Our Origin Story

HCSA Dayspring’s origins began even before we officially launched in 2011. The ELLCO ladies who set up Dayspring had spent five years prior laying the groundwork.

For key events in these five years, check out our Origin Story: it’s a tale of vision, belief, family and miracles.

Our very early beginnings!

Dayspring Officially Opens

January 2011

Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre officially opens at 233 Turf Club Road. Here, we have created a  safe and structured environment based on the Therapeutic Milieu, which is highly conducive for treating trauma.

In this safe space, we run a thorough seven-phase therapy programme for our girl residents. We welcome the first five girls into our therapeutic intervention programme with a day camp on 24 January.

Our home at 233 Turf Club Road.

Meet Gerald Chan,
a Dayspring fan since Day 1

“My support for Dayspring started with the involvement of my friends Dominique, Tina, Ruth and Cathy. The intensity of their passion, commitment and sincere desire to bring healing to this group of long-neglected young people continue to touch and inspire me.”

March 2011

The late former Singapore President SR Nathan officiates our opening on 24 March. His story of rising from poverty to presidency inspires us till today.

Our Director Kim Lang Khalil and Former Clinical Director Cathy Livingston share a moment with our beloved former President.

October 2011

​​We are licensed by Singapore’s Ministry of Social and Family Development to operate under the classification of “Voluntary Children’s Home”.

We keep the term “Residential Treatment Centre” in our name to honour the model that we follow: Residential Treatment Centres are top-notch therapeutic facilities in the US that offer high and deep levels of intervention while respecting the dignity of residents; the approach of such facilities is also evidence-based, safe and effective.

One of our residents Nina at our Turf Club Road bungalow.

Enhancing the Support to Our Girls

July 2012

Dayspring Alternative School starts, where we help our girls to continue their studies. This way, they can cope better academically when they return to school after the initial phase of their live-in treatment.

Mummies Need Help, Too

November 2013

Jennifer Heng meets Dayspring and shares her vision of helping females with unsupported pregnancies, including adults.

Bigger Home,
Bigger Responsibilities

January 2014

We begin to recruit and train volunteers to help women with unsupported pregnancies.

Volunteers are so integral to our work.

February 2014

​​We receive approval to use the neighbouring bungalow, 234 Turf Club Road, from the Singapore Land Authority with an endorsement from the Ministry of Social and Family Development.

Yay! We get a bigger home next door at 234 Turf Club Road!

The ELLCO ladies drew this picture in 1998 of the home they imagined for Dayspring. Its similarity to 234 Turf Club Road is amazing: both buildings have a chimney and a circular driveway.

July 2014

With the new space, our work expands. We launch the Transition Home, which former President Tony Tan officially opens on 4 July. Dayspring Transition Home helps girls who have graduated from Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre to learn skills that enable them to better manage their relapse and reintegrate into society.

Former President Tony Tan with the board members of HCSA.

October 2014

Dayspring New Life Centre for women with unsupported pregnancies is born and headed by Jennifer. 

Thank you, Estée Lauder, for contributing these lovely nursery items to Dayspring New Life Centre!

Meet Jennifer Heng,
who has a heart for mothers

When she was a young woman, Jennifer had two abortions, which filled her with guilt. She wondered how other women in a similar position coped. This, together with her experiences as a pastor, eventually inspired her to help women through Dayspring.

She says, “An unwanted or unsupported pregnancy may feel like an inconvenience, but it may also be the much-needed turning point for the women and their families. The mummies who entered Dayspring New Life Centre found refuge, safety and the courage to journey through their pregnancies. It has been a joy supporting the first batch of mums and seeing them being able to provide for their child, and today, our first baby is in primary one!”

December 2014

Members of Parliament (MPs) Christopher de Souza and Tin Pei Ling visit Dayspring New Life Centre on 17 December. Thank you for your support, MPs!

Fun Is Part of Our Work

November 2015

Our Catch the Wave fund-raising event at Sentosa from 10 to 21 November is graced by Guest of Honour and then Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin, as well as Brazilian artist and surfer Hilton Alves. The artist dedicates three large murals in Sentosa which he painted to Dayspring girls and women. $800,000 is raised for Dayspring!

Hilton with his beautiful work.

Reaching Out to Single Parents

January 2016

Singapore’s National Council of Social Service (NCSS) embarks on a study to understand the growing population of single parents, their needs and gaps on the ground. Dayspring is invited to participate. This will later lead to our collaboration with NCSS to help single parents.

Single parents may lack social support and feel isolated in caring for their children.

Dayspring SPIN Launches, Therapeutic Work Deepens

April 2017

Dayspring SPIN (Single Parents INformed, INvolved and INcluded) is launched. This initiative – in partnership with NCSS – offers emotional, physical and practical support to single parents and lone caregivers.

SPIN connects a network of volunteers to provide these single parents with a variety of much-needed resources. We also host many events and celebrations for single parents and their children to get together.

Meet Tina Hung,
Senior Consultant, National Council of Social Service (NCSS), who worked with HCSA Dayspring to launch SPIN

“Research findings by NCSS reveal the need to provide complementary support to single parents in niche areas. Hence, Project SPIN was birthed, with an aim to improve the capacity of single parents to care for their children by increasing their access to organised information and strengthening their social support network.”

“It was a great honour to work so closely with HCSA and Dayspring on SPIN. It was tough but we did real work and solved real problems! Together, we made life a little bit better for the young ladies who want to do right and give their best to their infants.”

