Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust (HACT)

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The Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust (HACT), founded in 1990 as a ministry of the Hillcrest Methodist Church, is a registered non-profit organisation dedicated to tackling the HIV/AIDS pandemic through holistic, multifaceted and sustainable interventions including prevention, care, community empowerment and community outreach.

Our mission is to provide unconditional love and hope to HIV/AIDS impacted communities in the Valley of 1000 Hills region through interventions addressing prevention, care, economic empowerment and community outreach.
Our vision is an AIDS-free Valley of 1000 Hills, and all our projects work towards this dream.

Our objectives:
• Creating awareness of the effect HIV/AIDS is having on our local community
• Promoting understanding that HIV/AIDS can be beaten through educating, counselling and caring for people both infected and affected in the community
• Breaking down those barriers which prevent the curbing of this disease, such as stigma, denial and prejudice
• Promoting HIV testing so that HIV infection can be diagnosed early and treated timeously
• Addressing poverty and AIDS simultaneously through poverty alleviation programmes aimed at increasing self-esteem, independence and dignity
• Supporting those most affected by this pandemic such as grannies and children
• Adapting our programmes of care to move with the ever-changing face of HIV/AIDS

Our current projects and activities include:
• Care:
A 24 bed Respite Unit providing 24/7 care to patients in advanced stages of AIDS who require palliative or respite care.
A Patient Discharge Follow-Up programme providing check-ups and home-based care visits to the patients discharged from our Respite Unit to ensure that they are adhering to their medication and are continuing to recover.
An Outpatient Clinic staffed by nurses that provides free health screening and primary healthcare services.
• Prevention:
HIV counselling and testing which is offered onsite here at our centre, in the community and in the workplace through corporate wellness campaigns.
In-school HIV prevention and education programmes including a Life Skills programme which currently operates in five primary schools and a Peer Education programme operating in three high schools.
A targeted children’s prevention programme providing care and support to over 1000 orphaned and vulnerable children and their families.
• Economic Empowerment:
Woza Moya - a large arts & crafts project which provides an income to 350 HIV-impacted crafters and beaders
An onsite plant nursery which currently supports five families.
• Community Outreach & Upliftment:
A Granny Support Groups project that has over 2000 grannies involved in 51 support groups across 8 communities. In addition to pyscho-social support, the grannies receive education and skills training and development to uplift and empower them.
33 community vegetable gardens run by gogos from our Granny Support Groups programme.
A clothing scheme that enables 20 women to earn a small income through the sale of donated second hand clothing.

Candace Davidson is the CEO of Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust (HACT).

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.