopeTown Education we will provide an alternative school that is aimed at youth who have dropped out of the formal education system or who are at the edge of dropping out of school. We want to create a schooling environment that fosters a safe place of belonging and a positive outlook on learning. It will be a holistic curriculum that includes a basic academic framework, skills training, sports activities, creativity, and life skills.
We believe that by providing an alternative school system for youth who have dropped out or who on the edge of dropping out of school would bridge the gap and ensure young people are able to access further education and training opportunities as well as future employment prospects.
We will start the school in February 2024 with a pioneer class of 6 students taught with a holistic curriculum that includes an academic base, skills training, sports activities, fostering creativity and life skills.
We believe that this investment and individualised academic support will significantly change their future!
See here for more information!
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ABOUT US
We are a diverse team coming from all kinds of backgrounds and spheres of life.
We were and some of us still are teachers, bankers, artists, youth workers, business people, pastors, toolmakers, life coaches, vets, hairdressers, social workers...
But we all have something in common. We love people and want to see them grow into their full potential. This is our calling, this is our passion, and this became our common ground. We love each and everyone’s investment!
Tammy
Young leader in Kids / Teens
Skills Training
Arlene
Head of Education
HopeTown Academy Principal
Student Hub / Social Worker
Samantha
Centre Manager Ocean View
Leather & Sewing Skills Training Manager
Sean
Counselling / Young staff developer / training
Doris
HopeTown Founder
CEO HopeTown
Janalee Savage
HopeTown Academy
Teacher Assistant
Kylin
Sewing & Leather Production
Skills Trainer in training
Johannes
Floorball / Mentoring
Stef
HopeTown Founder
CFO
Martin & Alexandra
Discipleship House
House Parents
Luke
Screen Printing / HopeTown Surf / Mentoring
Admin Manager
Shana-Lee
Zoe
Student Hub Tutoring
Candice
Production Sewing / Young leader in Kids Club
Maria
Kids / Art Education
Mentoring
Lyle
Kids - and Teens Development
Mentoring / Counseling
Kim
Art Education for kids and teens
Nikkei Damon
HopeTown Shop
Kids Club
Sonia
Kitchen & Cleaning
Benita
Support Team Discipleship House
Wesley
Maintenance
Mareliese
Art Education in the Internship
Fikiswa
HopeTown Academy Teacher
Jo-Anne
Sewing Skills Trainer
International Volunteering in HopeTown
Are you ready to learn and to serve Jesus in a different background then your own country? Would you like to walk with us and learn from what we are doing? We'd love to give you the opportunity to come and work with us in Ocean View among our HopeTown community.
If you have at least 3 months or more we would love to meet you and to find out if this could be your next step.
Send us an email and we can tell you more about this exciting and life changing experience!
OUR STORY
SUPPORT US
"If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
African proverb
Do you like what we do? Do you believe in change for today’s struggling youth? Do you want to help us to spread hope? We need people who are ready to invest. This can be in different areas and with different possibilities. Please contact us if you would like to join our support team.
practical help
We need people who help us to achieve our goals and visions. Practical help is needed in nearly all areas of our services. Tutoring, teaching life skills, job creation, donations for our Hope Education Centre, food for our community meals and many other things.
Do you want to come on board as a volunteer? Wonderful! We have guidelines in place to help you to find the right place within HopeTown.
Finance
We need people and companies who believe in change in Ocean View. People who invest with their finances, to make the work and the investment into these young people possible.
Support within South Africa:
FNB
Branch: 250655
HopeTown Network: 63027320009
Reference: HopeTown
Support from Switzerland:
EBAN: CH26 0900 0000 8001 4986 5
Postkonto: 80-14986-5,
Campus für Christus Schweiz, 8005 Zürich
SWIFT-Code (BIC): POFICHBEXXX
Mitteilung / Zahlungszweck: Hopetown - Südafrika
Prayer
We believe in a God who is moved through our intercession and loves our prayers. There are many things we can’t do through our work or finance, but through prayers. Would you like to invest in this next generation through prayer? We would love to send you our prayer requests.
