“And there was no place for them in the inn…” Luke 2:7

In one week’s time it will be Christmas Day.

‘TWAS THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS…

My name is Abraham Yeo, and I’m the co-founder of Homeless Hearts of Singapore. 

While this week has seen good news, such as this week’s news of HDB opening up a pilot programme for homeless individuals to be able to apply for public rental flats without having to first find a flatmate, the storm is still not over yet.

We have discovered that there is still a serious lack of safe AND affordable accommodations for homeless families during this Christmas season, until more shelter spaces and rental flats are available in late Jan / Feb 2022.

And we have news that some churches are actually closing their shelters by the end of this year to move back to “normal”. But would it be considered “normal” in the sight of a holy God to have church services and programmes that exclude the homeless and leaves them no room to come in and be at home?

Therefore, we specifically ask the churches in Singapore to open up their premises to help shelter at least one homeless family this season and beyond.

FIVE REASONS FAMILIES ARE BECOMING HOMELESS THIS CHRISTMAS

  1. Rents (both private and HDB) have been on the rise for 17 months consecutively since last year.
Fig 1.1: Demand for rental homes exceeding supply - across all HDB flat types in both mature and non-mature estates
Fig 1.1: Demand for rental homes exceeding supply – across all HDB flat types in both mature and non-mature estates
Fig 1.2: Rates of rental increase expected to increase even faster next year
Fig 1.2: Rates of rental increase expected to increase even faster next year
Chart 3: HDB rental market price index for November 2021
Chart 3: HDB rental market price index for November 2021

(Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/condo-hdb-rentals-rise-in-november-despite-tightened-omicron-border-rules, 15 Dec 2021)

In fact, a quick search on HDB’s own website shows rents for 2-room flats, out of three non-central locations (Jurong West, Tampines, and Woodlands) were mostly $1.3K to $1.7K per month as of 11 Dec 2021.

Table 1.1 Search results for rental costs for 2-room Jurong West flats between Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 as of 11 Dec 2021
Table 1.1 Search results for rental costs for 2-room Jurong West flats between Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 as of 11 Dec 2021
Table 1.2 Search results for rental costs for 2-room Tampines flats between Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 as of 11 Dec 2021
Table 1.2 Search results for rental costs for 2-room Tampines flats between Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 as of 11 Dec 2021
Table 1.3 Search results for rental costs for 2-room Woodland flats between Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 as of 11 Dec 2021
Table 1.3 Search results for rental costs for 2-room Woodland flats between Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 as of 11 Dec 2021

(Sources: Tables 1.1 – 1.3 taken from https://services2.hdb.gov.sg/webapp/BR12AWRentalEnq/BR12PSearch.jsp) 

PropertyGuru turns up these choice deals from Telok Blangah, Jalan Kukoh and Bukit Merah as of 18 Dec 2021: $2.3K/ month, $2.5K/ month, $2.68K/ month.

Fig 2.1 $2.3K/ month
Fig 2.1 $2.3K/ month
Fig 2.2 $2.5K/ month
Fig 2.2 $2.5K/ month
Fig 2.3 $2.68K/ month
Fig 2.3 $2.68K/ month

These three neighbourhoods are some of Singapore’s lower-income neighbourhoods… so if these 2-room flats can hit such high rents, then what does it imply for families already hit hard by the ongoing crises?

  1. Hotels / hostels are running out of space and prices are surging as a consequence of staycations and VTLs opening up this December.
Table 2: List of 34 hotels as of 18 Dec 2021 (NA = no rooms available at all.)
Table 2: List of 34 hotels as of 18 Dec 2021 (NA = no rooms available at all.)

 

  1. The ongoing cost of living has been reaching unsustainable levels. Electricity and food bills are hitting unprecedented levels while job losses due to closing of local businesses are increasing.

    As a result, surging rental fees, high costs of living and job losses have resulted in a number of families being evicted by their landlords due to being unable to pay on time.

    There is a rising number of families who have lost their jobs and are evicted by landlords, and are forced to spend their life savings on exorbitant hotel prices for  the sake of their children.

    Through this period, Homeless Hearts has observed a significant increase in the number of social workers seeking help regarding emergency sponsorships for urgent hostel / hotel fees.  The demand for resources is great so that these social workers need more time to seek out for more support for this help due to limited resources.

    While we are updating MSF on the ground situation, we are also aware that while MSF will do their best, the social workers on the ground need allies on the ground in the meantime.

    Allies, like YOU.

