Elim Night Shelter

Elim Night Shelter began not with a building but with a soup kitchen. In the mid-1990s, Loretta Napier — a member of the Goodwood Presbyterian Church — began serving meals to homeless people in the surrounding streets. That soup kitchen became the seed of Elim Night Shelter, which officially opened on 2 September 1997 and has been serving the homeless and destitute of Elsies River and Goodwood ever since.

The shelter is situated at 47 3rd Avenue in the Elsies River Industrial area — a community shaped by entrenched socioeconomic hardship: pervasive gang activity, drug and alcohol abuse, high unemployment, and inadequate access to services. It is within the City of Cape Town's Goodwood Managerial District, and Elim operates in close alignment with both the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government's social welfare frameworks. The building itself was acquired from the City of Cape Town on a long-term lease.

Elim is registered with the Department of Social Development as a transient shelter — but experience has taught them that opening the door to the homeless and destitute almost always creates a more lasting impact than the word "transient" might suggest.

What They Offer Homeless and Destitute Individuals

Overnight Accommodation Safe overnight sleeping accommodation for homeless and destitute individuals — available seven days a week, 24 hours a day. In the cold, wet Cape winters, a warm, safe bed can be lifesaving.

Meals Regular meals ensure that residents are fed — addressing the immediate hunger that compounds the physical and psychological effects of homelessness.

Ablution Facilities Bathing and toilet facilities restore a basic degree of dignity that life on the street strips away.

Social Work Services Trained social workers provide professional assessment and support to residents — identifying needs, diagnosing crisis situations, and developing individual plans for reintegration into society.

Clothing Practical clothing assistance meets a basic survival need and restores a degree of dignity for those who arrive with only the clothes on their backs.

Employment-Seeking Assistance Elim helps residents begin the process of seeking employment — one of the core pathways out of homelessness and back into sustainable independent life.

Assessment and Rehabilitation Programme Elim's stated mission is to take each individual through a structured process of assessment and rehabilitation with the ultimate goal of successful reintegration into society. This holistic approach means Elim is not just a crisis service — it is a pathway.

Elim Night Shelter: 47 3rd Avenue, Elsies River, Cape Town. Phone: 021 591 2824. Cell: 072 330 6926. Email: elimnightshelter@telkomsa.net. Open 24 hours. Facebook: elimnightshelter.