2 NGOs join forces to help homeless people in Cape Town turn their lives around

CAPE TOWN - Two local NGOs have on Tuesday officially joined forces to help people living in the street turn their lives around.

The Hope Exchange and U-turn say they plan to reduce homelessness in the CBD.

CEO of U-turn, Jean-Ray Knighton Fitt, said that collaborating with Hope Exchange means they can extend their reach.

"The approach we take is a phased approach, so there's a lot of people out there who would say 'Oh just provide shelter and you solve the problem'. But you haven't really because you haven't dealt with the joblessness issues, the addiction issues or the family breakdowns or anything that's led to the mental health or that led to homelessness."

Brandon Manzoni shared how U-turn helped him turn his life around.

"I then stayed for about a year and three months at the Ark, did my recovery at the Ark and then through the Ark, through the social worker at the Ark, she then mentioned U-turn to me I had no idea what U-turn was, I didn't know that a place like U-turn existed. U-turn then put me into one of their second phase shelters, I was at Lowes and Fishers, and then from there, they put me into one of the shops, I got into their programme."