San Salvador Home and Community Hub

San Salvador Home has been a place of safety, belonging and community for women with intellectual disabilities in Johannesburg for nearly 90 years.

Founded in 1936 by the Dominican Sisters of the Catholic Church, the home provides residential care, developmental programmes and a loving community for 58 women aged 18 and older in Hyde Park. The home is registered with the Department of Social Development and relies on government grants, private donations and fundraising to operate.

But San Salvador is more than a care facility. It is a family. Staff members who join with plans to stay for a year or two end up staying for decades. Residents who have lived here for 30 years greet visitors by name. The women look after one another with a generosity and warmth that leaves no one unchanged.

Alongside the residential home, the San Salvador Community Hub serves a further 60 beneficiaries from across Johannesburg, the majority from Alexandra. The Hub provides skills development and paid work opportunities, and its inclusive arts showcase- which has pioneered the integration of South African Sign Language into its shows- regularly performs at care facilities, schools and charities across the city.

San Salvador is sustained by its community: the schools, businesses and individuals who have walked through its doors, partnered with its programmes and chosen to show up for these women, year after year.