Bendiga House for Independent Living is a Non-profit Organisation. We are not funded by the Department of Social Development and rely on private funding.
Bendiga House is managed by an in-house Social Worker (registered with SACSSP) and the facility is licensed with the Department of Health and Wellness.
Research indicates that, "for people who are adequately supported and have the functional capacity, transitioning to living in a community setting (as opposed to in-patient treatment or psychiatric hospital facilities) is an important step in attaining recovery".
Our main focus is supporting neurodivergent adults to live happy and fulfilled lives. We prefer to use the term neurodivergent as we strive to move away from the label of mental illness. We work mainly with depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia and schizo-affective disorder. We are unable to accommodate people on the Autism spectrum.
We draw inspiration from the work of Loren Mosher (Soteria House) and practice the approach of "being with" and "doing with". Mutual tasks provide an opportunity for social engagement and building life skills which are often impaired in neurodivergent adults.
The objective is to provide a stable, secure and comfortable home. The purpose of House rules (Code of Conduct) is to provide a friendly, harmonious and co-operative atmosphere.
Residents may remain at Bendiga until they become too frail or ill and require specialised care.
Bendiga House is a residential facility - not a medical facility - and does not accept responsibility for general medical treatment. However, a very important aspect of our service is medicine compliance. We assist our residents to comply with their treatment and to increase their independence in managing the treatment of their psychiatric diagnosis. Staff is acting in loco parentus, as the custodian of the resident, and needs to ensure the resident takes the medication as prescribed.
We provide single or shared accommodation and plan to eventually care for a maximum of 25 residents with 24-hour in-house supervision and a therapeutic programme by a multi-disciplinary team.
The three residences offer modern interiors and facilities such as an inside or outside braai area, swimming pool, table tennis and exercise equipment.
The house is situated in a quiet residential area in Table View, close to the MyCiti bus route, shopping malls, library, fitness centres, etc. The area of Blouberg was chosen because of the excellent infrastructure as well as recreational facilities in the area.