Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust
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Mission Statement
Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust (HACT) is a registered Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) and Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) in South Africa committed to providing unconditional love and hope to all those impacted by HIV and AIDS. Our vision is Healthy, Empowered and AIDS-free Communities.
About This Cause
Founded nearly 35 years, the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust (HACT) has been dedicated to tackling HIV and AIDS through practical and sustainable interventions including HIV prevention, care, community empowerment, income generation, and skills development. Our geographical focus area is the semi-rural communities of the Valley of 1000 Hills region of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal, province, one of the epicentres of the HIV/AIDS pandemic with HIV-infection rates of up to 40%. Our mission is to provide unconditional love and hope to all those impacted by HIV and AIDS - unconditional, in that we help anyone in need, regardless of their faith, ethnicity or lifestyle. Our vision is Healthy, Empowered and AIDS-free communities, and all our projects work towards this dream. Collectively our projects and services directly impact the lives of over 10 000 people each year, the majority of whom are women and orphaned and vulnerable children and young people. HACT adopts a holistic, family-centric and asset-based approach to tackling holistic wellbeing and strives to deliver practical, sustainable, community-led projects and services. HACT adopts a holistic, human rights and asset-based approach to reduce risk and to tackle HIV/AIDS as well as related social challenges, and strives to deliver practical, sustainable and community led projects and services. Our initiatives align with the following global United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: No Poverty (1) Zero Hunger (2) Good Health & Wellbeing (3) Gender Equality (5) Decent Work & Economic Growth (8) Reduced Inequalities (10) Ultimately, HACT’s programmes and services aim to uplift and empower individuals, families and communities as they grow in resiliency and also actively contribute towards the development of themselves, their families and communities, and South Africa as a whole. HACT is governed by a voluntary Board of Trustees who bring expertise from the medical, corporate, community development and NGO sectors. HACT’s qualified and experienced staff team currently consists of over 95 paid or stipend staff and 40 volunteers. HACT works with a wide range of local and international donors and partners to deliver its life-saving and life-changing projects and services. HACT is a community-driven and community-led organisation with over 95% of its staff and volunteers hailing from the communities it serves. Current projects and activities include: RESPITE AND PALLIATIVE CARE • A 24 bed Respite & Palliative Care Unit providing free 24/7 inpatient care to adults and children in advanced stages of AIDS or suffering from cancer who require palliative or respite care. The majority of HACT’s patients recover to the extent they can go home to their families thanks to the love and care provided by our dedicated team. • A Patient Home Visit programme providing home-based care and adherence support to critically ill adults and children as well as screening and follow-up for those awaiting admission or discharged. • An Outpatient clinic staffed by HACT’s trained nurses that provides free primary healthcare services including HIV testing services and TB screening. HEALTH PREVENTION & EDUCATION • Healthy living, HIV prevention and Leadership programmes currently operating in primary schools and high schools reaching over 1000 disadvantaged and vulnerable children/youth per year. • Community Health Campaigning for HIV prevention, medication adherence, TB / STI and COVID screening as well as local stakeholder engagement and mobilization for health services. • HIV Counselling and Testing programme providing onsite, community and in the workplace HIV counselling and testing. INCOME GENERATION • Woza Moya- HACT’s award-winning arts & crafts project which provides skills development, training and market access to over 500 beaders, crafters and artists with sustainable income for vulnerable families. Online shop: https://www.wozamoya.co.za/ • An indigenous Plant Nursery project which is open to the public and specializes in indigenous plants and garden décor as well as vegetable seedlings and compost for local community gardens. • 33 Community Vegetable Gardens run by local grandmothers (gogos) who are caring for their orphaned grandchildren, and over 250 Home Vegetable Gardens. • A Clothing Scheme that uses donated secondhand clothing to provide over 30 unemployed women with a means of earning income through clothing sales. • Café and Workplace training programme which provides skills and workplace mentorship to unemployed, out-of-school youth as they gain skills for further employment or entrepreneurship. COMMUNITY OUTREACH & UPLIFTMENT • An internationally acclaimed Gogo / Granny Support Groups programme that provides over 1500 grannies who are caring for their orphaned grandchildren with access to psycho-social support, counselling, skills development and economic empowerment opportunities. • Orphan & Vulnerable Children and Youth / Gender-based Violence Prevention Programme providing targeted care and support to orphaned and vulnerable children/youth and their caregivers at household level through structured interventions focused on HIV and gender-based violence prevention, adherence clubs for youth living with HIV as well as family strengthening and parenting support. HACT is actively engaged and advocates with a wide network of local and national stakeholders through its participation in several coalitions and associations including: • South African National Children’s Rights Coalition • Hospice Association of KwaZulu-Natal (HAKZN) • Association of Palliative Care Centres of South Africa (APCC) • Grandmothers Movement in South Africa (GMISA)