Crowdfunded R22,000 lifts car-dwelling family; Cape Town architect launches structured aid

R22,000 in crowdfunded capital now underpins what started as a R20 note pressed into a stranger’s hand outside a Cape Town coffee shop.

Gary Meyers, a South African-based architect conducting long-distance charity walks around Cape Town, met Jolene Erasmus in March when she approached him asking for job leads. That encounter set in motion a structured financial and social support effort for Erasmus, her husband Itzy Diamond, and their 11-year-old son, Hymie Diamond, who had been living in their vehicle for three years following a farm attack in 2023.

Additional reference context is available at https://www.sajr.co.za/family-living-in-car-gets-help-and-shabbat-invitation/.

The capital mobilization accelerated quickly. Meyers launched a GoFundMe page on 18 June, which has since raised more than R20,000. Additional material contributions, including clothing and ongoing direct financial support, bring the total intervention above R22,000. The funds have addressed vehicle maintenance and household expenses, the two most immediate cost pressures for a family whose car is simultaneously their transport and their home.

Meyers had first spotted the family’s vehicle parked along the road while walking toward Hout Bay, towels hanging from the windows signaling habitation. His initial hesitation was practical. “At the time, I thought to myself, well, this is South Africa, everyone is struggling. I honestly wondered whether it was just another story,” he recalled. “I normally don’t carry cash with me when I’m walking, but this time I had a R20 note and I gave it to her.”

What changed his calculus was Erasmus’s response: a handwritten note stating the family wanted employment, not charity.

Since the 2023 farm attack, the family had relocated repeatedly along the Cape Town coast, moving on whenever residents objected to their presence. At the time of Meyers’ intervention, they were sleeping at Cosy Bay, an area Erasmus described as extremely dark with no street lighting. Itzy slept outside in a sleeping bag; Hymie occupied the back seat, even in rain.

Meyers, who had walked the same unlit stretch from Station House in Sea Point toward Chapman’s Peak where vehicles travel at high speed, understood the physical risk. “I’ve seen how dangerous it can be. And suddenly, I was looking at an 11-year-old child living in a car, while his father was sleeping outside in a sleeping bag, in those conditions. I couldn’t just walk past. I remember thinking, I can’t do this. It’s not right. It’s not godly. It’s not human,” he said.

Beyond the GoFundMe, Meyers extended an invitation to his weekly Friday Night Club, a gathering where observant Jewish practices are observed. The family attended consistently, dressed in their best clothes and bringing contributions to share. “Each Friday night we go to his club, we pray over the bread and the wine, we light candles, and we participate in the Hebrew prayers,” Erasmus said.

The social access proved to have direct economic value. After Itzy shared his story at one of the gatherings, a contact of Meyers known as Biscuit helped secure him work as a boilermaker, converting a dinner table conversation into an employment lead. For Erasmus, the network itself was the rarer commodity. “We’ve been here for three years, and nobody has ever invited us even for a cup of coffee. So when Gary invited us, it was an absolute blessing to have somewhere that felt homely, where we could sit, talk, and connect with people,” she said.

The family has managed to keep Hymie in school and maintain basic food security, but stable housing and permanent employment remain unresolved. Erasmus is clear about the goal. “We’re not looking for handouts. We’re just looking for a roof over our heads, somewhere safe where my husband can start looking for work and we can have some stability,” she said.

Vehicle repairs continue to draw on the crowdfunded pool, and the durability of that funding source, once public attention moves on, is the open question the family still faces.