In honour of Women’s Month, we spotlight three remarkable women from HopeTown Network: Doris, Kylin, and Candice. Doris, the founder and CEO, empowers at-risk youth in Ocean View through art and creativity. Kylin is a dedicated skills trainer in sewing and leatherwork, helping young people find purpose and self-worth. Candice, part of the team since her early days at HopeTown, works in sewing production and the Kids Club, inspiring others with her passion for art. We have chosen to partner with HopeTown as our Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiative because we love what they are doing with art to support at-risk youth in Ocean View.
Interview with Doris Lindsay the founder of HopeTown
I am a creative maximiser in that I’m always trying to find a good solution to solve a problem. Creative thinking is definitely a strength of mine and I love to bring innovation into a space. I am a mom of 3 teenagers and a wife to an Irish Husband. I was born and raised in Switzerland and have lived in South Africa for the last 12 years. I love South Africa so much and feel very proud to call myself a local, even though I still have a strong Swiss-German Accent.
- Can you tell us about your journey and what inspired you to start HopeTown?
We started working in Ocean View 12 years ago in existing organisations like the High School, where I was running Anger Management classes and supporting young people on their High School journey. I also worked 4 years part time in Pollsmoor Prison with the Juveniles. Aside from that, I invested a lot of relationship building in Ocean View, serving and visiting young people in their homes and supporting them in life through mentoring and counseling. Through this, we realised that many of the at-risk youth were not served well in the community, either by Churches and organisations as they were often connected to gangsterism and people feared their involvment. These young people lacked vision for their lives, experienced alot of mistrust and couldn’t find jobs or training opportunities as they were often dropped out of school. But there was this huge hunger among them for a healthy community.
We started HopeTown in 2016 with the aim to build healthy community among at risk-youth, to prevent them from joining gangs and slipping into addiction and showing them how they can live a life with passion and purpose. Our mission is to love them and supporting their journey through education, skills training and mentoring. - How does art and creativity play a role in the work you do at HopeTown?
Creativity plays a huge role in all our activities. We love to expose our young people to creative thinking, working and problem solving. It is helping them with trauma resolution and thinking outside of the box. We experiment with colours, patterns and different materials. Our skills training focuses on creating high-quality, beautiful products that stand out. We design our own products and have a very colorful corporate design identity. - Could you share an inspirational story from your work at HopeTown?
We have many of them as our young people are on a journey to change and that is beautiful. One of our young women came out of very difficult and traumatic circumstances. She nearly got murdered twice by her own mother and escaped from home. She was a very wild teenager without boundaries or manners. To make a long story short, she became one of our interns, is living in our community house, gave birth to her son and is growing beautifully into a responsible young mother. She is in her second year in the internship and learns on a professional level to sew and do leather work. She has found hope for her life, is learning to be kind and tackle her problems. We are very proud of her personal achievement. - What advice would you give to young women who aspire to make a difference in their lives?
Stay open to ask for help and take every opportunity that is given to you to grow and learn. - What makes The Deckle Edge a good fit as a CSI partner for HopeTown, and what aspects of The Deckle Edge do you find appealing or beneficial for collaboration?
We think the Deckle Edge is a brilliant fit as a partner, as we share the same passion for creativity. We love to be at the leading source for art supplies and also to be exposed to the latest art and craft materials. We need partners on our side who have a vision for people beyond the mission to do great business. The Deckle Edge shows with their collaboration that lives matter and that we can make a contribution in changing their circumstances. We are greatful for their support. - Anything else you would like to share about how people can help or contribute to you by helping with art material donations etc…
As HopeTown we are careful not to give handouts but to train people to take responsibility for their lives. We need partners who support the long term approach of helping without creating dependencies in the long run. We love donations in finance as this helps to budget for skills trainers (we need more trainers on the ground), material and new ventures. We love to receive material that we can use for screen printing, fabric painting, beautiful fabrics, Acrylic paint and any other material we need for painting. We also love to partner with other businesses who give us job shadowing opportunities in creative spaces. And of course, buy our beautiful and stylish products from our skills training courses now being sold at the Deckle Edge from August, as this helps us tremendously to be able to produce more products and train more people.
- HopeTown Facts:
- 150 kids and teenagers participate every week in 11 streams of programs.
- 17 Full time interns in the training for unemployed youth (1-3 years of training)
- 19 staff members on the ground
- 1 small High School for former drop-outs in the community
- 1 Community house for young people coming from difficult backgrounds to experience healthy living
- 1 Youth Centre in the community between 2 gang territories
- 2 Production rooms for the second year interns who are doing sewing and leather skills at Imhoff farm
Social businesses that sell our Hopetown products that have been created in the skills training courses - 1 Shop at Imhoff farm
- Products in 10 different Shops in South Africa now including The Deckle Edge, Germany and Switzerland.
Interviewing Kylin Silvester Skills Trainer in Sewing and Leather work
I’m a wife and a mom of 3 kids. I have a Diploma in clothing and textile manufacturing where I gained hands-on experience through skills. I am a hardworking and driven person who isn’t afraid to face challenges. I’m passionate about my work and I know how to get the job done. I would describe myself as an open and honest person who doesn’t believe in misleading other people and tries to be fair in everything I do.
