New Hope Community Services

Written by Andrea Mae, Joshua Low, Joy Wan, Geryl Tan and Tan Jia Le

Over the 2021 summer break, we interned with New Hope Community Services (NHCS), an organisation that provides refuge and seeks to reintegrate rough sleepers into society. Through this community internship, we gained deeper insights to the workings of a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), as well as the rough sleeping community – a community that is often overlooked in Singapore. 

Despite being unable to get the full experience of working from the office due to Covid-19 restrictions, we were still grateful that we could still gain experience working on the ground. Throughout the eight weeks of the programme, we engaged in various tasks, ranging from physical tasks on the ground at New Hopes’ multiple shelters, to reviewing and streamlining the organisation’s processes. Together, this holistic range of responsibilities gave us the opportunity to experience NGO work from various perspectives. We were better able to understand how NGOs in Singapore function, along with the various challenges faced and considerations that must be made on a daily basis. On top of that, our time at the shelters allowed us to have extremely meaningful and personal interactions with the residents, which gave us a first-hand glimpse into the experiences and hardships faced by the rough sleeping community in Singapore.