Meals on wheels

In a city with hunger, isolation, and gaps between what government provides and what families actually need, community centres become lifelines. They're where children get fed when there's nothing at home; where elderly people know they'll see a familiar face; where someone notices when a young person stops coming and checks if they're okay. They coordinate with schools, clinics, social workers, and each other to catch people falling through cracks. They hold neighbourhood knowledge—who needs help, what resources exist, where the gaps are. That role is essential and largely invisible until you're the family that benefits from it, or the young person whose trajectory shifted because an adult at the centre believed in them. Cape Town's community centres are doing work the city depends on.