This Christmas season, as we enjoy the peace and joy of celebrations in the church and with families and friends, let’s not forget those who do not have peace in their daily lives.
Support children who need peace of mind to focus on their education
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are often burdened by financial woes at home. Many of them choose to work while studying, to help with household expenses. Some have even chosen not to further their studies, in order to provide for their family. Our provision of support and opportunities can nurture their potential and enable them to go as far as they can.
Methodist Welfare Services (MWS) childcare and student care centres provide children aged two to 12 with a safe and conducive environment for learning, which is especially important for students who may lack adult supervision or role models at home.
The MWS Tutoring Programme engages tutors twice a week, to help needy students who are underperforming in English, Mathematics or Science.
MWS also has a Bursary Programme for Primary, Secondary, Polytechnic and Junior College students from families with per capita income of $450 or less.
By subsidising their school-related expenses as well as sponsoring learning and character-building programmes, MWS is nurturing the students’ potential.
Give them a peaceful haven to rebuild their lives
Juvenile delinquents need a safe and conducive environment where therapists and counsellors can rehabilitate them and help them take responsibility for their mistakes. This is especially important for youths who have weak or no social support systems.
The compassionate model at Residence @ St. George’s (RSG) gives troubled girls a second chance to start anew. Staff and mentors assigned to each girl help to guide them towards achieving purposeful personal goals. RSG also engages their families through therapy and counselling, and has a post-graduation follow-up programme to ensure that the girls smoothly reintegrate into society.
In this way, juvenile delinquents are effectively rehabilitated by providing them with a guiding and supportive environment.
Bring peace to families facing turmoil
Many families are facing increasingly complex difficulties, which include financial distress, marital issues and family violence. These problems can overwhelm anyone, causing great emotional distress and limiting the ability to handle challenges.
The multi-faceted nature of these challenges often require multiple levels of intervention. Through intensive counselling sessions, MWS helps families to resolve personal and emotional difficulties. We also run talks and workshops to equip families with skills such as budgeting and communication. In addition, the MWS Walk With The Poor Programme provides financial assistance and socio-emotional support with the help of volunteer befrienders.
Distressed families are thus set on the path of restoration and resilience through providing them assistance in making ends meet, access to counselling that helps them resolve their many challenges, and the warmth of volunteer befrienders.
Allow them to live in dignity and pass on peacefully
Many of the chronically ill and destitute are in their twilight years, and need nursing care and help with simple daily activities. Many of them have been abandoned, or have no alternative caregivers.
Our destitute home takes in the homeless who have nowhere to go and have no one to turn to, while our nursing home cares for the sick and frail. Holistic care programmes – comprising medical and nursing care, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and rehabilitative activities – take care of beneficiaries’ physical, emotional and social needs. Our hospice homecare service provides palliative care for terminally-ill patients to help them live their last days with dignity, surrounded by their loved ones.
As such, the pain and suffering of the chronically ill and destitute are eased by providing shelter and care for the homeless and sick as well as by sponsoring professional, medical and nursing care.
Let the isolated age in peace
Many seniors are at a stage where their social networks are rapidly shrinking, due to retirement and the passing away of friends and spouses. This makes them susceptible to social isolation, which can lead to depression or debilitating mental illness. To prevent this, our activity centres for seniors enable them to age in place with meaningful day programmes and activities that take care of their social, emotional and physical wellness. Talks and workshops are also conducted for seniors to learn new skills and take up new hobbies, allowing them to age gracefully in the community.
Isolated seniors are therefore engaged in the community by providing workshops that teach them new skills or hobbies as well as sponsoring day programmes to promote physical and mental wellness.
DONATE to MWS – please visit www.mws.org.sg
VOLUNTEER at our centres – please email volunteer@mws.org.sg
Bernadette Sandra is an Executive (Communications & Fundraising) at Methodist Welfare Services.