The Helping Hand (halfway house)

Last updated
The Helping Hand
TypePrivate
IndustryRehabilitation
Founded1987;36 years ago (1987)
Headquarters Singapore
Key people
Robert Yeo

The Helping Hand (also known as THH) is a halfway house in Singapore, registered as a Singapore non-governmental organization. The stated objective of the organization is to "transform lives of ex-offenders through the love of Jesus Christ into restored and hardworking individuals, re-integrating them back into society as stable and contributing citizens". [1]

Contents

History and working model

The Helping Hand was founded in 1987 by Robert Yeo, a Heroin addict. [2] It is registered as a Voluntary Welfare Organization under the Singapore Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports with an Institution of Public Character Status.

The organization aims to rehabilitate drug offenders through its stated method of 4 types of therapy - Spiritual, Work, Social and Physical. Drug offenders in therapy (called the Residents) typically undergo 3–6 months of treatment, during which they will receive individual and group counselling. Residents stay at The Helping Hand premises (located in Serangoon) throughout their therapy.

Funding

The Helping Hand receives operational cash primarily from sales from the furniture business that it operates. The prices are priced at 10 percent to 20 percent lower than the market rate. [3] It can thus be defined as a social enterprise. Its premises at Serangoon serves as a warehouse where it showcases hundreds of Indonesian made Teak furniture to the public. [4] [5] The Helping Hand also gets income from its moving services. They hire Residents as workers for both services.

It was reported in 2011 that even though more and more people are engaging its services, The Helping Hand still faces stigma from its businesses as most of its workers are ex-addicts. [6]

Side ventures

The Helping Hand also engages in many side ventures started by Residents. These services include computer repairs and gardening services. The main aim of these ventures is to help former offenders instead of generating profits. These ventures are usually started when Residents indicate interest in a certain business they wish to explore. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North East MRT line</span> Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore

The North East Line (NEL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, the 20-kilometre (12 mi) line is the MRT's shortest. It runs from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in the northeast, serving 16 stations via Chinatown, Little India, Serangoon and Hougang. Coloured purple on official maps, it is Singapore's third MRT line and the country's first fully-automated underground rail line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ang Mo Kio</span> Planning Area and HDB Town in North-East Region ----, Singapore

Ang Mo Kio is a planning area and residential town situated in the North-East of Singapore. Located approximately 11 km (6.8 mi) north of the Downtown Core district, Ang Mo Kio is the 3rd most populated planning area in the North-East Region and ranks 8th in terms of population in the country overall. The planning area is located at the south-western corner of the North-East Region, bordered by the planning areas of Yishun to the north, Sengkang to the north-east, Serangoon to the east, Bishan to the south and the Central Water Catchment to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serangoon</span> Planning Area and HDB Town in North-East Region ----, Singapore

Serangoon is a planning area and residential town located in the North-East Region of Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Coast Park</span> Beach park in the eastern part of Singapore

East Coast Park is a beach and a park encompassing Marine Parade, Bedok and Tampines, along the southeastern coast of Singapore. It was opened in the 1970s, after the Singapore government had completed reclaiming land off the coast at Katong which extends from Changi to Kallang. It serves these and other seaside communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Changi Village</span> Town Centre in East Region, Singapore

Changi Village is a modern village situated at the northern tip of Changi which is at the eastern end of Singapore. It is the usual connecting point for travellers heading to Pulau Ubin or Malaysia by ferry. Fishermen in the kelongs located in the Serangoon Harbour offshore also use this jetty as a drop off point to come onto mainland. Changi Village also has many resorts and leisure facilities to cater for a weekend getaway for many Singaporeans. The area is classified by Urban Redevelopment Authorities as under the planning area of Changi and in the subzone of Changi Point. It is also classified under District 17 for property indexing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potong Pasir MRT station</span> MRT station in Singapore

Potong Pasir MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North East line (NEL) in Toa Payoh planning area, Singapore. It is situated underneath Upper Serangoon Road at the junction with Potong Pasir Avenue 1 and Wan Tho Avenue. Primarily serving the Potong Pasir residential estate, Potong Pasir station is also close to Saint Andrew's Village, a major cluster of educational institutions that are part of the Saint Andrew's family of schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serangoon MRT station</span> MRT station in Singapore

Serangoon MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) interchange station on the North East (NEL) and Circle (CCL) lines. Situated in Serangoon, Singapore along Upper Serangoon Road and Serangoon Central, the station is integrated with the Nex shopping complex and the Serangoon Bus Interchange. The station is near the Serangoon Neighbourhood Police Centre and Braddell Heights Community Hub and serves various residential estates in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kovan MRT station</span> MRT station in Singapore

Kovan MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North East line (NEL) in Hougang, Singapore. Located underneath Upper Serangoon Road, the station serves the retail development of Heartland Mall and surrounding public and private residences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorong Chuan MRT station</span> MRT station in Singapore

Lorong Chuan MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the Circle line in Serangoon, Singapore. It is located underneath Serangoon Avenue 3 near the junction of Lorong Chuan, which the station is named after. The station is in close proximity to schools such as the Nanyang Junior College, Zhonghua Secondary School, Yangzheng Primary School and the Australian International School Singapore, and also near to other condominiums such as The Scala, Goldenhill Park, Chuan Park, Chiltern Park and The Springbloom.

