S3P (Night Shelter for the Homeless and Rough Sleepers)

BCS manages five S3Ps¹ to provide night shelters for the homeless and rough sleepers.

They are

  • S3P@YCKC (in partnership with Yio Chu Kang Chapel),
  • S3P@Inspire (in partnership with Faith Assembly of God),
  • S3P@GLCC (in partnership with Gospel Light Christian Centre),
  • S3P@Space79 (in partnership with Grace Methodist Church),
  • S3P@BPMC (in partnership with Bukit Panjang Methodist Church).

In total, BCS manages a max capacity of 41 beds (out of which 14 are for females) for the homeless and rough sleepers.

Our S3Ps provide stayers with bedding, lockers, toiletries, warm showers, washing machine, dryers, pantry and WIFI connection.

As of April 2024, we have provided shelter for 241 individuals. Working closely with social workers, we successfully helped several of them transit to longer-term shelters.

Model of Care

Much of our work involves collaborating with other partners in assisting the stayers to find longer term housing solutions and employment.We provide food, transport and financial assistance to our stayers who are jobless and in need of help. We also avail free counseling services for stayers who are emotionally distraught. In addition,  we also have befrienders who connect with our stayers regularly and celebrate festive holidays like Christmas and Lunar New Year with our stayers.

BCS has instituted a comprehensive model of care for our S3P shelters, focusing on the holistic transformation of individuals facing homelessness or rough sleeping into ‘well and empowered individuals’.

This model places a central focus on addressing their overall wellbeing, nurturing meaningful social connections, promoting financial stability, and achieving long-term housing solutions.

Our four-step strategy entails the following:

  • Establishing a Network of Care for every stayer – forging partnerships with social workers, counsellors, corporates, and potential employers to create a robust network of care.
  • Providing Counselling and Life Coaching – We offer life coaching and counselling services to assist individuals in overcoming barriers and building self-confidence, instilling motivation and purpose.
  • Empowerment – We provide opportunities for up-skilling, paid volunteerism, and reward schemes to encourage our S3P residents to be self-motivated in working towards financial and job securities. We involve our residents in discussion and decision-making relating to shelter management and welfare, thereby raising their confidence in making a difference to the community they are in.
  • Advocacy – We seek to overcome any misperceptions or stereotyping of the homeless and rough sleepers through education, in order to cultivate compassion and kindness in our society.

Our aspiration is to transform the S3P shelters into a safe and conducive environment, reminiscent of retreat centres.

Awards and Recognitions

For our efforts in supporting the homeless and rough sleepers, BCS was presented with MSF Community Care Award in 2021, the Star Partner Award of the Public Sector Transformation (PST) Awards in July 2022 and PEERS Network Catalyst for Change Award in 2023.

BCS is also honored to be part of the PEERS network team who received The President’s Certificate of Commendation (PCC) team award for “Contributions to Partners Engaging and Empowering Rough Sleepers (PEERS) Network and Safe Sound Sleeping Place (S3P)” this year in 2023.The President’s Certificate of Commendation (COVID-19) is awarded to organisations and teams that made exceptional efforts which had a significant impact in Singapore’s fight against COVID-19.

 

For more information on our S3Ps, please contact Bless Community Services office at 6288 9377.

To donate to our S3P work, please click on DonateTab of our website.