In a heartwarming tale of kindness and community, Hester Hoffmann went above and beyond to make sure that a man, new to the streets, wouldn’t have to call them home for long:
Melville, South Africa (04 March 2024) — One Saturday morning, Hester Hoffmann noticed a man wandering around a parking area in Melville. At first, she didn’t think much of his wondering and assumed he was waiting for someone. But after spotting him looking somewhat displaced a few more times, she decided to approach him. At the time, she had no idea how important that decision to go up to him would be.
Hester discovered that his name was Chris Swartz, an electrician who had found himself calling the streets home for the past few days after he had “lost everything”, as she shared.
Chris had already been through a lot in those days; including being attacked. The kind security guard had helped him then, and now it was Hester’s turn.
Reaching out to the I Love Melville community group, Hester began sharing Chris’s plight and hopes for his larger community to help him get back on his feet again.
Hester’s biggest concern was getting Chris to shelter given his condition as a diabetic and a heart condition.
Determined, she met with Chris often, organised a meeting to get him into a shelter, and rallied the community to help however they could!
The only thing standing in the way of Chris’s stay at Ons Oord was the R1,500 minimum amount. To which Hester dealt with the matter like a champion:
“At that stage [of Chris’s meeting at the shelter] I went back in and gate crashed the meeting and said to the Dominee, “Listen, I can’t commit to a R1500 pm or sign a debit order, but I can tell you that I WILL find 20 people in Melville who will be prepared to give R75 each month. Please can you help him?”
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Brilliantly, the Melville community (who have been on a roll of good news recently) came together to help pay for Chris’s stay at Ons Oord!
Thanks to their pledges, Chris was accepted into Ons Oord which led to many happy tears in Melville, especially from Hester.
With Chris safe and sound at a place where he can live and work with others so long as his minimum stay fee is looked after, he now faces a new trajectory of hope.
Their story reminds us of just how powerful paying attention to someone can be, and it’s that light that can guide them home.
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