1. What do you enjoy most about working as a skills trainer?
My journey started at HopeTown nearly a year ago. Personally for me the HopeTown Family impacted me in so many ways and I experience restoration and healing in this place on a personal level. Knowing from my own story, trauma and brokenness is not the end. I feel passionate to bring change into our community and speak hope everyday into the interns lives who might have lost hope in the past. Every day is an opportunity for me to be a salt and light to our young people. I hope that through the change of their lives, we will not only see that they heal, but also the next generation to come.
2. How do you feel about creating with the interns together the products what are sold through the social business?
Our production rooms for leather and sewing are on Imhoff farm close to our HopeTown shop. So our customers often come by and see our workshop space after they have been in our shop. They see how we produce and work on our products. It is a proud moment for us to showcase our standard of work and the quality of our products. We see that people buy our products, not because they feel pity for us, but they really love our products because they are of great quality, locally and ethically made.
3. What do you enjoy most about working as a skills trainer?
I like to create products from nothing, and seeing the end results at the end of the day. To teach others what I have learned myself is rewarding to me and I love to build relationships with our interns. To see them grow is my biggest success and makes me happy.
4. Can you share an inspiring moment or story from your work with the interns?
One of our interns really inspires me daily. He comes out of a very challenging background with having no parents who care and help him. With a family stuck in addiction he never experienced love and acceptance. But despite that, he looks after his siblings in a beautiful way. I can see he wants to change his life for his family. He realised if he has an income in the future he will be able to provide better for his siblings, that is why he works hard in the training. I am inspired that a young person found hope for life through the internship and is already passing it on to the younger generation.
5. What advice would you give to someone interested in joining HopeTown?
Come and visit us and see how life changing this environment is. And for all the young people in the community I would say, if your talent isn’t there yet, you can always develop it to reach your full potential. It is never to late even you feel you dropped out of school or messed up in life. There is hope.
Interview with Candice Owies working in Sewing production and the Kids Club at HopeTown
I am a creative person and love to do stuff with my hands. Im also learning to become excellent and giving my best to create quality through my craftsmanship. I am a mother of 4 kids and my passion is to help kids in the community grow over the years.
- How did your journey with HopeTown begin?
My kids were all part of HopeTown and I also wanted to be part of it as I saw how much they liked it. I started to do Art with Kim Black on a Monday and really loved it. From there I was able to join the internship for two years and I learned so many new things about myself, my abilities and got to know Jesus in this journey. When my internship finished I really wanted to stay on and I was one of the first people who got a job in HopeTown in production (sewing) and kids activities. I continued through all this time to improve my art and grew in additional skills. - How has your art developed since joining HopeTown’s Monday art class?
I learned so much through art class and gained confidence. It was wonderful to see that I was able to achieve great pictures I could be proud of. Many people in the community started to recognise me as I became better and better. I am teaching art now myself to the small kids in the community within HopeTown and can pass on what I learned myself over the years. - What inspired you to pursue an internship and later a full-time role in sewing production and kids’ activities?
In art class I gained vision for my life and realised that I need to be bold to ask for an opportunity to do an internship (I was a bit older than most of the interns) and got a space. While I was in the internship I grew so much in my character, skills and how to serve others. I realised I have something to give to others. The kids and teens need me and many others to help them too. I feel it is a wonderful thing to give back to my own community and to continue to be part of the HopeTown family. HopeTown is much more than a job, it is my family now. - Can you share an inspiring story from your time at HopeTown?
Part of my job in HopeTown is having sewing classes with kids and teens. There I realised, that kids are just imitating what we are showing them. They literally do what we do and they learn so quickly. This inspired me so much to invest into young people because we can actually really influence them for the good. They might face very difficult challenges at home but we can give them a place of belonging, teach them skills from a early age on and support their journey in a very practical way. - What role has mentorship played in your artistic growth?
I got different art mentors over this journey. At the moment I am focussing on portrait painting and this is exciting for me and I learn alot from my art mentor Maria. I improved my skills and I am proud of what I achieved so far. My art mentor shows me different techniques and encourages my journey. - What message would you like to share with artists or aspiring artists who have faced similar challenges to you and are looking to learn, grow, and seize opportunities like those you have got to experience at HopeTown?
Don’t give up and stay focused on what you want in life. There is always an opportunity ahead to learn even life might be very challenging. There is hope and good things ahead for you no matter how old you are. Please show Candice support by following her art Insta page candice.art2
As we celebrate the incredible contributions of Doris, Kylin, and Candice during Women’s Month, we are proud to announce that The Deckle Edge has chosen HopeTown Network as our Corporate Social Investment (CSI) partner. Not just these three women, but the entire team at HopeTown is dedicated to empowering at-risk youth through art and creativity in Ocean View, Cape Town. By supporting their mission, we aim to contribute to a brighter future for the community and continue fostering positive change through art. We look forward to a fruitful partnership.
At The Deckle Edge, we’re setting up donation boxes to support HopeTown. We’re encouraging customers to donate both in-store and online by bringing in old art supplies or purchasing new ones for donation. Your contributions will help empower at-risk youth through art and creativity.
Visit Hopetown’s website for more information on what they do and how they are making a difference www.hopetown-network.com or follow their journey on Instagram @hopetownov
How Can You Help?
By purchasing items from HopeTown’s material wish list, you can directly support their work. These items are discounted by 20%, and when you buy from this list, we’ll donate them to HopeTown on your behalf. Please note that these donations will not be shipped to you but will go directly to HopeTown. If you purchase other items in your order, those will be shipped to you as usual. Your contribution will make a meaningful impact—thank you for supporting this important cause!