OUR IMPACT
The Smile Center
Located near the center of Kurland Village we have been running out after school center “The Smile Center” for over 3 years now. The center is free to the community offering homework help, tutoring and project assistance for any students. We also offer arts & crafts, printer access, Wi-Fi, indoor and outdoor games including soccer, rugby, basketball, netball, board games, collection of over 500 books and more. The Smile Center as become a landmark in Kurland Village and much of that is due to our staff whom are all from Kurland. They have created a place where Kurland’s youth can be free to create, laugh, smile and just be kids while getting the educational help they need. We run a soup kitchen 3+ days a week feeding all the kids at the center which can be 20 to 70 kids on any given day. We are open 50 weeks a year, 5 days a week from 2pm-6pm. Across the street is our community garden that we harvest and disperse to our neighbors.
The Housing Program
We started our housing program in 2022 assisting in the renovating, refurbishing and rebuilding of Kurland’s homes. We have been apart of over 125 housing projects since 2022 from new roofs, walls, doors, windows, extensions and full rebuilds. We have donated over $50,000 to our program in just the last 2 years finishing roughly 70 of our home projects. We have a talented crew of carpenters all from Kurland Village. We have an application program that opens every 18 months for residence to submit their name and information. We access homes and do pre construction walk throughs with the owners and family to make sure we are making their home they way they need it. We do everything from design, demo, to construct each home, we cut our own plexiglass glass windows, do custom fit doors and more.
The Feeding Program
We have been assisting with feeding programs in Kurland Village in 2020. Food security is important point of focus in Kurland Village as not everyone is able to afford a meal. With a post-apartheid economy and a lack of jobs getting meals out in the community is extremely important. We manage and or assist with 4-6 soup kitchens depending on who’s around and the time of year. We can put out upwards ion 700 meals in any given week all free to community. Our soup kitchens chef include Rose, Doreen, Nomfundiso, Lorna and Clivenia. We assist with the “Friends of Kurland” NPO and often send volunteers to help prep and serve food. if you’re looking to help sponsor a soup kitchen please click the link below.