Door of Hope Children’s Mission

In 1999, in response to the growing number of abandoned babies in Johannesburg, a stainless-steel Baby Saver Box was built into the wall of the Berea Baptist Mission Church. This was the beginning of Door of Hope. The box was designed to be accessible from the outside, allowing a mother in crisis to place her baby safely inside. As soon as the baby was placed inside the box, sensors triggered an alarm, and someone from Door of Hope would immediately come to collect the child. This gave desperate mothers a safe, anonymous alternative to unsafe abandonment and, most importantly, gave their babies a chance to live. Since then, many babies have been reached through this box, and it continues to be a symbol of hope and life for the most vulnerable among us. We had our baby saver box at our baby home in Berea but recently had to close it all up for safety reasons. We have two baby homes and our baby saver in Glenvista, with a second one on the way. We care for abandoned babies in loving, secure homes, giving each child the chance to survive, grow, and thrive. We average between 60 and 66 babies at any one time. Since 1999 we have welcomed near 2000 babies into our homes. The children stay with us until they are adopted, re-united or placed into long term alternative care. We are in the process of building a children's village as well as a larger property to accommodate our older children and special needs children.