Community Keepers

About us

Community Keepers was established in 2008 and delivers school-based mental health and social services to vulnerable children in South Africa. Children who utilize these services experience a direct improvement in their psychosocial wellbeing, leading to better academic performance, behavior and school attendance.
We are a group of South Africans who are determined to change our future by investing in the children and youth of our country. In 2008, a group of Christian professionals from the social and corporate sectors came together with a collective concern for the well-being of our South African communities, especially children and the youth. Schools were identified as centres from where children and the youth could be served and research was conducted to determine the relevant needs, problems and resources within local schools. Data from this research laid the foundation for the development of our unique model for school-based services, piloted in 2009 at one Stellenbosch school and since rolled out to more schools and communities.

Vision
Community Keepers aims to promote healthy, effective, self-sustaining communities by delivering supportive and developmental services to learners, educators and parents in south African schools. The Community Keepers multidisciplinary team operates from school-based offices and delivers a variety of services to learners, educators and parents in need of support and guidance, including, assessments, counselling, therapy, life skills programmes, parenting workshops and more.

Our model
• Partner with school: We partner with school management to ensure that they are active partners, directly involved in the planning, execution and monitoring of all services and programmes.
• Establish office: Our school based offices are managed by registered counselors or social workers who build long-term relationships with learners, educators and parents.
• Implement services: We systematically implement our services and programmes, focusing on one grade during our first year of implementation. Annually, we present the following services and programmes to one additional grade until the whole school is accommodated.

The Community Keepers programme and service is different from most community initiatives in the sense that the services are delivered by qualified professionals, including counsellors, psychologists and social workers.

Services
• Support Keepers: Assessments, counseling and therapy.
• Life Keepers: Personal and social development through classes or programmes.
• Parent Keepers: Parenting initiatives with parents or guardians of learners.
• Teacher Keepers: Professional support and development of educators.

Bridgette Wirth is the Fundraising Officer of the Community Keepers.

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.