$10 million to fund programmes to help family members upskill
More customised support is on the cards to give disadvantaged individuals, including low-income families, a leg up.
A sum of $10 million will be spent over the next five years for programmes that will, for instance, equip family members with skills that will help them find jobs or take on new roles.
Announcing the new Empowering for Life Fund yesterday, President Halimah Yacob said: "We want to be able to handhold the most disadvantaged families on their journeys to improve their circumstances. This way, we can help them bounce back quickly from setbacks and stay adaptable."
Madam Halimah, who also launched this year's President's Challenge yesterday, said that under her charge, the annual community outreach and fund-raising campaign will largely focus on empowering the vulnerable.
She noted support for the less fortunate has to move beyond generic schemes and programmes and become more customised .
As a start, the fund, which will be financed by the President's Challenge, will help 50 families through a new Lift-Up Pathfinder programme to be jointly developed by the President's Challenge, National Trades Union Congress and the Employment and Employability Institute.
Under the programme, the families will get to attend fully funded training courses, which will be customised to meet their needs. The courses will help them improve their abilities in areas such as language.
They will also get to attend motivational talks and take part in family-bonding activities. Each family will be paired with a team of volunteers who will guide them through the course of the programme.
Madam Halimah said the programme will be extended to more families if the pilot is successful.
Senior patient service associate Chan Nget Hoong, 46, intends to sign up for the programme in hopes that it will help her upgrade her skills and help her children land their dream jobs.
She wants to be a nurse, while her son Yeo Chong Han, 19, wants to be an entrepreneur and her daughter Yeo Hui Ling, 16, a lab technician. She has another daughter who turns two this year.
"I hope Lift-Up Pathfinder can offer more customised support that helps point my children in the right direction, bolster their career aspirations and bring them a better-paying job," said Madam Chan.
She also hopes the programme will help her husband find a steady job. He lost his job as a chef six months ago and now works as a private-hire driver. This has caused their household income to drop by half, to about $2,000.
This year's President's Challenge will also be raising money for 59 organisations, which range from those that provide healthcare services to those that help people with disabilities.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
