Dear friends

It’s been 6 months since you all so passionately rallied to support us in the face of what seemed like the imminent threat to our beloved TLC. Thankfully and with your help, we were able to weather the storm and use this time to embark on a complex restructuring process, which we did with the help of a Change Management Consultant.

As most of our supporters know, TLC was started as a family run home in 1993. Over time our family grew and we evolved to serve over 900 children, and we have had the privilege of including over 1000 volunteers and permanent staff in our life’s work. Starting as a small, rebellious family, challenging an oppressive system which did not cater for work like ours, we are now able to function under the regulations of a non-profit organisation and a registered Child and Youth Care Centre (“CYCC”). All this while navigating an exceedingly colourful family life, with the Founding Jarvis family having grown from 5 children to almost 40!

As the years passed, the world changed in and around the Founding Family and TLC. It became clear that the best way to restructure was to clearly define the Founding family as its own entity, separate from the daily running of our CYCC. This has been a tricky process and the end of 2018, we thought it would be impossible to bring about the necessary stability without changing the heart or losing the impact of what we do. We have made significant progress in this regard but are by no means out of the woods yet.

In many ways we are still struggling to pay off our debt and to find the required funds to cover our monthly expenses. Thanks to the continued support of some very special TLC angels, we are still afloat. However, these shortfalls are ongoing as we, like many organisations, experience the effects of a declining donor base and limited government funding.

What remains unchanged over the years, is our passion to ensure that every child is equipped to reach their full potential. Today, as the young children you have lovingly watched grow over the years reach young adulthood, one of the main challenges TLC is now facing is the question of how to fulfil our promise to them. The promise of how to best provide the springboard needed for these young TLC Jarvis ambassadors to successfully make the shift towards their own futures.

After deep discussions, Thea has decided to retire from the organisation, handing over the operations to Pippa to take forward into the future.

In recognition of her years of service to humanity TLC would like to reach out to the world to honour her legacy in a practical and powerful way.

Thea sought no reward for her 25 years of work.

Now in her later years TLC would like to create a modest fund to take care of her needs without having her subject to the stresses and strains of the unpredictability that is life in the NGO sector.

We are looking for partners who believe that such a hero deserves some recognition now that her time has come to reflect on her life’s achievements with pride.

If you are one of those people who believes a life of selfless service to humanity should be honoured please consider joining us as we plan to mark a beautiful milestone in the life of this extraordinary woman.

We plan to honour Thea with a retirement party on 20^th July 2019. We have had a kind offer from a friend to provide the venue but are limited to inviting 100 people as a result. Please let us know if you are interested in attending and we will do our best to accommodate you.

We are conscious this is a short time to prepare and we would like to ensure everyone gets the chance to honour Thea properly so we are committed to celebrating her 70^th Birthday in October 2020, in style, so keep that in mind too! More details will follow soon.

Going forward, Thea will focus her energy, as the matriarch of the family, in providing wisdom and guidance, working closely with professionals to help the success of our soon to be implemented “Strive to Thrive” Youth Empowerment Program where the young adults raised in the family will be equipped with the necessary skills for employment and independence.

With your help, TLC will be implementing our “Strive to Thrive” program over the next few months. We will transition our young adults out of the main house and provide a safe on site “Student Residence” type of experience and living. We intend to achieve this by modifying existing accommodation to provide a place where they can be exposed to an environment which is designed to foster the kind of confidence and life skills they will need to live independently as they prepare for transitioning from TLC into the ‘real’ world.

As Thea’s children this cohort will always be an intimate part of the TLC family and so our practical plans are aimed at ensuring that Thea is able to live safely and comfortably in the family home where she has lived for the last 21 years. While some of her youngsters will be living just down the TLC lane, Thea will remain in her home with those who are not yet ready to enter the program.

As with every plan at TLC, there is a lot to consider and though we have some excellent plans and can see how this will be a pivotal part in the long-term ability of TLC to sustain itself, nothing can be done until we can secure the much needed funding to make it happen.  Our early estimations are there will be 2 phases to consider for proper execution:

Phase 1: Repair and interventions (and possible Temporary space hire) to make the physical move work

Cost estimates of approximately ($38 000) R550 000

Phase 2: Renovation of existing structures to bring them to acceptable standards and create internal divides to help clearly separate Thea’s Family home from the organisation.

Cost estimates to be confirmed ~ ($14 000) R200 000

To complete the physical transition we are hoping to partner with companies who may have the skills and could help us keep the costs as low as possible.

Those of you who would like more information are invited to contact us. If you are as excited as we are and want to help, feel free to reference any donations toward this project as “STRIVE”.

We are so looking forward to empowering our youth for a meaningful future and we hope that you are too ?