St. Nicolas Home
Providing safety, healing, and a place to belong for children who have experienced neglect, abuse, and abandonment.
SOPHIATOWN, JOHANNESBURG · EST. 1965
Ages served
Children between 4 and 18 years old who have been found to need care and protection under the Children’s Act.
Our Focus
Therapeutic residential care, emotional healing, family reunification, and preparing children for safe, stable futures.
Where We Are
St. Nicolas Home is located in Sophiatown, Johannesburg — at the heart of the community it has served since 1965.
A Home Born from Community Need
St. Nicolas Home was founded in 1965 by Brian Gannon in response to a community in crisis. Westbury and the surrounding areas of Sophiatown were, and in many ways remain deeply affected by poverty, unemployment, alcohol abuse, and gangsterism. In conditions like these, children are often the most vulnerable. They are neglected, abused, and left without the safe, stable home environment every child needs to grow.
Brian Gannon’s response was simple and profound: create a home. A real home not an institution, where children could be safe, loved, and given every opportunity to heal.
In 2002, St. Nicolas became part of COACH, the Coalition of Anglican Children’s Homes, joining St. George’s under a single coordinated organisation that could pool resources, fundraise professionally, and maintain the highest standards of care across both homes.
In 2004, St. Nicolas transitioned from custodial care to a fully therapeutic, life-space intervention model, a transformation that fundamentally changed how staff understood their role, and deepened the quality of care every child receives.
Today, St. Nicolas continues to be a place where children find not just shelter, but genuine healing and wherever possible, a pathway back to their families.
OUR PROGRAMMES
What We Offer
Every programme at St. Nicolas is designed around one goal: helping each child heal, grow, and build the foundation for a safe and stable life.
Therapeutic Support & Counselling
Children at St. Nicolas live in a safe, structured, and nurturing environment where their physical, emotional, educational, and social needs are met every day. Accommodation, nutritious meals, clothing, school attendance, and healthcare are all provided as a foundation, but it is the therapy and relationships that make St. Nicolas truly different.
Our child and youth care workers are present in the daily life of every child, supporting, encouraging, and helping each child develop the emotional skills they need to function, connect, and thrive.
Therapy & Counselling
Intensive therapy is at the heart of what we do at St. Nicolas. Our Social Worker provides individual counselling sessions aimed at helping children understand and process the trauma they have experienced, the abuse, the neglect, the broken attachments and begin to rebuild a sense of self-worth and safety.
Group therapy sessions focus on self-esteem, self-acceptance, and social skills. External specialists are brought in to address specific therapeutic, medical, or developmental needs. The goal is not just stability, it is genuine healing.
Education & Life Skills
Every child at St. Nicolas attends school from the home, with our team providing homework support, educational guidance, and extra-curricular activities that keep young people engaged and motivated. Life skills training is woven into daily life helping children develop the practical and social capabilities they will need as they grow.
Sports, recreation, and creative activities are also part of the programme, because play and joy are not luxuries they are essential parts of healthy childhood development.
Family Reunification & Foster Care
St. Nicolas is not a traditional orphanage. Wherever it is safe to do so, we work intensively with the families of the children in our care providing parental empowerment training, counselling, and practical support aimed at healing broken relationships and strengthening families.
Our goal is always reunification. But where a child’s safety and wellbeing cannot be guaranteed in their biological family, we recruit, train, and support foster care families ensuring that every child has the chance to grow up in a home, not an institution.
From Silence to Strength
Naledi arrived at St. Nicolas Home feeling shy, withdrawn, and deeply unsure of herself. Living with eczema and facing relentless bullying at school had stripped away her confidence. She avoided others, neglected her self-care, and struggled daily with anxiety and sadness that had become overwhelming.
The team at St. Nicolas stepped in — not just to address the immediate problem, but to walk alongside Naledi in a deeper process of healing. Our Social Worker intervened at school, ensured her safety, and began individual counselling sessions focused on self-esteem and self-acceptance. Our child and youth care workers showed up for her every single day — encouraging her, reminding her of her worth, and refusing to let her disappear into herself.
Slowly, Naledi began to change. She started taking care of herself again. She began to engage with others. She found her voice.
Today, Naledi is confident and expressive. She speaks up for herself and reaches out to support other children who are struggling. Her story is a reminder of what consistent care, professional support, and genuine human connection can do.
*Name changed to protect privacy
Our Professional Staff
St. Nicolas’ Home is staffed by a team of qualified professionals committed to the wellbeing of every young person in our care. Our team includes registered social workers, child and youth care workers, educators, and support staff, all of whom bring expertise, compassion, and dedication to their work every day.
COACH also runs accredited Social Work and Child & Youth Care Worker training programmes, giving back to the sector by developing the next generation of professionals.
ZEENATH SOLOMON
Programme Manager
Zeenath Solomon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Child and Family Psychology and is a qualified social worker with over 16 years of extensive experience in the field.
She has a proven track record in supporting children, families, and communities, specializing in child welfare, family interventions, and psychosocial development.
Zeenath is passionate about empowering vulnerable populations, implementing effective social programs, and fostering positive change through her professional expertise and compassionate approach
NTHABISENG MOTALA
Residential Social Worker
Nthabiseng Motalal is the residential social worker at St Nicolas Home for Children.
She is a qualified social worker as well as a trained school teacher, bringing both professional expertise and educational experience to her role in supporting the young people at the Home.
SANDRA ALEXANDER
Team Admin
Sandra Alexander has been the team administrator at St Nicolas Home for Children for over 20 years.
She has extensive experience in managing day-to-day operations, coordinating programs, and supporting both staff and children to ensure the smooth running of the home.
Her dedication, organizational skills, and deep knowledge of the organization have made her an invaluable member of the team.