Demonstrate your understanding of the ethics of care approach through using an example from your own community

Cloetesville is a small town situated approximately four kilometers from Stellenbosch and is home to the Stellenbosch Night Shelter.

In an area that is plagued by gangsters and the distribution of illegal substances, many people find it hard to remove themselves from the negativity and start a new life away from the streets. Very few of these people who have been affected by these hardships, find refuge in the light at the end of the tunnel, in this case - the Stellenbosch Night Shelter.

The Stellenbosch Night Shelter was created by a group of individuals who have noticed an increase in poverty in the area as well as an increase in the amount of individuals standing alongside roadways begging for monetary donations. The shelter therefore provides a home for the less fortunate and down trodden individuals living on the streets or in gruesome conditions, which clearly portrays the attentiveness of the shelter to take care of the individuals’ needs and see that they are properly looked after and cared for.

Therefore, the shelter and the people working in the shelter make it their responsibility to take care of the homeless individuals and make sure that their needs are met and seen to.  Besides accommodation facilities, residents receive two meals per day and see that they are properly looked after and cared for. The training and skills development, which is provided, includes training for gardening services and cleaning houses. Stellenbosch Night Shelter also offers the jobless and less fortunate individuals special group discussions and talks on how to properly get a job and sustain/keep that particular job. In turn, this helps the individuals to function independently in the community and also helps to keep them off of the streets and from partaking in illegal activities.

Admission into the night shelter requires individuals to be sober and not intoxicated and in possession of an ID Document. They are also required to pay an admission fee of approximately R10 per week, depending on whether or not the individual is employed or receives grant payments. Weekly payments give the residents time to put their recently attained skills and training, learned at the shelter, in use and accumulate an income for themselves. According to this information, the shelter then determines who they assist as they assist the elderly and the poorest first and thereafter “First come, first served”.

The admission fee helps individuals to acknowledge and accept responsibility. The shelter shows its competency and care for those that they are serving by provide training programmes and skill development for individuals who are willing and able to go out and search for a job or employment.

The individuals who spend their nights in the night shelter were well mannered and were appreciative of the night shelter for providing them with a place to sleep and for food to eat. The homeless individuals responded to the care given to them by the staff of the Stellenbosch Night Shelter by helping them where they can in and around the shelter.

When approached and asked about the hospitality and the care being received at the night shelter, most of the feedback received was positive and many of the people stated that the facilitators made them feel welcome and at home.

Thus, the ethics of care approach is evidently portrayed at the Stellenbosch Night Shelter where the homeless are made to feel welcome and are taken care of, by providing them with shelter and helping them learn skills and training which would allow them to be employable.