The shy demeanour of the lady in front of me belied the extent of her trials over the past year. Anita (not her real name) tells a heart-wrenching story of her ordeal.
At a young age of 23 years, she was all alone in the world, with no money, no job, and a three-month-old baby in hand.
Besides being isolated from her family at her most desperate time of need, the single mum had no idea where her baby’s father was.
On the advice of a medical social worker, she approached Sanctuary House, who provided her with much needed relief by putting her son in foster care and helping her find a job.
Now 24 years old, she has a full-time job at a logistics company, a HDB rental flat to look forward to and an improving relationship with her family.
Anita said, “Had my medical social worker not told me about Sanctuary House, I would still be stuck somewhere, struggling to survive with odd jobs. I would have had a tougher time taking care of my baby.”
Sanctuary House is the only charity organisation in Singapore that provides safe shelter for babies and younger children whose parents cannot look after them for various social reasons. It is located at Goldhill Shopping Centre, alongside restaurants, schools, and even, a taekwondo academy.
To reach the office, one has to climb the steps to the second level and ring the doorbell to announce one’s arrival.
Inside, the visitor is greeted by a cramped office area, which is shared with another organisation. Much of the space is filled with shelves that store boxes upon boxes of baby supplies, such as carriers, pillows, blankets and toys.
This is where most of the work takes place.
Sanctuary House was established in 2005 as a casual volunteer group run by a small group of people who decided to do something for the babies who are abandoned in Singapore.
It has now evolved into a registered charity and voluntary welfare organisation with Institution of Public Character status, and 150 volunteers that help in various ways. They foster children, chaperone where needed and attend to administrative matters. They even organise craft sessions.
Said Sanctuary House's executive director Gerard Tan, “This is a community effort. Anita’s story is about how the community came together and how Sanctuary House facilitated that process.”
He added, “We have received heartwarming responses that really keeps us going as it shows that we are not a voice in the wilderness. We would not be able to do half of what we did without the help and support of the community.”
The charity faces an unpredictable future. Although it managed to raise $300,000 this year, through donations from both private individuals and corporations, it only managed to raise half that amount last year.
The money that is raised is channelled into five programmes, including “Assessment, Information and Referral”, where the needs of children are assessed and linked to the appropriate services, “Family Care”, where immediate needs are met by providing out-of-home care in a family-based environment and “Resource & Support”, where options for reunification, kinship care or guardianship are explored.
The other two are “Casework & Counselling”, where organisation supports the birth parents so that they will not fall back to their ways and “Social Capital Development”, where the community is engaged to develop its capacity to support children in need.
Although the organisation helps about 25 individuals each month through its various services, there are many more cases like Anita's out there. This is why the organisation pleads for the public to help in any way they can, such as opening their homes for foster care, donating baby supplies, volunteering their time or making a donation.
“I think it is an amazing gift to give a child; to help them out when their parents are going through a tough time,” Libby Vine, one of the foster care volunteers at Sanctuary House said.
"I see that Sanctuary House is serving a real need in the community. That is why I keep going. I believe in them and I know they are doing a good job.” To donate, head to http://sggives.org/shl. If you find yourself needing help, please ring 6221 0588 or email baby@sanctuaryhouse.com.sg.
Yahoo! Singapore 9 Singapore 9 is Yahoo! Singapore's annual National Day honours project. Back for the third time running this year, we are honouring nine charities in Singapore in the lead-up to the nation's birthday on August 9. Join us to Change A Life!
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