Blessed Gérard's Poor Sick Fund
Mandeni, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa · since 18 December 1992
The Poor Sick Fund was the first organised charitable service created by the young Brotherhood of Blessed Gérard, only seven weeks after the Brotherhood itself was founded. Its purpose remains clear: urgently needed medical care must not fail because a patient is poor.
“Have a heart for a heart”
A defining early case in 1993 concerned a person who urgently needed heart surgery but could not meet the uninsured portion of the cost. The Brotherhood guaranteed the outstanding amount and launched the appeal “Have a heart for a heart”. The original fundraising text states that the Brotherhood would pay for the operation directly.
The appeal became an early public example of the fund's purpose: to remove a financial barrier to essential treatment while keeping payment accountable.
Help that is targeted and accountable
The fund assists with necessary diagnostic examinations, operations and specialist treatment, medication, medical aids and essential transport to healthcare facilities. Requests are assessed carefully and, where possible, coordinated with doctors, hospitals and other professional services.
No cash is paid to the person seeking help. Approved costs are settled directly with the doctor, hospital, pharmacy or medical-supply provider.
A surviving provider letter from 2017 documents this method in practice: the Brotherhood undertook to meet approved treatment costs and asked the specialist to invoice the organisation directly. Personal and medical details are not reproduced here.
Medical care and practical recovery
A public report from July 1998 shows how the fund complemented Hospice care by helping to obtain mobility equipment and cover necessary transport after major treatment. The example demonstrates that recovery may require not only an operation or medication, but also the practical means to live with dignity afterwards.
Historical record and privacy
The project archive contains case files, correspondence, photographs, medical-cost records and later appeals. Some of these materials include names, diagnoses and other sensitive personal information. They are preserved as historical sources but are not automatically suitable for publication. This page therefore describes the work without exposing private case details.
MARJ.SAM (saved in 1993), the original “Have a heart for a heart” appeal; HEART.SAM and HERZ.SAM; historical appeal images; public report from July 1998; a private provider letter from 2017, used only to verify the payment procedure; and the current official Health Aid Fund page.Historical archive page: This account reconstructs the fund's origin and working principles from contemporary files and later documented practice. Individual assistance files remain protected.