MES Company

MES is a Christian integrated social development organisation that has been changing the heart of the city since 1986 and has been actively working towards providing sustainable solutions to pervasive poverty in the inner cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Kempton Park.

In South Africa, the gap between the wealthy haves and the poor have nots is worryingly growing wider and wider. People struggling to make ends meet generally move to cities, especially to the inner-city, to find employment, but they often find themselves stranded, alone and helpless. This continued migration of desperation is keenly felt on the African continent. Established systems providing housing, employment, education, healthcare and psycho-social support have long since become unable to deal with this influx of unemployed, often unemployable job seekers.

The initial vision for MES was born in 1986 when the Johannesburg East Dutch Reformed Church started with an outreach programme that handed out food parcels to the homeless and unemployed community of Hillbrow in Johannesburg inner city. In 1989 the project registered as a Section 21 company with an independent Board of Directors.

Currently, the organisation is a registered Not for Profit Company, NPO, Public Benefit Organisation and has Section 18 A (tax benefit) status for South-African donors, operating under five (5) focus groups, including pre-schoolers, learners, school leaving youth, youth and adults at risk, as well as, families at risk