May

2018

I really like this, it is very enjoyable for me and my family. A pity that it is only once a year.

Should make it twice a year. Make it three times a year, I also don’t mind. - A HOPE client shared enthusiastically.

I learned to differentiate between

Needs and Wants…

Since the induction of the HOPE (Home Ownership Plus Education)

scheme in 2004, it has helped many small low-income families improve

their socio-economic status by giving opportunities to upgrade their

skills and by supporting their children’s education. As part of Yong-en’s

HOPE Mentoring Programme, we support HOPE families through

various activities such as Individual & Couple mentoring; psychosocial

education and family bonding activities to achieve success.

At Yong-en’s HOPE Family Carnival-cum-

Learning Event on 12 May 2018, Yong-en

had the families pitting against other

families in friendly games with the

objective of fostering communication

and building stronger bonds.

Families used special credits to play the

games, allowing them to apply the

knowledge learned from the mentoring

sessions on managing their ‘money’

wisely. By having to carefully consider the

games they wanted to play most and

the prizes that they could win, the families

were on their first step to making better

financial decisions.

Apart from these games, the families

were also given the opportunity to

experience other carnival activities such

as face painting, balloon sculpting,

family portrait photo-taking, as well as

enjoy the various carnival titbits.

Many families gave feedback that not

only was the event fun and educational,

it also provided wonderful family

bonding opportunities. “I learned to

differentiate between needs and wants”

– Mdm Michelle* shared during the

debrief session held after the carnival

games.

This event was carefully curated by

Yong-en’s staff and intern teams. It was a

pleasure to see the enjoyment on the

beneficiaries’ faces in this fun learning

event.

Giles Francis De Cruz (Yong-en’s Intern)

Psychology Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

*Names changed to protect client’s privacy.

If you wish to make a donation, please visit www.yong-en.org.sg for more information for non-cheque donations. For cheque donations please issue to "Yong-en Care Centre" and mail it to "335A Smith Street, #03-57, Singapore 051335", and indicate: •Organisation Name (for corporate donation) and contact person; •Name as in NRIC and NRIC number (for tax deduction for individual donors) •Mailing address (for us to send you the receipt) •Email address.

Your donation for 2018 is eligible for 2.5 times tax exemption benefits.

Many more helping hands

Yong-en was treated to an Appreciation Tea organised by Kreta Ayer Social Service Office (SSO) on 18 April 2018.

Guest of Honour, MP Dr Lily Neo was present to appreciate 17

Social Service Organisations like Yong-en who are collaborating

together to serve the community at Jalan Kukoh.

‘Jalan Kukoh Forum’ is an initiative by Kreta Ayer SSO to

encourage collaborative efforts amongst agencies who are

serving the households in need. Since Q3 2017, Yong-en has

participated in three of such Forum Workgroups.

Our thanks to Kreta Ayer SSO for this brilliant initiative resulting in

improved partnerships, better resource allocations, as well as

reduction of duplicated efforts on the ground. This has allowed us

to reach more beneficiaries through our collective efforts!

Workgroups:

1. Provision of Food / Nutritional Needs

We collaborated with YWCA to benefit from their

‘perishable food’ distribution programme. Our thanks

to YWCA for this great partnership in bringing healthier

options to our beneficiaries.

2.Coordination of Systems & Resources

We are collaborating with Youth Go!, New Hope,

EDAC, AIC, Mendaki, Student Care Service & Kreta

Ayer Family Service, to share our programmes on a

shared file to avoid duplication and encourage

collaboration. The first joint project was a 3G event on

20 Dec 2017 to promote inter-generation interactions

among the community youths, families and seniors.

3.Elderly Neighbourhood Watch

Members in the workgroup - Jalan Kukoh RC; Kreta

Ayer SAC; THK CS; Montfort Care; SingHealth;

SSO@Kreta Ayer; JKRC Reps/Volunteers, are tapping

on a befriender project spearheaded by Montfort

Care. With this shared resource, we are able to refer

isolated seniors and amplify the support to our

beneficiaries.

We’re on the

Our heartfelt thanks to Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan

(CDAC) for inviting Yong-en to this year’s Project C.A.R.E.. You made the day for 40 of our senior beneficiaries!

lookin' ~ ♫

top of the world

On 29 April 2018, our seniors

were invited to a sumptuous

lunch at Ban Heng Restaurant

where they were treated

delicacies which they don’t

get to enjoy very often.

During the meal, they were

also entertained with a ukulele

performance featuring

familiar classics such as

“甜蜜蜜” and “朋友”。

The highlight of the day

came after lunch, where

our seniors had the rare

opportunity to board one of

Singapore’s famous landmarks

- the Singapore Flyer. The

seniors were captivated as

they took in the breath-taking

bird’s eye view of the

Singapore skyline, featuring

various landmarks such as

Marina Bay Sands and

Marina Barrage.

Thank you volunteers from

CDAC & SFCCA, not only

were you chaperons for our

beneficiaries, but you have

also created some enjoyable

memories for our seniors.