Highway icon Joey du Plessis, founder and director of Careline Crisis & Trauma Centre, has made a difference in countless lives, writes James Siddall.
Through misuse and abuse, the English language has become terminally debased – and words like “committed”, “passionate” and “hard-working” are so overused as to be meaningless.
So without descending into frothy hyperbole, it’s hard to accurately encapsulate Joey du Plessis, the unstoppable founder and director of Careline Crisis and Trauma Centre in Assagay.
But leaving aside her close relationship with God – and she’s one of those Christians who truly walks the walk and not just talks the talk – and the fact that she was reluctant to appear in The Crest, insisting that most of the kudos should go to her dedicated staff, let’s just say that in the course of a year she fielded nearly 19,000 phone calls on her cellphone alone.
Many were from those in distress, seeking solace and help. After all, her cell is on 24 hours a day, and for Joey uninterrupted sleep is an unheard of luxury. Indeed, in my year at Careline as a recovering alcoholic and prescription pill addict, I don’t recall seeing her doing anything as prosaic as relaxing.
Much of Joey’s work centres on Careline, set on sprawling six-acre grounds, where up to 50 people in recovery live in a home environment.
Some of these individuals – who come from vastly differing backgrounds – go out to work every day. Others are involved in Careline’s three-month Life Skills programme, which teaches not just addiction awareness, but also the skills necessary to deal with relationships, anger and past traumas.
Joey also works with abused women; she and her staff are constantly called out to crises, from rape to domestic violence, while an endless stream of outsiders comes for counselling appointments at the tranquil Careline facility – which, incidentally, recently changed from being a rehab to a long-term halfway house.
“To devote yourself to people you don’t know and to become their mother, protector and disciplinarian is amazing,” says Hasseena Chirkut, one of her long-standing staff members. “Joey has no privacy.”
And that’s the sort of thing that Joey – who lives on-site in a small cottage that she laughingly refers to as a “fish bowl” – would be far too self-deprecating to say about herself.
At 62, when many women her age are contemplating bowls and bridge, she still finds the drive to chair the Pinetown chapter of the Local Drug Action Committee (LDAC) and a safe house for women in the Midlands, too.
She’s also involved in a host of community outreaches, while Careline’s newly launched media and printing facility makes for yet another welcome responsibility.
“You know, my husband Dan is amazing,” says Joey, with one of her infectious trademark laughs. “I’ve actually bought him a big TV that I call his substitute wife!”
Before Careline, Joey worked as a bookkeeper for a large retailer, and then answered what was a calling.
“I worked in children’s church for a very long time,” she says. “That was incredible. Then about 14 years ago, I decided I wanted to move out of the church environment and get involved in crisis work.”
Hillcrest Christian Fellowship, the church to which Joey was linked and which has been instrumental in the ongoing success of Careline, released her from service, and she went on to open up various crisis centres.
Careline was officially founded in 2000 as a mercy ministry and funded by Natal Lotto, around which stage Joey and Dan gave up their beloved home in Waterfall and moved on site.
Joey often talks about the necessity of Careline carrying on when she’s “gone” or retired – but right now that seems inconceivable….
e-mail Joey du Plessis
or telephone Careline on 031 765 1587 or 082 787 6452