WHY IS THIS BABY HOUSE IMPORTANT?

As a beacon of light in the community and a refuge for its most vulnerable members, this beloved home has served our babies and toddlers for 20 good long years.  This is the location of the Door of Hope Baby Box, through which over 250 babies have passed into the care of our loving staff.  The inner city of Johannesburg is a desperate place.  Our ministry of rescuing and caring for abandoned babies meets a great need here.  This is why we have always wanted to remain here instead of moving to a different location.

WHY REBUILD NOW?

Despite taking excellent care of our home with regular building maintenance, over 100 years of aging together with the harsh inner-city environment have worn it down to the bone, so that today it has several underlying water and structural issues, and its bricks are beginning to crumble. Our countless patch ups over the years have been good but temporary band aids that, in the end, are unable to restore our home to its original strength. Ongoing maintenance and renovations are no longer economically feasible nor prudent for the long-term service of our children, and so we believe that our wisest course of action is to demolish the old home and rebuild a new one from the ground up.

THE BENEFITS OF A NEW HOME:

We have always believed in caring for the whole child – body and soul.  Here our children are fed, washed, and prayed for.  Here they are showered with love and raised with faith.  A new home ensures that this good work continues for another 100 years.  The old home was repurposed for our needs to the best of our ability; the new home will be very purposefully designed for our specific needs and services.

Our new home will:

• Accommodate up to 24 babies and toddlers and 8 full-time staff at one time 
• Include solar power and rainwater storage to mitigate the rapidly declining public services in South Africa 
• Increase energy efficiency and reduce operating and maintenance costs 
• Include a much-needed dedicated rest area for staff  
• Improve the spaces that the children inhabit: better bedrooms, living room, and playground 

Ground Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Perspective 1

Perspective 2