Stepping Stone Hospice and Care Services is an independent, community-driven organisation situated in Alberton Johannesburg. They provide specialist palliative care to people experiencing the impact of life-limiting illness. The Care Centre supports eight inpatients, fifty-one children outpatients and 160 adult outpatients with the help of fifty-nine dedicated staff members.
The organisation was founded by Tersia Burger, whose daughter was born with a rare and degenerative connective tissue disorder. Two months before her passing, Tersia’s daughter asked her mother to start a hospice in Alberton, “so no-one will have to suffer the way I did.” On the 1st of January 2013, Stepping Stone Hospice started operating out of Tersia’s home in Alberton.
The Centre aims to meet patients’ physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs from diagnosis to end of life. The In-Patient-Unit is managed by palliatively trained nurses and care workers 24hrs a day. Outpatient palliative support is provided to patients in the community, as well as their families. The staff at Stepping Stone include doctors, professional palliatively-trained nurses, therapists, social workers, spiritual counselors and volunteers.
While the hospice supports patients who are on a medical aid, most of the patients are non-paying and in desperate need of care.
Stepping Stone Hospice and Care Services are opening a 10-bed children’s in-patient unit, which will provide specialized care and support for young patients facing life-threatening illnesses.
RADA was introduced to Stepping Stone Hospice and Care Services in May 2024. It was decided that it was a place RADA could assist and support going forward. With the help of sponsors, we are now providing food to the hospice for their staff and patients. RADA will continue to assess and assist with the needs of the Care Centre, its staff and its patients.