  2. Churches are actually closing down their shelters for the homeless. From 23 churches that opened up in 2020, only 18 churches will still be hosting the homeless as of Jan 2022.

    It may be because the Church in Singapore has not fully understood that homelessness is far more than just not having a place to stay.

    It is the experience of being alienated from family and not having a single friend to call on for shelter, or for help with big as well as small problems that crop up in life.

    The face of homelessness may be a desperate parent struggling to care for their children in the midst of abuse and poverty, while struggling with the shame and uncertainty of relying on government support.

    Or it may be a young person who has been kicked out of home after their parents’ divorce and remarriage, and so on. (All these have really happened in real life.)

    The truth is, people don’t become homeless initially because they run out of resources but because they run out of relationships first. For the homeless are not problems to be solved, but people to be loved.

    Empathy is never overrated, for the Incarnation says it all.

  3. There are homeless foreigners in Singapore too. We are grateful to our dear partner, Project Providence, for their quiet labour of love the past two years in helping the homeless / stranded foreigners. While the Singapore government will prioritise Singaporeans first (and rightfully so), the truth is that, in our Father’s world, homeless foreigners are as much a part of His family as our homeless locals.

    The situation now is that while PP has been working hard in the background, there are still parents who are foreigners struggling to care for their children. Some of these mothers (single, abandoned, divorced, or widowed), out of desperation, have ended up falling through the gaps selling their bodies or performing humiliating acts in order to continue being able to stay in Singapore or pay rent.

    Can the Church in Singapore declare ourselves “missional” but yet continue to remain ignorant of the reality around us right now? This is where the Church in Singapore can stand in the gap to catch those who fall through the safety net. This is missions, real and raw, right at our doorsteps – to host homeless foreign families in need and show Christ’s love to them.

Dear friends, when we share all this, this does feel all too reminiscent of that first Christmas in Luke 2:7: “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” .


THE HOMELESSNESS SITUATION SO FAR

From 17 Oct 2021 to 17 Dec 2021, HHOS collated the following data:

Chart 1.1:  Total number of homeless help requests
Chart 1.1:  Total number of homeless help requests
Chart 1.2: Total number of homeless help requests (those with kids and those without).
Chart 1.2: Total number of homeless help requests (those with kids and those without).
Chart 1.3: Cumulative graph of homeless help requests (those with kids and those without).
Chart 1.3: Cumulative graph of homeless help requests (those with kids and those without).
Chart 2.1: Breakdown of data by categories
Chart 2.1: Breakdown of data by categories
Chart 2.2: Breakdown by those with kids, and those without.
Chart 2.2: Breakdown by those with kids, and those without.

 

Chart 2.3: There is at least one homeless person with autism here.
Chart 2.3: There is at least one homeless person with autism here.

(All sources from #CityOfRefuge at https://help.homeless.sg/dashboard as of 18 Dec 2021)

What We Found Out

From the above data and what the social workers also told us in their help requests, we found a few of these trends:

  • 14.3% of the above are families with children.
  • The vast majority of homeless help requests are sent in by social workers.
  • The risk of abuse was a small but real factor too.
  • More than a third of the homeless help requests are people in danger of becoming homeless (meaning they currently have places to stay, but are facing pending eviction or are running out of funds.

Furthermore, keep in mind that many of the help requests are gathered from a small number of social workers in Singapore – about 30+ only. 

In short, what you see here is just the tip of the iceberg.

That is why we are releasing this appeal today – with just 1 week left to Christmas.

FIVE WAYS YOU CAN HELP A HOMELESS FAMILY THIS CHRISTMAS

  1. Churches: you can open up (not close down) Safe Sound Sleeping Places. You don’t need to do much – you just need to set aside a comfortable room or two to make space for a homeless family. We have enough shelters for homeless men. But we need more spaces for homeless families, women and vulnerables. You can contact MSF at [email protected] to get started, and Yio Chu Kang Chapel if you want to learn more the practical aspects (complete with guides) of S3P operations.

    The critical thing here is that it’s not just about giving them a place to stay, but also about extending friendship and warmth and hospitality this Christmas. And who better to do such a beautiful thing than the churches – especially at Christmas? Imagine throwing a lavish Christmas dinner for hungry homeless people and families – surely a dinner fit for our Lord Jesus Himself! 
  1. Families: You can host them at your place for the Christmas period until Jan/Feb 2022. 

    Or you can be befrienders to visit and provide emotional support as fellow parents, and journey with them even after they manage to settle down. Becauee it’s not just about helping them find a place, it’s also about helping show Christ’s love to them and treat them as family too.

