2018 Social Care Awards

GHP / Social Care Awards 2018 11 , Created in 2010, Project Dignity has since flourished. It has a series of programs to support a range of disadvantaged people throughout Singapore’s society, including the disabled through the provision of jobs and training. For the elderly, there is a range of projects including the provision of lunches, training and cookery classes. Mr Koh discusses the organisation’s work in more detail. “Project Dignity was started with the aim of creating jobs for the disabled and disadvantaged members of our society. To achieve this aim, we set up street food stalls (also known as hawker stalls) called Dignity Kitchen, as this is a common food culture in Asia. We train them to work in the stalls and if possible to own their food stall business. For those who cannot cook, we have second- hand book stalls called Dignity Mama, manned by mothers with their challenged child. Our beneficiaries include physical, mental, socially and intellectually challenged from the age of 18 years old to the 80s. “To ensure a successful training and placement, we develop specialised training curriculum and the training is in small group of six. It is a one to one training as every disability is different and has different challenges. We cover a wide spectrum of Best Disabled Food & Beverage Training Provider - Singapore Project Dignity is Singapore’s first hawker training school for disabled and disadvantaged people. We invitedMr Koh Seng Choon, it’s founder and Executive Director, to tell us more about the project and the people it supports. disabilities, and we monitor them in their work place for two months. For those who are keen to be entrepreneurs, we support them for a few months, help them look for location and assists in their start-up.” Moving forward, the project will continue to adapt and evolve, as Mr Koh explores in his concluding comments. “At Project Dignity, every two years we focused on helping different disabilities. We started with the physical, then the intellectually challenged, and the last two years have been focused on mental illness. For the coming SO180011 Company: Project Dignity Pte Ltd Contact: Mr Koh Seng Choon, Founder / Executive Director Address: Block 267, Serangoon Ave 3 #02-02, Singapore 550267, Republic of Singapore Phone: 0065 8189 7678 Website: www.projectdignity.sg two years we want to reach out to end-of-life, terminal illness and long-term illness patients. As such, we are setting up Dignity Kitchenette, a café serving modified soft food and airline concept food tray. “Project Dignity is an inner city social solution addressing the issues of aging population, work for the disabled and overcoming poverty of the poor. Longer term, we plan to expand overseas to Hong Kong and replicating this hawker food stall social model in the region. Maybe one day we can set up in United Kingdom setting up a food centre for the homeless and disadvantaged.” Photo Credit: Project Dignity Pte Ltd