Housing, jobs, rebuilding family ties: 17 projects to be piloted to help rough sleepers in Singapore
SINGAPORE - Rough sleepers will get more support to find stability in housing, jobs and rebuild ties with their families, with help from community partners as part of a broader push to tackle homelessness.The 17 initiatives include a drop-in centre offering meals, showers and counselling, a programme matching single rough sleepers with compatible co-tenants to help them access public rental housing sooner, and micro-jobs and apprenticeships to gain work experience and become more financially stable.Homeless youth will also get more support, including mentoring, family mediation, and vocational guidance. Another project will develop a tool to identify people at risk of homelessness so they can receive help earlier.The projects are supported by the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s (MSF) Partnership to Tackle Homelessness (PATH) Fund, a $450,000 fund announced in January to help community organisations test solutions to the underlying causes of rough sleeping. The fund was launched in April.