September 2017

President Halimah Yacob visits us on 25 September. She is accompanied by MPs Christopher de Souza and Alex Yam. They tour the newly-renovated Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre, which is now known as the only home in Singapore that offers trauma-informed care treatment to teenage girls.

President Halimah says, “I’m very happy to see that apart from the board members and the staff, there are also a lot of volunteers coming to help. That really helps to provide the young girls with a safe place to recover and reintegrate back into society.”

President Halimah has supported our cause since 2012, which was around the time our doors officially opened.

November 2017

We embark on the Therapeutic Group Home (TGH) model, which builds on the foundation of the Therapeutic Milieu that we’ve implemented in Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre since 2011.

TGH is also an evolution from our Transition Home. This step towards the TGH model is taken with MSF’s support to focus on smaller groups of girls who suffer from deep trauma. 

We have always rooted for a small home setting to heal our girls; with TGH, we get government support to further develop it.

Meet Maria Chua,
Head of Home, Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre

“TGH provides a safe and nurturing environment for girls recovering from their past traumatic experiences. It’s a place where healing and reconciliation happens, a place where they feel safe, cared for and loved; where Dayspring can be a home and family to them.”

“TGH runs 24 hours. Staff who are called Mentors are scheduled on shift rotation to provide supervision that addresses and supports the girls’ safety, stability and well-being. We also carry out structured daily programmes that cater to the girls’ physical, emotional, social and educational needs. These programmes are tailored to the girls’ developmental levels and promote parental, volunteer and community involvement.”

December 2017

We launch the Dayspring SPIN interactive portal at hcsaspin.sg for single parents to access resources 24/7. 

Fund-raising, Growing, Moving

September 2019

We have many wonderful fund-raising events. A memorable one, HCSA’s Night of Hope Gala 2019, happens on 20 September 2019 at One Farrer Hotel.

The Guest of Honour is President Halimah Yacob. We’re proud of Dayspring girl Anah, who created a painting to present to President Halimah on this day.

Dayspring girl Anah painted her vision of hope and presents it to President Halimah.

Meet Anah,
a Dayspring girl

“I wanted to paint something memorable, as this would be my last painting at Dayspring. The artwork looks calm at first with all the mountains and streams, but the whole landscape is red to symbolise chaos and anger. It represents the transformation journey in Dayspring: it can be full of paradoxes, for example, people may think we’re happy and sweet but deep down we’re actually angry and nervous about many things!”

“I’m honoured to be part of this fund-raising event – I’m forever grateful to the Dayspring staff, girls and volunteers and it feels like I can do something amazing in return with this artwork.”

October 2019

Dayspring SPIN moves from 233 Turf Club Road to a fresh new space at 1 Lorong 23 Geylang. The new location serves as a vibrant social hub for SPIN members and volunteers to gather, learn, play and grow together in a convenient and conducive environment.

Our new space for parents and kids at 1 Lorong 23 Geylang.

Meet Melisa Wong,
Former Head of HCSA Dayspring SPIN

“The most meaningful part of my work at SPIN was being able to make an impact on both parents and children. I recall one father, Raymond, who had to adapt his way of communication – tone and choice of words – with his children to better connect with them. He was also very concerned about his children's poor appetite and explored different cooking methods and cuisines to improve things. Raymond’s unconditional love for his children changed him. He shared that he has become more patient and can now better connect with his children.”

“Watching's Raymond's journey with SPIN, it shifted my perspective that the traditional roles of women being the primary caregiver and in charge of household duties and fathers being sole breadwinners need to change. Parental roles are not defined by gender. Men and women can be equally good parents!”

We Are TST-Certified

January 2020

We embark on the Trauma Systems Therapy (TST) Certification offered by MSF and New York University. We receive all three requisite certifications issued by them. As of 2021, we continue to be the only TGH that is TST-certified!

Receiving the Trauma Systems Therapy Certification allows us to better care for our girls.

Celebrating 15 Years of Supporting Girls and Women

October 2021

We launch an alumni group for residents who have graduated from Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre. The group's name, Owena, means "young warriors" in Welsh. Owena members will be empowered to give back to current Dayspring residents and benefit from HCSA's network of volunteers and donors. 

Looking Ahead

What a journey these 15 years have been – especially with all of you, our supporters and volunteers! Thank you for joining us on this meaningful mission. We remain committed to giving a future and a hope to girls and women. 

The ELLCO ladies who started and who are still working behind the scenes to grow Dayspring and offer healing to girls and women needing it.

Meet Sharon Quek,
ELLCO Zone Leader and Former Dayspring Management Committee Member

“ELLCO is a community of women with a call to ‘Extend the Lord's Love and Care to Others’. An authentic faith has to be lived out in practical ways for it to be relevant to society. What better way to do so than to help young women in our midst – young women who need a friend, an older sister, to walk them through the struggles of their formative years.”

“We hope that the impact of Dayspring will have a ripple effect through the lives we have helped, where the healed, in turn, will be empowered to help other women.”

Meet Jacqueline Yap,
Dayspring Management Committee Member and ELLCO Leader and Secretary

“Looking ahead into the next 15 years, we hope that Dayspring can inspire more stories of moving from adversity to resilience and then inspiration. We want to enable communities and organisations to ask the vulnerable, 'What happened to you?' rather than 'What’s wrong with you?'”

“We believe that every person counts; that healthy and therapeutic relationships have the power to heal; and that the restored can step out and make this world a better place.”