Community Keepers

Compromised mental health is the "second pandemic" and it was the World Economic Forum who said that we can't make progress without investing in mental health.

Our solution is focussed on the learners (children and youth), and their caregivers (parents and teachers), from communities with the least access to resources and who are the most vulnerable.  We assist these learners to escape/resolve the cycle of trauma, to build self-efficacy and resilience and to move into a place of well-being where:

• every individual realizes his or her own potential,
• can cope with the normal stresses of life,
• can work productively and fruitfully,
• and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.

We're confident that our hybrid solution and methodology is sustainable, scalable, relevant and universal.

While we know that youth aren't necessarily "help-seeking" they are "conversation-seeking" and help should be offered in-person and remotely.

In South Africa, trauma, and its debilitating consequences on mental well-being, is a major construct in addressing the short term needs of children, especially in marginalised communities. These children live on high alert, in a permanent state of fight, flight or freeze. Lack of access to resources and appropriate therapy presents a double negative. It is tragic that those who experience the highest levels of trauma have the lowest levels of support.  The pandemic, lockdown and economic crisis have exacerbated trauma for learners.

The Western Cape is described as “the most dangerous province for children” with four children murdered per week.  In 2019, 37 000 children were removed from their homes, as the homes were deemed dangerous due to the prevalence of negligence, abuse and rape.

• 42% children have experienced some form of maltreatment
• 82% have experienced or witnessed some form of victimisation
• 1 in 3 children have experienced physical or sexual abuse, 1 in 4 have experienced emotional abuse, 1 in 5 have experienced neglect

Source: The Optimus Study on Child Abuse, Violence and Neglect in South Africa 2015

International Survey of Children’s Well-Being: "In many countries children gave relatively low ratings for feelings of being listened to."

We establish ourselves on-site at schools, in child-friendly consulting rooms, where we deliver professional services to learners, educators, parents and caregivers.  We host

• resilience building life-skill workshops for learners, teachers and parents
• and therapeutic counselling.

During Covid lockdown, when schools closed we shifted to delivering our service digitally (tapping into school whatsapp groups, recording video material and tele-therapy by phone or video call).  We now continue to deliver a hybrid service.

We believe that all of our resources have been paid for by funders and so they should be freely available for use by other organisations and are upgrading that portion of our website to become a resource library.

We also believe that a user-friendly mobile app would be well suited for remote access to our service.  While we know that learners (specifically the youth) are generally not "help-seeking" they are conversation seeking and a mobile app that invites text based, voice, or video-call conversations would revolutionise our work.

Our focus is primary and high schools in the most under resourced communities.  Our target population is learners (vulnerable children and youth) and as part of our holistic approach we consider the ecosystem - including caregivers (teachers, parents, guardians).  We term this "building a culture of well-being in schools where everyone can thrive".

We establish representative commities who inform the themes that we cover in our workshops, we encourage collaobration and wide input.  This year we are moving to a community model where we recruit young people NEET (from the community), train them up, employ them and mentor them as our front line support i.e. mental health first aiders.

We also believe that a user-friendly mobile app would be well suited for remote access to our service.  While we know that learners (specifically the youth) are generally not "help-seeking" they are "conversation seeking" and a mobile app that invites text based, voice, or video-call conversations would revolutionise our work.

Our focus is mental health - not merely responding to crisis or trauma, but building resilience. 

We offer a human-centered and tech-based solution where learners have access to mental health support - something we refer to as a "culture of well-being".

We deliver a hybrid service including in-person resilience building workshops, in-person therapeutic counselling, digital educator/parent workshops (which can be viewed on DVD or online), digital counselling (telephonic or online video-based eg zoom sessions) and digital material shared in simple inforgraphics over school whatsapp groups.

While we know that the youth are generally not "help-seeking" they are conversation seeking.

Community Keepers was established in 2008, we have reached over 100 000 people.  We currently partner with 29 schools, giving us access to in excess of 25 000 learners (and their caregivers). 

We continue to grow despite the pandemic, in 2020 we opend 5 new offices and in 2021 we opened one more.

Following lockdown, we now offer a hybrid service (in-person and digital) and we are currently piloting the role of community based mental health first aiders as we continue to adapt and evolve.

We also believe that a user-friendly mobile app would be well suited for remote access to our service.  While we know that learners (specifically the youth) are generally not "help-seeking" they are conversation seeking and a mobile app that invites text based, voicce, or video-call conversations would revolutionise our work.

Our traditional model was innovative in that we essentially took therapy rooms into schools - removing barriers to access (time, finances and distance).  

During Covid, we innovated again when we "flipped the triangle (emphasis)" to make the emphasis largely preventative resilience building, supported by therapeutic interventions.  We also pivoted, removing more barriers to access, by adding a remote-access option to our service delivery.  

