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In June 2014, Kerry Hoffman spent a day sharing soup and sandwiches with people living on the street. This relaxed social gathering – and the regular monthly social events that followed for the next five years, helped us understand the complexity of homelessness and the inadequacies of the existing interventions. The early years cemented Souper Troopers in the social capital of the streets with our ethos of dignity, love and respect and taught us that each person on the street had their own story and needed individualised support to move forward.
Souper Troopers helps homeless people take the steps necessary to make sustainable changes in their lives. Those homeless people who come to us wanting to change their lives are Troopers. We operate The Humanity Hub, a service centre at which we address the holistic needs of a human being, starting with the most basic needs (like clothes, food, toiletries) and working through a full range of services (including counselling, skills training, medical referrals, family mediation, job preparation, creative workshops, micro entrepreneurial opportunities).
Our overarching ethos is DIGNITY, LOVE & RESPECT in all that we do. Our psycho-social development model involves our experienced fieldwork team working with each trooper individually using our CAST model: CONNECT | ASSESS | SUPPORT | TRANSFORM.
We receive funding to employ more than 20 Troopers who are on their CAST journey, enabling us to work with them daily on their paths to independence. The Souper Squad project pays each team member a stipend. Our Squad members work in a community garden in the Bo Kaap, make African Worry Dolls for sale in our Souper Shop, run our Troopers coffee sales, and fulfil various roles within the organisation.
Part of the Souper Squad program includes compulsory group workshops, creative outlets like art and music, skills training, and other activities aimed at preparing them for their future working lives. As part of their transformation, these Troopers have an opportunity to step up and improve life for others, uplifting themselves at the same time. They learn skills, gain experience, take personal responsibility, and forge relationships – all crucial aspects of their CAST journey – while building their CVs to ensure future independence.
The Humanity Hub is situated at 66 Newmarket street, Woodstock 7925 and is open to beneficiaries by appointment on Mondays and Thursdays… to end of that sentence to: ‘Mondays to Thursdays 8:30–4pm and Friday 8:30–3pm. This is the address at which we accept donations of clothing, shoes, toiletries, non-perishable food, and any other household items.
We are so grateful to Swindon Property for accommodating us in their premises.
We are so proud that these amazing businesses have chosen to partner with and support Souper Troopers, and we encourage you to support these heartful organisations. Find out how you can partner with us.
Our pro bono accountants have worked with us over the years always ensuring our records are up to date. Their willingness to help and be available when we need them is crucial to our governance and we remain so grateful for their time and expertise.
Our new partner Boldr has supported us with a smart TV for workshops, gas stove, pantry items and helping us expand our network.
The global team at CIG are the perfect example of how a corporate/NPO partnership should work. They donate to us monthly; their Isle of Man CEO provides strategic business input; their marketing team support our campaigns and create their own to publicise our partnership; the staff get involved in our events and collections; they buy our coffee for their office machine; and promote us at every opportunity.
This family food supply business is our raison d’être. Started by Kerry’s grandfather and mother, CNC taught us everything we know about relationships, networking, and going the extra mile with a smile. They continue to support us in so many ways – linking us with their prestigious hotel and restaurant clients, sponsoring prizes, selling our coffee, and promoting us at every opportunity.
Since first hearing about us on Kieno Kammies’ Cape Talk show over four years ago, the Foundation has provided us with monthly credit to make sure that our Troopers have toiletries and non-perishable snacks. We are so grateful for their ongoing support that helps our Troopers feel dignified.
Our partners at Dito have helped us in so many ways. From putting on an amazing Christmas party to facilitating a specialised training academy for our Souper Squad and helping us fundraise, we love working with their energetic team.
Our link to Khulisa is through their Streetscapes Community Projects, which creates work opportunities for people on the streets. We have recently been selected as one of their partners on a government funded project that sees us employing 25 Troopers.
We love collaborating with Ladles of Love in The Humanity Hub. They support us in many ways including making their resources available to us when we need them and sharing their skills.
We are proud to be a member of The Mensch Network, a network of Jewish social changemakers. Mensch support us in so many ways – arranging fundraising events, linking us to like-minded people, promoting us at every opportunity, and hosting training workshops and presentations at which we learn new skills.
In Peter and Lesley we found kindred souls who care as much about our Troopers as we do. They use their connections to link us to so many opportunities and their skills to help wherever they can.
Our partnership began with financial support towards a loadshedding solution for The Humanity Hub and they continue to look for other ways to support us.
We are so grateful to Swindon Property for partnering with us as their CSI project and supporting us in various ways. They sponsor our rent, buy our coffee, and often bring their team to connect with ours.
From its amazing owner (and his dog) who have been volunteers for years, to donating prizes for our raffles, and now buying our coffee to serve, this is a sushi restaurant with a big heart.
We are so grateful to them for the ongoing website support and development (thanks for this website!). It really is so valuable for us to work with people that care and help us communicate our vision.
Our pro bono attorneys, Werksmans have supported us in so many ways. This includes legal advice and representation, financial and computer hardware donations, linking us to their vast network, volunteering time to put on a pop-up clothing shop for the Troopers, and standing up for us publicly. We are so grateful to have a firm of their stature on our side.
We are grateful to Wunders for choosing to partner with us. They donate valuable material offcuts that we use for our African Worry Dolls and wood to use in various ways. They also buy our African worry dolls for their showroom to give and sell to customers.
We are so grateful to these organisations and personalities that have over the years donated products, made spaces available, or shared their talents with us:
