Under the loving care of HCSA Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre (DRTC) staff, Chelsea* learnt how to live a meaningful, productive life in spite of her painful experiences.
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Once a recipient of HCSA Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre, a Therapeutic Group Home for girls who have suffered the complex trauma of abuse and/or neglect, Rachel* hopes to eventually pay...
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Achieving the WSQ Higher Certificate in Food Services (Culinary Arts) at HCSA Academy brought Tau Choon one step closer to his goals and aspirations.
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Check out HCSA’s very own cookies – Give Hope Cookies – produced in collaboration with YRI Bakery, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yellow Ribbon Singapore!
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Keen on a career that enables you to contribute meaningfully towards the social and economic mobility of our vulnerable in Singapore? You might just be the person we're looking for!
As the Executive, Partnerships for HCSA, you will work closely with the Assistant Director and Manager to engage and build partnerships with external stakeholders who are keen to contribute to our mission. Other responsibilities include supporting the Partnerships team in the daily operations and fundraising activities, as well as donor and volunteer management.
Ready to thrive with us at HCSA? Click the link in our bio to find out more! ⬆️
From directly serving the needs of beneficiaries to lending their support to events and activities, volunteers are the unsung heroes and backbone of many charitable organisations. At HCSA, the tireless support of our volunteers’ time, effort and skills, enable us to continue delivering vital services to some of society’s most vulnerable groups. ♥
Swipe left to read about the impact our volunteers’ contribution has made, and hear from some of our active volunteers! Full Annual Report 2021 available - link in bio. 🔗
#HCSAHappenings #annualreport #givingback #socialgood #dogood #sgcares #socialservice #communityservice #cityofgood
⚠ ️[TRIGGER WARNING - Suicide] ⚠
Preventing suicide starts with recognising the warning signs and taking the appropriate steps to address them seriously. While a suicidal person may not directly reach out for help, it does not mean that help is not wanted. Hence it is crucial that we understand the ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’ when it comes to supporting someone with mental distress.
We spoke with our experienced staff at HCSA dealing with high-risk individuals to seek their advice on how untrained professionals like us can support friends or even loved ones who may be mentally distressed or struggling with suicidal thoughts.
Our psychologist at HCSA Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre (DRTC) advised that the first step is to provide an open, safe, and non-judgmental environment for them to express their emotions, thoughts, and problems. It is also important to be mindful about what we say and how we respond when they share, so that we do not appear dismissive of their emotions and feelings as this could potentially exacerbate their negative emotions.
Having worked with some of our single-parent beneficiaries, a senior social worker at HSCA Dayspring SPIN (Single Parents INformed, INvolved, Included) echoes the sentiment: “Everyone can play a significant role in suicide prevention by showing love and care to those around us. A simple gesture, act of kindness, or a word of encouragement could change someone’s mind.”
For our social workers and psychologist, who are trained in their professions to handle such situations, their experience and expertise allows them to support individuals who are at risk of self-harm or suicide through a range of varied approaches, ranging from person-centered efforts to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
Swipe left ⬅️ for more tips on what you can do to help someone who may be facing a similar situation, as well as some reminders on what not to do.
#hcsacommunityservices #mentalhealthawareness #yourmindmatters #WSPD2022 #cityofgood #psa
United by a common desire to give back to the community, our volunteers recently gathered to meet and know more about each other and different programmes over sumptuous bento lunches and games! 🍱🧩
Our second Volunteers’ Bonding Session took place on HCSA’s own premises at 1 Lor 23 Geylang. 📍 As most volunteer activities were held virtually for the past 2 years, it was a wonderful feeling to finally be able to see our volunteers in person (and without masks)! From fun ice-breaker games, solving 3D puzzles together, and sharing about personal volunteering experiences over lunch, it was a meaningful Saturday morning spent for our attendees.
“Come rain or shine, our dedicated volunteers have always been there to support HCSA and our beneficiaries. With the further easing of community Safe Management Measures (SMMs), we wanted to take this chance to bring our volunteers from various programmes together and treat them to an exciting afternoon of lunch and team-building games,” said Esther, HCSA’s Volunteer Manager.
Thank you to all HCSA volunteers who attended! ❤
#HCSAHappenings #HCSACommunityServices #givingback #socialgood #dogood #sgcares #socialservice #communityservice #socialsupport #cityofgood
⚠️[TRIGGER WARNING - Suicide]⚠️
In Singapore, suicide remains the leading cause of death for those between 10 and 29 years of age. Overwhelmed and unable to deal with their emotional pain and distress, some individuals may contemplate suicide as a way of escaping their feelings of despair and hopelessness at that point in time. 😥
As a community, more can be done to support those with mental health challenges, whether they are a family member, friend or colleague. This starts with our ability to recognise the warning signs of mental distress. 🆘
Our clinical psychologist at Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre (DRTC) working with vulnerable teenage girls shares, “Unfortunately, a lot of times, there may not be any clear warning signs for people who are having suicidal thoughts as we can never truly know what someone is thinking and facing. However, what we can start doing now is to show our care and support to our friends or family members whom we think might be going through a difficult time.”
Sharing about one’s mental health struggles takes courage and trust, more so for a person who may feel that they are struggling alone. Sometimes, all it takes is a simple text to remind a person that someone cares for them. 📱
While there may not always be warning signs, taking the first step to know what to look out for can potentially save a life. Swipe to learn more. ⬅️
If you or a loved one are having thoughts of suicide, please reach out to the following organisations for help:
National CARE Hotline: 1800-202-6868
Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444
Institute of Mental Health’s Mental Health Helpline: 6389-2222
Silver Ribbon Singapore: 6385-3714
TOUCHline (Counselling): 1800 377 2252
#hcsacommunityservices #mentalhealthawareness #yourmindmatters #WSPD2022 #cityofgood #psa
Last Saturday, HCSA spent a lovely evening participating in @comchestsg’s Heartstrings Walk 2022 together with some of our beneficiaries, volunteers and staff. 🤝🏽❤
With large-scale events gradually returning with the easing of Covid-19 community measures, it was indeed a heart-warming sight to witness thousands of participants from all walks of life and ages coming together at the Charity Fun Walk. As the event also coincided with the mid-autumn festival, the walk around the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade was illuminated by the warm glow of lanterns carried by beneficiaries, staff, and their loved ones, and the air filled with constant excited chatter and laughter! 👆🏽
Community Chest Heartstrings Walk 2022 is an annual community event jointly organised by @comchestsg and @marinabaysands that rallies partners, volunteers and the community to build a caring and inclusive society. Sign up by 18 September for the Virtual Walk and help empower the lives of those in need of assistance!
#HCSAHappenings #socialservice #cityofgoodsg #givingback
[SWIPE FOR MORE] The hustle–and-bustle of everyday life can sometimes lead us to put our mental well-being on the back burner. For many, conversations about our mental health may seem daunting, and often choose to keep our emotions and feelings to ourselves. However, in the long run this may lead to detrimental consequences for our mental well-being. 😔
This #WorldSuicidePreventionDay, we hope to help you take the first few steps towards adopting healthier habits for your mind. Whether we know it or not, our mental health influences the way we think, feel, and react, which in turn, affects how we handle stress, relate to others, and make decisions. 💭
Talking about one’s mental health doesn’t make you ‘weak’ or vulnerable. Doing so could help you feel less alone in your struggles or even encourage your friends, colleagues, and family members to talk about theirs too. 🗣
If you found this post helpful, do share it with others so that they can benefit from it too!
#hcsacommunityservices #worldsuicidepreventionday #yourmindmatters #WSPD2022 #cityofgood #psa
What’s a better way to share a dog’s love and friendly affection, than with the ones who need it most? ❤
Kate, one of our new volunteers at HCSA Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre (DRTC), agrees! As a proud ‘pawrent’ to four fur-kids – two Dachshunds, a Maltepoo, and a Doxiepoo – she runs ‘Dog Play’ together with her helper Jenelyn, regular playdate sessions at DRTC held on alternate Thursdays where our residents have the opportunity to interact with her dogs. 🐕 Through these sessions, she hopes that sharing the companionship of her dogs could help to provide a source of comfort to our vulnerable teenage girls who are on their journeys of healing and recovery from trauma they have experienced.
It brings a wide smile to her face whenever she sees or hears our DRTC residents affectionately addressing her dogs as ‘baby’, cuddling and even caring for them like their own pets. She recalls fondly an incident where her dogs were bitten by ants while being walked along the road, and our girls enthusiastically volunteering to help wash their paws.
Kate explains, "I chose to volunteer because I believe that Jenelyn, my dogs, the girls, and I can benefit meaningfully. Since I’ve started volunteering, there has been more positivity in our lives. I hope this brings similar positivity into the girls’ lives too and contribute to their recovery.” While her friendly fur-kids enjoy human pets and cuddles, our young DRTC residents also find joy and reprieve when playing with them. 🤗 Managing four fur-kids can sometimes be a ‘paw-ful’. Under Kate and Jenelyn’s watchful eyes and experienced supervision, our DRTC residents can play together safely with their fur-iends and ensure the latter is always comfortable, and do not wander off.
#HCSAStories #volunteers #volunteersg #givingback #socialgood #dogood #sgcares #socialservice #communityservice #socialsupport #cityofgoodlife
As the bedrock of many classic and everyday dishes, stocks and sauces are one of the main culinary techniques that can define the skillfulness of an experienced chef!
In the latest activity under HCSA Academy's alumni skills enhancement programme, 11 graduates returned to our premises to learn the basics of creating and prepping stocks and sauces - two essential components of a dish that every chef hopes to master!
Taught by Chef Sony, the session allowed our graduates to better understand the importance of the stock creation process and strengthened their foundations in cooking. Besides learning what constitutes good preparation of fish and brown stocks, our graduates also learned the traditional 'mother' sauces used in French cuisine: Béchamel, Hollandaise, and Velouté! 🫕
In a competitive environment like the F&B industry, a chef's mastery and skill in proper stock and sauce preparation are paramount in attaining their golden ticket to creating both classical and innovative dishes rich in flavour and taste. 🤌🏻
Launched in 2021, the alumni skills enhancement programme seeks to encourage HCSA Academy graduates to engage in continuous learning and provides them with professional networking opportunities.
Keen on supporting the efforts of HCSA Academy in providing upskilling opportunities for our alumni? Make a donation today by visiting the link in our bio.
#HCSAHappenings #hcsacommunityservices #hcsaacademy #foodpreparation
Since young, food had always been a source of fascination to Aarush*. When he first chanced upon HCSA Academy Culinary Training Centre on hcsaacademy.sg, he was intrigued. Seeing his fascination, his partner also shared about a feature story of a former graduate of HCSA Academy being shown on the President’s Star Charity 2021 telecast. She encouraged him to consider pursuing his love for cooking and making it a viable career in the F&B industry. As Aarush had recently embarked on a journey towards personal reformation, he then decided to enrol into HCSA Academy’s WSQ Higher Certificate in Food Services (Culinary Arts).
During the rigorous 6-week course, Aarush approached every lesson with enthusiasm, and took every challenge in his stride. He shares: “I enjoyed learning about the different techniques and methods of cooking. Moving forward, I would like to keep learning more, such as creating more cuisines out there. There is just so much to learn!” Aarush credits HCSA Academy’s chef trainers for their patience and guidance in teaching him essential fundamental culinary skills and ways around the kitchen.
One of Aarush's favourite memories of the course is the day of his graduation: “I was proud to finally be able to don the chef jacket. This achievement serves as a reminder that I am making progress on this road of transformation. I felt grateful that this course not only taught me about cooking but also being a better person.”
Attaining this new qualification gave Aarush the motivation he needed to stay true to his goal to change and build a better future for himself. With your generous donation, you can help more aspiring chefs (and changers!) like him rebuild their lives and provide for themselves and their families too! Donate via link in bio. 💚
*Name have been changed to protect identity.
#HCSAstories #culinaryarts #culinaryschool #wsq #wsqcourse #skillsfuturesingapore #workforcesingapore #lifelonglearning #sgcares #socialservice #communityservice
When the journey gets tough, all you need is the right support to keep you going. 💪🏻
Here's a #latergram of last Saturday (20 Aug), which was an eventful and meaningful day for HCSA Highpoint's A.I.M. Society members as they finally had a physical gathering (after two long years!) to celebrate the programme's third anniversary.
Launched in 2019 and now boasting a strong alumni count of 65, the A.I.M. Society is an aftercare programme that provides a supportive alumni network to current and former residents of HCSA Highpoint Halfway House.
To commemorate the desistance journeys and mighty achievements of our A.I.M. Society members, the event included fun family activities such as bowling and futsal! 🎳⚽️ From attempting winning strikes in the bowling alley to competitive defence stunts on the futsal court, it was a joy to see everyone having a blast!
After a lovely buffet dinner accompanied by live performances and games, the event ended with an evening filled with emotions as members proudly received medallions in honour of their commitment to living a crime and drug-free life. 🎗🏅
Thank you to The Bible Church, volunteers, and our HCSA staff for making this celebration an unforgettable one!
#hcsacommunityservices #highpoint #exoffenders #desistance #drugfree #cityofgood
We are immensely grateful to everyone who helped make our Zwift Everesting Challenge fundraiser an astounding success for our programmes and beneficiaries! We truly could not have done it without your support and generosity. ❤️
A huge thank you to @podiumperformance for making this partnership possible, as well as our competing teams @breakthecyclesg, @teamawe.cc, and @garciatestteam for their relentless dedication to go the extra mile to empower the vulnerable communities we serve! 🚴♂️ It sure was no easy feat, but their zeal was indeed inspiring.
Here's to a better and more inclusive future for all! 😁
#hcsacommunityservices #empoweringthevulnerable #zwifteveresting #givingbacktothecommunity #socialgood #dogood #sgcares #socialservice
We’re proud to share the release of HCSA Community Services’ Annual Report 2021! 🙌🏽🎈
Themed ‘Looking Up, Lifting Up’, the report illustrates how the generous and continued support from our donors, partners, and volunteers have enabled us to continue serving the most vulnerable in our society and to give them a Future and a Hope. 🤝🏽
Link in bio to discover the differences you have made in the lives of our beneficiaries.
#HCSAHappenings #annualreport #givingback #socialgood #dogood #sgcares #socialservice #communityservice #cityofgood
To young women like herself, aspiring youth advocate, Evelyn, wants to tell them to believe in their strength. 💪🏽
First inspired by her own life journey, she enrolled and has since completed her psychology diploma programme. Having gained more significant insights and knowledge in understanding her own experience and journey at HCSA Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre (DRTC), she looks forward to the day where she can utilise them and use “the skills and experiences to help others make sense of their own life journeys, such as being a youth worker.”
Evelyn confidently shares: “The truth is, women are more resilient than we think. We go through so much, we survive all of it, we can conquer the world.”
We couldn’t agree more! Evelyn is an awe-inspiring example of the strength and resilience of the young women in our society and their capabilities to help shape our future into a better and more inclusive one! Help support inspiring youths like Evelyn and make their aspirations a reality by donating via the link in our bio.
#HCSACommunityServices #thefutureisfemale #empoweringwomen #dayspringresidentialtreatmentcentre #empoweringthevulnerable
[SWIPE TO READ] As we celebrate International Youth Day this year, we are proud to introduce to you our HCSA Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre (DRTC) alumna, Evelyn, whose goal of helping troubled teens find meaning in their life is certainly inspiring to many youths out there! 🫶
Growing up was not easy for Evelyn - her early teen years were marked with feelings of neglect, anger and rebellion. In school, she was frequently bullied by classmates, while at home, she struggled to deal with the strained relations with her ‘Mum’, whom at that time was navigating being a woman on her own terms. After countless attempts to run away, she soon found herself at DRTC’s doors.
Initially, she was skeptical of the therapeutic efforts at DRTC. She confesses: “I thought the things I learnt at Dayspring were a little pointless. They seemed simplistic.” However, she soon realised that DRTC helped her to understand herself better. Evelyn began believing in her own agency to pull through and was equipped with the foundation and techniques to deal with stressful situations, such as the practice of mindful breathing - something that she still does even up till today. She recalls, “(When I was freaking out recently), I revisited those techniques that Dayspring taught me. They are actually quite useful for any of us living in a fast-paced society.”
Now a young adult and an aspiring youth worker, Evelyn is determined to use her experience to help other youths like her. 💪
Keen in helping girls like Evelyn to find their own purpose in life? You can show your support by donating to our social causes today via the link in bio!
#HCSACommunityServices #thefutureisfemale #empoweringwomen #dayspringresidentialtreatmentcentre #empoweringthevulnerable