Online SHOP
We are selling amazing hand printed T-Shirts and beautiful jewellery, made in Cape Town and not in China!
Check it out, click here...
CONTACT US
Partners
We are part of Campus für Christus /Agape International in Switzerland. This is a movement of like minded people with the same heartbeat for the kingdom of God.
Some of our staff members are part of the international All Nations family. One of their hubs is in Cape Town, where some of our staff members regularly meet with other leaders from different areas and communities. As Hopetown we are connected with All Nations and value the relationsships.
Situated on the Cape Point route, Imhoff Farm is the ideal destination for locals and tourists wishing to experience the authentic charm and generosity of an original Cape homestead.
The historic Werf (Dutch for farmyard) is the heart of the farm, offering a host of experiences, restaurants and shopping.
Imhoff Farm offered us the amazing opportunity to open up a own shop on their premises to advertise the work we do in Ocean View. What an amazing gift we got through this opportunity. This is a very practical and generous support from the farm towards our work in Ocean View.
Since December 2020 we are now present on this farm and are selling all our products from the skills trainings to customers from all over the world. Please come and have a look at the farm and pop into our shop.
We also have two more skills training production spaces on the farm, where we train our second year industrial interns and produce amazing products.
Christian Surfers South Africa was born in the early '90s when a few passionate young surfers wanted to share their faith in Jesus Christ with their surf buddies. After nearly a decade, a national office was established in Jeffreys Bay, along with an internship programme called CSALT to equip young people for surf ministry. A surf school in Strand was established and surf chaplaincy and service team ministries were birthed when CS was asked to serve at the ASP WCT event at J-Bay (Billabong Pro).
Christian Surfers South Africa is a partner of us and we value their friendship and support.
Floorball4all is a global movement of people who want to help children and young people in difficult social environments in a meaningful and sustainable way. They are shaping lives and making a lasting difference through Floorball.
Floorball4all helps us to develop more coaches and provides us with the necessary tools to run meaningful sessions in the community and provides the equipment to play the sport.
Open Studios Kommetjie / Art Community
Open Studios Kommetjie is an annual weekend event in our neighbourhood village of Kommetjie, Cape Town. Art lovers have the opportunity of visiting professional art studios of more than 20 accomplished artists, each presenting a solo exhibition in their studio. The artist's community who is running this event chose HopeTown as the beneficiaries for their give-back project for this year. We are very honoured to partner with them.
The open studio event in Kommetjie will be from the 1. - 3. December 2023, 10h00 to 17h00.
www.openstudioskommetjie.com/give-back-project
We work with many organisations in our area such as:
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The Message Trust for organisational support and know-how exchange. www.message.org.za,
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King of Kings Church for spiritual support. www.kingofkings.org.za,
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The Sozo Foundation in Capricorn for organisational support and know-how exchange.
www.thesozofoundation.org.za, -
The Bright Hope crisis pregnancy centre in Sun Valley for option counselling.
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The Family Counselling Centre in Fish Hoek for counselling of our staff and team members. www.familycounsellingcentre.co.za,
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Tulani Postpartum Care for pregnancy support. www.postpartumcare.co.za/tulani
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Living Hope Capri www.livinghope.co.za for drug counselling support.
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Children of Promise, our favourite partner for woodwork (they run an amazing skills training for woodwork). www.childrenofpromiseafrica.com
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JLife Training Africa for material and training in discipleship. www.jlife.org
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Labour Wise for guidance in labour & law advice. www.labourwise.co.za
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Connect Network is a collaborative network of NPOs and churches working together
for women and children at risk to see communities transformed in South Africa. www.connectnetwork.org.za
Would you also like to partner with us?
Please contact us for more information and an on-site visit to Ocean View. We love to connect with you. Our vision can never be fulfilled alone!