A home for adults with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour celebrated its 10th anniversary at Rondebosch golf club on Tuesday May 27.
The residential home based in Maitland provides round the clock care to 32 adults with intellectual disabilities, providing them with the support needed to avoid hospitalisation and to ensure skills development and community integration.
Open Circle started as a pilot project, in partnership with the Department of Health, Social Development and Public Works in 2015. After registering as an NPO and lobbying government for support, a joint decision was taken to renovate and open a 30-bed supported living facility on the grounds of Alexandra Hospital in the old nurses home, said administrator Helita Mankahla, who has worked at the home since it opened.
On Tuesday, the home celebrated its anniversary with government partners, donors as well as volunteers, friends and other stakeholders who formed part of their community over the past 10 years.
Ms Mankahla said the organisation had grown and developed through trial-and-error, as they were essentially creating a blueprint for a unique service model.
“It has been key to remain consistent, but through a problem-solving approach as we were getting to know our residents and gaining skill in dealing with their dual diagnosis and challenging behaviour,” she said.
Speaking on the highlights of the organisation over the years, Ms Mankahla said they had managed to build a family model amidst the high support needs of their residents, rebuild positive family relationships between residents and their family members where many families were hopeless, burnt-out and traumatised after years of challenging behaviour displayed by their loved ones, helped some residents to develop skills to live more independently with some working in the home - earning a wage which allows them to shop for some basic items for themselves. She said they were also proud of their team of nurses, caregivers and household staff, who had become experts in the field over the ten years.
But caring for people with intellectual disabilities comes with its own challenges, she said.
“Dealing with challenging behaviour is a challenge. It takes patience and endurance. This has an impact on morale and burn-out is a reality for most of our staff. Communication between staff and with families is key and takes an effort to maintain. Adverse incidents is a reality in our context and can lead to trauma and damages to property, which is costly both emotionally and financially,” said Ms Mankahla.
Speaking on future plans, Ms Mankahla said they hoped to expand their reach in the province to include community outreach services, a day programme and to open an independent 6-bedded group home facility for those who have recovered sufficiently.
“Our dream is then to expand with our service-model into other provinces,” she said.
Open Circle is a private-public partnership. They, however, rely on subsidies for about 60% of their residents who cannot afford the private fee. The rest of the funds needed are raised through fund-raising initiatives, said Ms Mankahla.