Newclare Community Centre

Newclare is a poverty stricken area with high rates of unemployment, drug abuse and other social deficiencies. The Institute attends to 200 indigent families and we have 160 learners that attend the local Madressah. More than 80% of these learners receive financial assistance from us in the form of Zakaah.
provide a much needed assistance to the impoverished communities of Newclare, Coronationville, Claremont, Westbury and other surrounding areas. As an Institute we have positioned ourselves as a hub of hope for the impoverished the aged and the downtrodden.

The Centre

In 2016 the Institute converted its building in Starr Street into a community centre. The centre currently has a pre-school, development office (Zakaah), life coaching and counselling services that focuses on wellness and development. It is also the point of distribution for all Sadaqah and Zakaah hampers. The centre has acquired the service of 4 qualified Recovery coaches to deal with addiction and substance abuse. Regular talks on awareness on the effects of drug and substance abuse are held at the centre.
We also do case intakes, referrals and drug testing. The Institute would like to provide an early intervention to minimise the risk within the family or community. Other issues dealt with at the centre varies from welfare assistance to skills development and business entrepreneurship. The aim is for empowering the community in order for them to become self-sustainable.
The office was officially opened on 1 August 2016. The centre has seen an intake of more than 100 people and has given assistance of up to 50%. This includes schooling, rental, medical, bursaries and skills training. The centre is open Monday to Wednesday from 8h30 to 12h00 and is available to the community to assist in any way possible.

The Pre School

The Institute recognizes the need for affordable Early Childhood Development and the protection and development of children as the future of our community. The objectives for our Early Childhood Development are to provide children an opportunity to develop in the areas of numeracy and literacy, through play and creative activities. The aim is to produce children that are school ready and meet the normative development milestones of being able to read, write and count. Although the school has an Islamic ethos we have also opened the doors of learning to non-Muslim learners in the community.
Our achievements to date: We have created 16 Jobs, 8 temporary and 4 permanent positions. The enrollment of has grown from 14 to 35 learners. The fees are affordable to the community it serves. We have appointed a qualified level 4 ECD Practitioner and a second teacher that has six years of early childhood and day care experience. The syllabus includes a component of basic Islamic instruction that gives the child the solid foundation needed. As a concerned Institute we need to take hands and lead the way to wellness.

COMMUNITY TRAINING

The Institute Empowers Community Members to Train as Caregivers.
The Institute assisted a group of unemployed people to train as home based care givers and first aiders with St Johns. The group did a two week intense training. As part of the Institutes mandate, they have embarked on empowering these people with much needed skills. The qualification allows them to be employed as care givers and to do basic emergency first aid.
The entire group completed the training and received their certificates on 31 January 2016 at a graduation function at the Newclare Centre.

Bursary Programme

The Newclare Musjid started a bursary programme in 2015 to assist the community in building capacity through training and development. This is an attempt to empower students with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively improve the resources within the community and to become self-sustainable and to ultimately break the cycle of poverty. Our immediate aim is to financially assist talented learners from the community in accessing higher education institutes such as Universities, Colleges and Religious Institutes of higher learning.
The Institute has invested over R100 000 to assist applicants to complete their first degrees, short courses and diploma courses. Bursaries are awarded on condition that the applicants submit proof of successful acceptance by any institute of higher learning. Candidates are requested to apply in advance of the academic year. The successful candidates will be requested to ‘pay-back’ service to the community for the amount of years of the bursary. Applications will open in September and close in November 2017 for the 2018 academic year.

Life Coaching and Wellness

We have started training the community in life coaching and basic life skills. Life coaching started as early as August 2014. In the beginning people were hesitant and reluctant to attend these classes. It has since grown and we have coached over 80 students over a three year period. Life Coaching is dynamic, focused and designed to move the client forward. Members of the community attended that had an interest in investing in themselves and improving their wellbeing and taking responsibility for their lives.
The benefits of life coaching has assisted and empowered members to deal better with life’s challenges. During 2017 we have trained 22 life coaches. Their skills acquired during training will be made available to the community at no cost.