Transitional housing is a lot of grassroots people to improve the living environment of the "timely rain", yesterday, a private developer in its four transitional housing projects to introduce the "five-star" concept, in addition to providing a comfortable home for residents, but also an unprecedented four cross-boundary enterprises and organizations, to create a "smart community" for the residents of the children, young people and elderly in working life to provide access to the development of new technology courses, and to invite volunteers to teach on-site and online! The program also invites volunteers to provide on-site and online teaching to assist grassroots residents in learning and upward mobility.
At the same time, the first Emergency Support Unit was created to provide units equipped with furniture and household items for elders who have suffered from domestic violence or are in urgent need of shelter, making it the first "take-it-and-live-at-it" transition house. According to an NGO, these value-added facilities have helped raise the occupancy rate of the projects to 80%.
The four projects will provide a total of nearly 3,000 units, benefiting more than 10,000 people. New World will join hands with four major cross-border corporations and organizations, including Chow Tai Fook Charitable Foundation, Microsoft Hong Kong, HKT and Pricerite, to provide comprehensive support to grassroots families in the four major areas of innovation and technology, education, healthcare and emergency support.
Among them, Chow Tai Fook Charitable Foundation is the first to donate $4 million to set up an Emergency Support Unit (ESU), where Pricerite will design and equip the unit with basic furniture and household items, in addition to providing subsidies for basic electrical appliances for the general public, so as to provide a comfortable home for the residents. The service is provided by the operating organization, which reserves a portion of the flats for allocation according to the actual needs of the applicants, such as those who have suffered from sudden changes in the family or those who are in urgent need of housing, such as the doubly-elderly or the singletons.
At the same time, the charitable fund extends and expands the first "Community Living Room" service in Sham Shui Po to transitional housing projects, providing grassroots tenants with a common space and a variety of innovative services, including childcare-friendly space, experiential learning games, etc., to support the different needs of children and the elderly, and to build up mutual supportive communities and peer networks.
For the first time, Microsoft Hong Kong and HKT have supported the Innovation Hub in the Transitional House Project. Apart from donating refurbished handheld tablets, Microsoft Hong Kong has also partnered with teaching organizations such as Hour of Code Hong Kong to provide tailor-made courses for the tenants and invited volunteers to teach them on-site and on-line to help grassroots tenants learn and develop their skills. Volunteers are also invited to teach on-site and online to assist grassroots residents in learning and upward mobility.
Mr. Cheng Kar-shing, Chairman of Chow Tai Fook Charitable Foundation, said that the Foundation has been working with local organizations to establish new models of philanthropy, and "Community Living Room" is one of the examples. Extending the experience of this program to the transitional housing community will give new impetus to the lives of the residents.
Mr. Sit Hoi Nam, Executive Director of NWD, said that by pooling together the creative strengths of different sectors, the project not only relieves the pressure of housing on the grassroots, but also helps them to move up the social ladder. Speaking to Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, Ms. Teresa Hui, Development Director of the Social Services Department of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hong Kong, which operates the Ngau Tam Mei project in San Tin, said that she understands that the project is located in a relatively remote area, and has therefore arranged a number of convenient facilities, such as shuttle buses and free Wi-Fi, in the hope of attracting the grassroots, who were originally not comfortable with living in the urban areas, to consider relocating to the New Territories.
She hopes that the occupancy rate of the project will be 80%, and is now approaching households living in sub-divided units in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long, as well as contacting local organizations for referrals. It is estimated that most of the applicants will be families living in the New Territories.
The Housing Bureau of the HKSAR Government welcomes the efforts made by developers to provide accommodation for the grassroots, pointing out that the project has proved to be a collaborative effort between the Government, the business sector and the private sector in utilizing social resources to address the housing and living needs of the grassroots.
The Housing Bureau hopes to continue to pool the strengths of the private sector and encourage different organizations to give full play to their creativity in providing a wide range of transitional housing projects and social services.
