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The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, joined more than 40 current and former street sleepers and short-term hostel residents at a year-end lunch held at the activity centre of the Christian Concern for the Homeless Association (CCHA) in Sham Shui Po today (January 29).
This was the second consecutive year that Mr Cheung brought barbecued food (siu mei) to the centre to enjoy a year-end meal with the centre's service users. He was glad to have a reunion with several former street sleepers and hear their success stories in saying goodbye to street sleeping.
The Director of the CCHA, Ms Ada Lai, briefed Mr Cheung on the integrated services provided by the association for street sleepers and the enhanced short-term accommodation support service.
After the lunch, they visited a hostel for the homeless - "Home of Fullness" operated by the CCHA nearby. The hostel came into operation in April 2010 providing 42 short-term accommodation places, of which 10 are emergency shelter places funded by the Government.
Mr Cheung said, "The Government is very concerned about the well being of homeless people. The Social Welfare Department has been collaborating with non-governmental organisations to provide a range of supporting services such as outreaching, counselling, financial and accommodation assistance, employment guidance, personal care and so on. The aim is to help homeless people overcome difficulties, rebuild their confidence and re-integrate into the community."
The Social Welfare Department further increased the provision of short-term accommodation places by 5% (a total of 10 places) since last year through funding additional places in self-financing hostels. At present, the Government is subventing the operation of five hostels and two emergency shelters by non-governmental organisations, providing 202 places of short-term accommodation for street sleepers.
The CCHA was established and registered as a charity organisation in 1987. Since 2004, the CCHA has been receiving subvention from the Government to operate an integrated services team for street sleepers.
Ends/Saturday, January 29, 2011
Issued at HKT 14:35
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