The Organization – Roadlamp Foundation:
Welfare: Leg 1
This organization was initially started as one of the Directors of the ROADLAMP FOUNDATION herself, Jolene Fouchè has been part of the Social Service Professions and throughout a span of 20 years working mostly in Child Protection she realized the need, not only to help the clients of the different organizations, but to help empower the Social Workers, Care Workers, Community Workers and Group Workers and other Professionals and Workers and Volunteers. Most Social Workers and other Professionals working for Non Profit or Non-Governmental Organizations are doing Case Work, Community Work and Group Work, but unfortunately there are always a lack of finances and therefor making much needed service delivery to the most vulnerable almost unachievable.
It is very difficult for any worker appointed in a statutory position or a therapeutic position or even for an inspector at an animal society to do what they are appointed for, when they then must also ask for financial contributions from the community in order to fulfill the necessary requirements for service delivery. Not every worker is a manager/marketer/fundraiser and this part only takes precious time away from the worker to do the real work they have been appointed for. Committees or Board members try, but they are also mostly Professional or Business People who can also do just so much and cannot always be 100% involved. At welfare organizations there are sometimes barely finances to pay salaries thus there are no money for training for staff. Also at many organizations there are several day to day running expenses like plumbing or electricity or just general maintenance that cannot be kept up as there are no financial contributions from the community as times are dire. Mostly the staff also struggle to deliver services as the vehicles to render services to children, the elderly, disabled, or animals are not maintained once again because of a lack of finances.
When one thinks of helping in the Welfare Sector one tend to think of things like clothing and food and money, but giving time and expertise, networking with people that are able to help and taking some of the weight of the professionals in order for them to do important work is a need ROADLAMP FOUNDATION would like to address and help alleviate some of the stress associated. ROADLAMP FOUNDATION would like to help generate sustainable projects and create an atmosphere of hope and calm amongst the Professionals and their Organizations.
Small Business Program – SME’s: Leg 2
That being said the other Director of ROADLAMP FOUNDATION, Quinton Fouchè has been in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Retail Industry for the past 30 years. The Company he was a part of for the past 30 years also has a strong believe in Social Responsibility and believes that “Doing Good is Good Business”. The Company associated with many diverse Welfare Organizations, from Children’s Welfare Organizations, Disability Organizations, Animal Protection Organizations, certain Organizations working with certain medical conditions as well as trying to make dreams come true for critically ill children. During the COVID 19 pandemic in the year 2020 Quinton Fouchè like so many other people around the world needed to reinvent himself after companies reduced personnel. The reinvention came immediately, but at the back of his mind he had always wanted to let his business mind run in unison with a NPO mind focusing on mentoring – giving a “hand up and not only a hand-out”.
So with his business mind and working with various small and medium enterprise businesses for many years and the knowledge his wife has accumulated over the past two decades concerning Welfare, Quinton Fouchè and Jolene Fouchè is not only life partners for the past 20 years but work hand in hand concerning business and has a strong belief in Social Responsibility and would like to share their knowledge and resources with Professionals, Welfare Organizations and SME Entrepreneurs.
Small and Medium Enterprises play a major role in most developing countries in job creation and growth in the economy. These businesses will most likely never be able to obtain any formal credit facilities or advances form large formal financial institutions and start-ups are funded via Family and Friends contributing to them and only at a later stage will formal grants and other financial initiatives from National government and or small investment structures subsidized by Government in collaboration with big business play a role in the working capital of these SME’s.
South Africa with its large unemployment rate requires more and more small start up’s and requires all of us to assist in developing them and to see this as supporting sustainability and security in our country and region. We can no longer accept that this is not our responsibility as the impact of this is evident and we will bear the risk even more in years to come.