Ng Teng Fong was a Singaporean real estate tycoon with a major presence in Hong Kong. He is the father of Robert Ng. In 1997, Forbes listed the two as the 30th richest people in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buangkok</span> Place in Singapore

Buangkok is a neighbourhood located in north eastern Singapore. Whilst its boundaries are vague, the neighbourhood is roughly spread across the Trafalgar and Compassvale subzones of the Hougang and Sengkang Planning Areas respectively, as designated by the URA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mustafa Centre</span> Shopping mall in Little India, Singapore

Mustafa Centre is a shopping mall in Singapore, situated on Syed Alwi Road in the cultural district of Little India, within the planning area of Kallang. Within a walking distance from Farrer Park station on the North East line, Mustafa Centre is a retail hub attracting many shoppers with its wide variety of products and services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Singapore</span> Historic site in Upper Serangoon Road

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Roman Catholic church in Singapore. It is located in Hougang, the North-East Region of Singapore, and is within the Serangoon District. It is well known as the oldest Catholic church for the Teochew community in Serangoon.

Holy Innocents' High School (HIHS) (Simplified Chinese:圣婴中学, Traditional Chinese: 聖嬰中學, pinyin: Shèngyīng Zhōngxué) is a Catholic school in Singapore. Founded in 1892, the school offers secondary school education leading up to a Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level examination, in both the Express and Normal (Academic) streams, as well as Singapore-Cambridge GCE Normal Level in the Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) streams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Verge, Singapore</span> Defunct shopping mall in Singapore

The Verge, formerly Tekka Mall,, was the first and largest modern shopping mall at the Little India precinct in Singapore, being opened in 2003. The Verge had two buildings, the main building and Chill @ The Verge. It was located on the southern part of Little India, with the main building is located at the junction of Serangoon Road and Sungei Road and the Chill @ The Verge is located at the junction of Perak Road and Sungei Road. Both of the buildings were separated by Clive Street and the mall lies opposite of Tekka Centre across Serangoon Road. The complex was demolished in 2017 to make way for redevelopment after 14 years of operation, making it one of the youngest malls in Singapore to shut its doors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Luke's Hospital, Singapore</span> Hospital in Singapore , Singapore

St. Luke's Hospital is a community hospital in Singapore that provides professional healthcare services. It was named after the patron saint of the medical profession, St Luke. St Luke's Hospital for the Elderly Sick was registered as a voluntary welfare organization in the Registry of Societies in October 1991. It was renamed to St Luke's Hospital in September 2004 to signify the hospital's role as a community hospital while retaining its focus on geriatric care. The idea of setting up community hospital was first mooted by a group of Christian doctors and nurses after a report from the Advisory Council on the Aged in 1988 raised important issues concerning the lack of adequate elderly care facilities in Singapore. A projection of the number of facilities and resources needed to provide adequate healthcare services to Singapore's aging population in 2030 revealed serious shortfalls. In response to the problem of inadequate healthcare facilities for the elderly, a group of 8 churches and Christian organizations including the Graduate Christian Fellowship and the Singapore Nurses' Christian Fellowship came together to set up St Luke's Hospital for the Elderly Sick. St Luke's Hospital is headed by a board of directors and various committees that oversee the daily operations of the hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfield Methodist Schools</span> Government-aided (both) school

Fairfield Methodist School (Primary) and Fairfield Methodist School (Secondary) are two schools located on Dover Road. Founded in 1888 as the Telok Ayer Girls School, they are among the oldest primary and secondary schools in Singapore. Their current premises are at the neighbourhood of Dover in Queenstown, Central Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterian Church in Singapore</span>

The Presbyterian Church in Singapore is a Presbyterian Reformed church. The current moderator is the Rt Rev Keith Lai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alkaff Gardens</span>

Alkaff Gardens was a Japanese-style park once located east of the Bidadari Cemetery from 1930 to 1964, on the present site of Cedar Girls' Secondary School at Bidadari, Singapore. In the 1930s, the park was a popular leisure destination for dating couples and families. It featured as its centrepiece an artificial lake, which was drained in 1964.

References

  1. "The Helping Hand". Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  2. "Welcome to SG Cares". Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  3. http://stqaprev.asia1.com.sg/Singapore/Story/STIStory_254239.html%5B%5D
  4. "The Helping Hand". Archived from the original on 2011-12-22. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  5. "Helping Hand to a new start". business.asiaone.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  6. "More people engaging services of Helping Hand". Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  7. "Helping Hand to a new start". Archived from the original on 2009-03-16. Retrieved 2012-07-27.