    Our fellow close partner, Open Home Network, can help come alongside to provide practical support and guidance. (Find out more at https://vulcanpost.com/…/open-home-network-free-home…/).

    In fact, my wife and I have personally been hosting a family with their two children (the mother just gave birth to her second child this week) since April this year. The family has been waiting for their rental flat which should be ready next year. The mum was initially discouraged by the long wait, but having a safe place to stay for a year has made a huge difference in terms of morale and encouragement to the family.
  1. Hotels / hostels operators and landlords, you can offer rooms / flats at subsidised rates – drop us a message at [email protected] now! <3

    In addition, Christian landlords, do consider keeping your rents capped during this time to help lower-income / debt-burdened families get through. Do be courageously counter-cultural because of Christ – you can put your foot down and say, “No, I will not increase the rent just because of the trend and chance to make a quick buck.” Trust the Lord to provide for you as you choose to be generous to those in need, for you are ultimately lending to the Lord.
  1. Friends and social workers: If you have any homeless families who need urgent places to stay / need emotional support and you have ALREADY exhausted all your other options, go to https://help.homeless.sg and we’ll see what we can do together.

  2. Support the #CityOfRefuge project: The data that we collected was made possible through our #CityOfRefuge web app, which has been under development for the past two years. To view the latest update, you can go to https://help.homeless.sg/dashboard. If you are interested to help fund the continued development of the app, or contribute your coding skills, please visit http://homeless.sg/cityofrefuge-app/. (Special thanks to LinkingHands 4.0 for their generous financial support!)

Dear friends, let us speak God’s love not with words but in action and in truth.

MSF is more than ready to come alongside to assist, and Yio Chu Kang Chapel, a key pioneer and a dear fellow partner with us, is able to provide training and, practical advice for getting started. Homeless Hearts can provide ready training for befrienders and so on.

While long-term structural and policy changes are being made, it still takes time. Therefore, in between Christmas to end of next month… would you like to step up and be counted as part of the community to serve in love?

THE CALL TO ACTION TODAY

While HHOS is grateful and thankful that Good News Community Services has been appointed to operate the pilot Joint Singles Scheme project from next year, the critical issue for Singapore now is that of homeless families, just like Mary and Joseph who need to be sheltered when the inns are full.

Friends, I am not dramatising this – because the numbers AND stories the social workers share with us are too real. This is an invisible crisis that’s visible only to those who are already on the ground. If we move fast together, we can help prevent this crisis from worsening. We have seen at least one recorded case of a family with a young baby breaking up from divorce due to the stress of being homeless and penniless. Please, let us not silently stand by and watch yet more families slip into homelessness (and even possibly suicide).

Will you respond to the Lord’s call to care for the homeless? God’s grace is super-abundant – He is able to provide for us as we provide for them. 

Dear  friends, just as there was no place at the inn to receive Jesus and His family, we see friends and families who have no place to lay their heads this Christmas. Please open up your hearts and homes. The homeless need to see and hear the good news that the Father loves them and has NOT forgotten them.

1 John 3:16-19We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.”

Will you help the homeless families come home and feel God’s love this Christmas?

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to Me.” Matthew 25


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

(More questions will be added here as they arise)

Why hotels for homeless families? Why not transitional shelters or even backpacker hostels?

  1. Because as of today (18 Dec) most of the transitional shelters don’t have space / need time to process the homeless families waiting. It may take one or two days, at the least, which would be amazingly fast given the backlog – but for the one or two days in-between, where will the family stay?

    Here, HHOS works closely with MSF and the PEERS Network to help highlight families in need, but even then, while MSF will work as fast as they can and prioritise families with children first, the fact remains that it will really help reduce the burden on MSF and the homeless family too, if there can be a safe and affordable place for the family to bunk in in the meantime.

  2. Some of the families have babies / young children. HHOS’ usual modus operandi is to book cheap (but decent) backpacker hostels for homeless individuals to buy them some time until their social workers can secure a transitional shelter.

    But for those with babies / children – no way are we going to pack the families into some cheap shared mixed-dorm that could also become a potential COVID-19 cluster. That’s why we put them into affordable but also decent hotels. Now, the problem is, for a hotel, affordable and clean and decent tend to form a rather narrow spectrum. Geylang is a popular place for quite a number of homeless families trying to find shelter. Unfortunately, Geylang’s hotels are not the most family-friendly places to be. (You know why.)