MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The Community Projects Awareness (CPA) non-profit company in Mossel Bay is setting up a database of all non-profit organisations in the Mossel Bay area.
Lukas Swart, Melanie van Aswegen and Francois Botha are the directors of CPA. There are also stakeholders in CPA, who are business people.
They want to develop and promote non-profit organisations in Mossel Bay through training and networking.
Van Aswegen said: "We are setting up collaborative processes, where we will liaise between business, NPOs and the municipality to support non-profit organisations.
"We are establishing the database, with the assistance of the Department of Social Development. The next phase is to assess the non-profits and train them according to the gaps identified in the assessment, to increase their capacity and functioning."
Community development
Van Aswegen says she has 23 years' experience as a family rights attorney and involvement in community development. She relocated from Vanderbijlpark to Mossel Bay in July last year. She still has a practice in Vanderbijl.
She said: "This is my life work. One must understand the socio-economic environment. We're functioning in a broken system. NPOs fill the gaps that the government can't because of a lack of resources.
"I have a passion for children. I have worked with many abused and raped children. There is such a need for help."
Van Aswegen also assists women victims of abuse.
She notes that on 13 June, her non-profit organisation Alpha U, had a meeting with the Mossel Bay Community Soup Drive NPO and the Concerned Women of Mossel Bay organisation.
Family violence
The three organisations discussed co-operating to support victims of family violence. Van Aswegen said: "We will collaborate to make an impact in the community. We will have a major event on 9 August and then training sessions on how to get protection orders and deal with legal processes."
Van Aswegen wants to include non-profit organisations that work with family protection.
"We will try to liaise through departmental channels and departments. We will also advertise in the broader public arena for individuals who need help."
Call Van Aswegen (082 783 1316 or 082 898 7446) for more information.
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