Vulnerable individuals and families rarely have the financial means and social support to care for themselves and their homes. Recognising this need, NTU Welfare Services Club (WSC) (Volunteer Movement) partnered with Habitat for Humanity Singapore (HFHS) to serve eight such households. 38 volunteers spent two days sealing holes in walls, cleaning, repainting and decluttering these homes, hoping to improve the living conditions. This was part of Project HomeWorks – HFHS’s local volunteer programme.
The households, usually one to two-room HDB rental flats, belong mainly to frail seniors living alone who may have mobility issues and poor social support or low-income families with young children and elderly parents or it could be individuals with physical or mental disabilities.
During the sessions on 27 February 2021 and 6 March 2021, the volunteers worked to improve the safety and hygiene of the homes – they removed dated and unwanted items such as expired food and spoiled appliances, washed the floors to remove grease and filled up gaps with sealants. Pest infestations were a large issue for such homes, as they may lead to illnesses and infections – alongside insect repellent, professional fumigation was conducted to remove the worst of such problems. Volunteers also made sure to clean or replace pest-infused furniture.
To make these households lively and to encourage a sense of ownership, the volunteers worked with the home-owners to redecorate the house by re-arranging furniture and repainting the walls.
For many of the volunteers, these sessions were the first time they had visited a one or two-room rental flat. Many shared that the experience was eye-opening and taught them to be more empathetic. The volunteers hope to help these vulnerable communities in other ways and ensure their efforts are sustainable and long-lasting.
I am grateful for this volunteering opportunity as COVID-19 has really made it more difficult for us to volunteer together in large groups, but our leaders were able to adapt and split us into smaller groups where we could still participate in a new type of volunteering and help vulnerable persons have safer and better sanitary spaces to live in. It was truly a meaningful experience, and we were all really satisfied and heartened at the change we could make to his home! Edward Goh, Volunteer
About NTU Welfare Services Club
Founded in 1985, Welfare Services Club (WSC) is a non-academic constituent club in NTU which provides an umbrella of voluntary activities and social work to all students. Besides growing from strength to strength in membership, WSC has also undergone incredible expansions in its activities to reach out to more service users every year. Currently, it runs 9 Regular Service Projects (RSPs) serving the Deaf, Elderly, Children of Low-income Families, Children with Chronic or Terminal Diseases, Intellectually Disabled, People with Mental Health Issues, Physically Challenged, Visually Handicapped and Youths-at-risk, which comprises volunteers engaging these service users weekly at various locations.
WSC also runs 5 Special Projects and 4 Supporting Committees. The Special Projects include Camp OutReach, Challenge ur Limits, Ignite Change, Overseas Volunteering Expedition and Volunteer Management and they provide additional support to service users both locally and overseas. The Supporting Committees include Finance, Growth & Opportunities!, Internal Relations and Publicity and Publications and they provide operational support to WSC. Volunteers engaged in Special Projects and Supporting Committees gain invaluable skills in entrepreneurship, events management, planning, coordination and many more.
