500 children later, we know this works. Help us fund what comes next.
Date Published:
In the Cape Flats communities of Cape Town, South Africa, thousands of children grow up carrying weight that no child should carry. Daily exposure to gang violence, poverty, and trauma leaves many unable to regulate their emotions. And a child who cannot regulate their emotions cannot learn.
We are Rebuild For Change, a registered nonprofit founded on one belief: that creativity can heal. Our programme, Paint With Purpose, brings trauma-informed art, music, and movement into Early Childhood Development centres. We give children aged 4 to 10 a safe space to express what they cannot yet put into words.
In our 2024/25 pilot in Heideveld, we reached over 500 children across 10 schools. Every single school reported calmer, more focused children. 83% of teachers independently continued our methods after the programme ended. We also trained young women from these same communities as facilitators, because we believe the people who serve a community should come from it.
All of this costs just $55 per child for a full 12-week programme. For context, a single therapy session in South Africa costs over $110.
We have proven the model works. Now we need the fuel to keep it going.
Our wish is to find the funding partners we need to keep Paint With Purpose alive and to grow it from 500 children to thousands. Every dollar invested in a child's emotional wellbeing today saves a community tomorrow. We are not asking for charity. We are offering a proven, affordable, community-owned solution to one of South Africa's most urgent crises. We just need people who believe what we believe: that if a child can heal, they can learn. And if they can learn, they can change everything.
We are Rebuild For Change, a registered nonprofit founded on one belief: that creativity can heal. Our programme, Paint With Purpose, brings trauma-informed art, music, and movement into Early Childhood Development centres. We give children aged 4 to 10 a safe space to express what they cannot yet put into words.
In our 2024/25 pilot in Heideveld, we reached over 500 children across 10 schools. Every single school reported calmer, more focused children. 83% of teachers independently continued our methods after the programme ended. We also trained young women from these same communities as facilitators, because we believe the people who serve a community should come from it.
All of this costs just $55 per child for a full 12-week programme. For context, a single therapy session in South Africa costs over $110.
We have proven the model works. Now we need the fuel to keep it going.
Our wish is to find the funding partners we need to keep Paint With Purpose alive and to grow it from 500 children to thousands. Every dollar invested in a child's emotional wellbeing today saves a community tomorrow. We are not asking for charity. We are offering a proven, affordable, community-owned solution to one of South Africa's most urgent crises. We just need people who believe what we believe: that if a child can heal, they can learn. And if they can learn, they can change everything.