This year we are again innovating and changing our model to be community-based where we recruit, train and employ community members as frontline support, supported and supervised by skilled professionals.  Through this all we are mindful that access to technology in South Africa is limited (around 40% of our beneficiaries have access to a device and/or data) so our hybrid approach offers the "best of both".  

A new study shows that such hybrids may be most effective: Evidence on Digital Mental Health Interventions for Adolescents and Young People: Systematic Overview, first published November 18, 2020, https://mental.jmir.org/2021/4/e25847

We also believe that a user-friendly mobile app would be well suited for remote access to our therapeutic service.  While we know that learners (specifically the youth) are generally not "help-seeking" they are conversation seeking and a mobile app that invites text based, voicce, or video-call conversations would revolutionise our work.

There are currently around 11m school going learners in South Africa.

We currently service in excess of 25 000 learners across 29 schools.  In 2020, with restricted access we reached 700 of their educators and 6 500 of their parents in a meaningful way.

In one year, through 

1. the introduction of front-line mental first aiders, 
2. online library (shared developmental resources) 
3. and the introduction of a user friendly app (remote therapeutic services)

we will be able to reach in excess of 80 000 learners and caregivers.

In 5 years we would be able to meaningfully impact the lives of 400 000 children.  But, with significant investment and international partners we are confident that we could reach a million or more.

We align ourselves with the SDG 3.4 and use the same indicator: subjective well-being.  

This year we partnered with OVCmeasure and are implementing the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Child Status Index which measures, in addition to attendance, the following domains:

Food & Nutrition

Shelter & Care

Protection

Health

Psychosocial

Economic

Education and skills

Spirituality and community

We are currently scanning the sector to find tools that are relevant for the digital space and would value insight on this.

Full time 46

Part time 11

We have a team of 57 staff.  The head office team is made up of CEO, Operations manager supported by 5 area managers, media/marketing/funding executive, communications manager and admin assistant.  In the field we have social workers, registered counsellors and psychologists as well as our new mental-health first aiders.  Some of our team are based at specific schools and other "rotate" and respond to need.

The head office team is made up of 

- CEO (17 years in  in community development with children and youth from marginalised communities, initially as a teacher and then leading a non profit, 3 years as CEO at Community Keepers)

- Operations manager (education qualification with 7 years experience at Community Keepers and 15 years experience in the development sector focussing on learner support)

- 5 area managers (all registered and qualified therapists with 7-10 years of experience working in schools as counsellors, doing development work, and with 2-3 years in leading a team)

- media/marketing/funding executive (20 years fundraising for NPOs, 30 years experience in communications)

communications manager (qualified and experienced social worker) 

and admin assistant. 

In the field we have social workers, registered counsellors and psychologists (clinical, counselling and educational) as well as our new mental-health first aiders (young people NEET recruited from the communities we serve).  Some of our team members are based at specific schools and other "rotate" and respond to need.

One of our strategic goals, as listed in our 2020 annual report, is:

PRIORITISE DIVERSITY
• Make an intentional attempt to increase the diversity of our suppliers, school partners, workforce, funding partners
• Diversify the product offering to extend the geographic footprint and increase impact
• Diversify the product offering to include delivery of services through technology
• Formulate and implement a formal employment equity plan

We believe in the value of diversity - not just diverse demographics in the leadership team but also diversity of thought.

Our board members and directors represent a broad range of skills from various sectors. Their biographies can be seen on our website and in our annual report.

We are conscious that our area managers are not a diverse group - they are all young caucasian women and we make note of this in our most recent annual report.  

We acknowledge that in a competitive environment impact reporting, and with it monitoring and evaluating, places a crucial role in attracting and retaining funding.  

Remaining responsive to new technologies, even in technologically constrained communities, is imperative.

Whilst we are well known in our communnities, we are not well-know outside of our circles and would value experitse and collaboration to promotion to a wider circle.

While we are well known in our sector, in our region, we would value global visibility in order to scale.

Our M&E is continually evolving and we are always eager to learn and imporve.  We understand that impact reporting is an essential part of our business and try to balance that against the moral and ethical considerations of client confidentiality and of course the protection of personal information.

We are ready and eager to reach into new territories and are actively seeing service partners to assist us in this.

Only around 40% of our beneficiaries (learners) have access to a device or data to engage through technology but this does not prevent us from using technology to share resources with schools.

We need help in improving our M&E, specifically the gatethering of data in the remote/digital space.

We are seeking a technology parter to develop an app (suited to youth in poor communities) to facilitate conversations/counselling for mental health concerns.

We would appreciate partners who can assist us in marketing our solution to a broader audience and unlocking funding partners.

We are always open to learn and improve and welcome critical input and guidance.  As a small team we are stretched with the operational demands but do still have the energy and enthusiasm to innovate.