Inn Safe Hands Children’s Home

Schauderville is a working-class suburb on the eastern edge of Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) — a mixed community in Nelson Mandela Bay with the kinds of social pressures that generate child welfare crises: unemployment, domestic violence, substance abuse, poverty, and the trauma that travels across generations. In 2005, Inn Safe Hands opened in this community as a Safe House: a place where children removed from dangerous situations — abandoned, abused, neglected, or otherwise at risk — could be received, cared for, and stabilised while longer-term plans were made.

For twenty years, Inn Safe Hands has been that place.

From Safe House to Foster Cluster Home

In 2012, Inn Safe Hands made a significant transition — from a Safe House model (acute, short-term crisis accommodation) to a Foster Cluster Home. This reflects an important evolution in child welfare thinking: rather than moving children repeatedly through institutional placements, a cluster home model creates a stable, family-like environment where children can grow up with consistent caregiving and genuine belonging.

Currently, 14 children live across two houses. Each house has a dedicated house mother responsible for the day-to-day care of the children in her house, and a relieving house mother who provides coverage. The children came to Inn Safe Hands as babies or toddlers — for most of them, this is not a temporary placement. This is home.

Who Inn Safe Hands Serves

Children are referred to Inn Safe Hands by three main pathways: the Department of Social Development, Childline, and the South African Police Service. This reflects the three most common crisis entry points for vulnerable children: a social worker identifying a child at risk, a Childline call, or a police response to a domestic violence or child abuse situation.

The presenting circumstances include abandonment, abuse (physical, sexual, emotional), and neglect — the full range of situations that make remaining with a family unsafe for a child. The transition from Safe House to Foster Cluster Home means that Inn Safe Hands now serves children on a long-term basis rather than solely in acute crisis, though it retains its crisis-reception capacity for newly referred children.

Volunteers

Inn Safe Hands actively welcomes volunteers and describes itself as a community that "loves our volunteers." Visitors are welcome during normal daytime hours (09:00–17:00) by arrangement. Potential volunteers can contact the organisation via phone or WhatsApp at +27 66 130 7090, or through the website at innsafehands.org.

Relevance for GBV Survivors

For GBV survivors in the Nelson Mandela Bay area whose children need emergency or longer-term residential placement, Inn Safe Hands provides a warm, family-model residential option working through the official statutory referral system (DSD, Childline, SAPS). Survivors who need their children placed in care while they access a shelter, stabilise their situation, or engage with legal proceedings should contact DSD or Childline (116), who can make a formal referral to Inn Safe Hands or similar facilities in the area.

Inn Safe Hands Children's Home: Lawler Street, Schauderville, Gqeberha, Eastern Cape. Phone/WhatsApp: +27 66 130 7090. Website: innsafehands.org. Foster Cluster Home since 2012; founded 2005.