Connections, Not Charity

“She cannot communicate with her sister. That’s why she keeps coming back here.” This was a remark I heard during an outreach to the homeless on why someone chose to rough sleep. Indeed, relationship breakdowns are common for many of the homeless in Singapore, which we found out through this Community Engagement (CE) project.

Back in October 2024, the small groups of NTU ECF came together to identify “off-putting” areas in school, and people sleeping in open areas in NTU overnight were raised. This sparked our interest in homelessness, an often overlooked issue in Singapore.

Chatting with Abraham (bottom left), founder of Homeless Hearts of Singapore

The CE subcommittee then researched more on homelessness in Singapore by watching documentaries, reading studies and books, meeting with Abraham, the founder of Homeless Hearts of Singapore (HHOS), and even trying rough sleeping. We learned that low-income individuals frequently struggle with a profound sense of isolation. What many see as charitable giving – distributing food or supplies – can reinforce feelings of social separation. Each well-meaning gesture can inadvertently highlight socioeconomic differences, making recipients feel more marginalised rather than supported. With this knowledge, we now want to engage students on campus on this issue.

Sharing insights and inviting students to reach out to rough sleepers

The lack of inclusion and relationships was glaring throughout our research and we knew that this was the direction God was leading us towards. Thus, we had a booth to share our insights and invite students to outreach to rough sleepers with us. It was quite successful as we received 10 sign-ups and attention from both the school and a media company. Following the theme of relationships, we invited the students to a ‘get-to-know-you’ meal beforehand, in hopes of bringing Christ to them. On the day of the outreach, we partnered with HHOS and, together with the students, walked the streets and talked with rough sleepers.

Personally, when I first started this project on homelessness, I had safety concerns and struggled with misconceptions that the homeless are aggressive and dirty. However, through the outreach programme, I found that they are mostly just regular people defined by different circumstances. They have jobs and dreams too. I enjoyed learning about their families while playing card games, as I do with friends, and maybe that should be the attitude to adopt while engaging with people different from us.

Through this project, I learnt to use a holistic approach to engaging the community, to focus on “connections, not charity”, rather than just addressing their material needs, and I would like to challenge you to do the same.

– Faith Hoon, NTU Business Year 2