Thursday 15 March 2012

ARCHearts: Helping Ayer Rajah's needy elderly & youths-at-risk

By Wayne Chan, Channel NewsAsia, 13 Mar 2012

In line with Singapore's aim to build an inclusive society, Adviser to Ayer Rajah grassroots organisations and MP for West Coast GRC Foo Mee Har has launched a community programme aimed at enhancing the lives of the needy elderly, youths-at-risk as well as lower-income and disadvantaged families in the Ayer Rajah division.

Named ARCHearts, which stands for Ayer Rajah Community Hearts, the programme has three core components.

Food Connect will assist residents with basic food necessities. Silver Connect aims to improve the economic and social well-being of the needy elderly, while Youth Connect aims to enrich the lives of youths from disadvantaged homes.

The programme will benefit 800 to 1,000 residents and their families.



Food Connect will give low-income families monthly supplies of basic food and household essentials on every second Saturday of the month to ease their financial burden.

All 28 stalls in Teban Food Market have signed up for the Food Connect scheme. Needy families will be able to use food vouchers worth S$25 to redeem food. And for those who are less mobile or cook at home, they can opt for customised food packs to be delivered to their homes.

Ms Foo said: "We want them to be at least on the programme for a year so we have an opportunity to see them on a monthly basis. We can leverage that opportunity on whether to distribute food in their home or meet them in the community centre so that we can catch up with their circumstances. And we will usually help them on multiple dimensions."

Under Silver Connect, food vendors in the community will provide elderly residents with cooked meals.

Volunteers will also help ensure the seniors' homes are in good condition, provide transport to those who need regular medical treatment, and assist the elderly in understanding government help schemes.

The elderly will also get assistance in understanding government help schemes. An important component of the scheme is the "Watch" scheme to encourage residents to keep watch over their elderly neighbours.

And for youths aged 12 to 19 from disadvantaged homes, Youth Connect will provide them with personal mentoring and coaching by trained volunteers and career opportunities.

Ms Foo said one way this can be done is to match them to businesses in the area such as those in Ayer Rajah's industrial estate.

The youth will also be invited to take part in workshops and programmes focusing on enriching their life skills such as leadership skills, presentation skills, and how to get along with people.

Ms Foo added she wants the ARCHearts programme to be sustainable and go beyond giving "one-off" help.

The programme costs some S$260,000 and the constituency is now looking for more sponsors and volunteers to widen its reach.

Ms Foo announced the plans ahead of a ministerial community visit by Education Minister Heng Swee Keat to the area next Sunday.


No comments:

Post a Comment