On Tuesday, 14 January 2014, YMCA hosted some 20 representatives from 11 partnering organisations at the YMCA FACES Partners' Appreciation Dinner. YMCA FACES stands for the Financial Assistance and Capability for Employment Scheme which aims to provide short-term and supplementary financial aid for families in emergency crisis, as well as facilitate transitional supportive employment training for people with special needs.
At the event, Mr Stephen Loh, President, YMCA of Singapore presented plaques to six organisations that have partnered YMCA in this scheme for five years since 2009. Mr Steven Chia, YMCA Board Director and Chairman of the YMCA FACES committee gave an update on the scheme, which included the expansion of the YMCA FACES partner’s network to 18 partners, as well as the disbursement of over $37,000 in financial aid to needy individuals and families in 2013 alone. To date, YMCA FACES has disbursed over $225,000 to more than 375 needy individuals and families in Singapore.
The YMCA FACES committee which steers the scheme sets out to identify service gaps in current financial assistance schemes in Singapore to determine how YMCA FACES can better meet the needs of those who fall through the gaps. YMCA FACES is set to expand to provide aid to single-parent families in 2014.
The partnering organisations, most of which are Family Service Centres and Voluntary Welfare Organisations that reach out to needy families, are key to the success of the scheme’s ability to reach out to the less privileged. The appointed case managers at these partnering organisations help to assess applications for financial aid and submit applications to YMCA on behalf of the clients. The partnering organisations are also involved in the disbursement of approved financial assistance to the clients and following up with counseling and seeking of long-term solutions to help the clients.
A recent partnership established with Transitlink resulted in the creation of transport vouchers which allowed for more efficient and hassle free application and processing of transport aid as well as enabling the beneficiaries to obtain the aid sooner. Before this was implemented, the beneficiaries had to be accompanied to MRT stations and bus terminals for physical ‘topping up’ of their ez-link passes.
Members of the public can email YMCA FACES at faces@ymca.org.sg or call 6586 2205 should they wish to find out more about YMCA FACES or refer individuals or families for assistance.
To view the photos from the event, please click here.
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