Old About MES

Changing the heart of the City!

MES is a Christian 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, Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) and Kempton Park.

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 1989 the project was registered as a Section 21 company (1989/004921/08) with an independent Board of Directors. The organisation is a registered Not for Profit Company (1989/004921/08), NPO (023 603), PBO (RG/0012/09/04), and has Section 18 A (tax benefit) status.

Our vision

To change the heart of the city!

Our mission

To mould, empower and serve urban people at risk holistically to live independent, sustainable and meaningful lives.

Our core values

The core values of MES are based on Christian principles and reflect the way we engage with all stakeholders. MES aims to:

Influence potential
Serve with compassion
Govern with excellence and lead responsibly
Drive essential social change
Initiate, collaborate and partner

Our national strategic objectives:

To provide holistic, high-quality developmental services that are implemented through our service model.
To ensure that our organisation is professionally and sufficiently resourced.
To uphold good corporate governance in all aspects of our business.
To have a content and motivated workforce that live our core values.

Our dream for the future is that our clients are able to:

Use or implement the tools, which they have received and skills that they were taught.
Take responsibility for their own lives.
Make informed decisions.
Uphold acceptable moral values.
Inspire further development due to a positive self-awareness.