“My siblings and I did not have active parental presence from a young age. Our father was incarcerated, and my mother, being the sole breadwinner, did not have time for us as she had to work long hours. I was constantly looking at social media to get validation from my friends, my self-esteem and self-confidence was not great.

I joined Life Community at the age of 10. I had a caseworker as well as a volunteer mentor. They visited me regularly and I slowly opened up and shared about my struggles about friends, school and my future. I also joined activities which taught me different values like being honest, not giving up. I still remember these today.

I took part in Life Community’s Annual Christmas Performance Competition and sang in front of a large crowd. If you asked me two years ago, I would tell you I won’t want to do this.

Having come so far, I will continue to improve, encourage others and do my best in life.”

“Our father was incarcerated due to drug abuse and rape. My mother then lost her job due to long medical leave. When Life Community first got in touch with us, I was 13 years old, and my two brothers were 11 years old and 8 years old. We all had many invisible wounds.

I had a lot of emotional trauma due to my father’s sexual abuse, finding it hard to trust people in general. My second brother displayed symptoms of physical violence. My youngest brother, at the age of 8, had no birth certificate, nor a pre-school education.

Life Community stepped in to help us obtain financial and academic assistance. They also provided counselling for us, to heal and become stronger emotionally, after our father’s abuse. Additionally, they managed to enrol my youngest brother to school, and tutored him personally so he could catch up. We are grateful for this journey with Life Community, it has changed our lives.”

“My life story is quite similar to Sam’s, from the Video. I was seven when my parents were put behind bars. My grandmother became my main caregiver.

I constantly felt empty because I did not have a complete family. I feared sharing about my family background. I feared how others will look at me if they knew. Regarding personal struggles, I kept to myself mostly. I generally did not trust others. This hindered my friendships and support system.

I was connected to Life Community shortly after I was seven years old.

The caseworkers from Life Community visited me regularly. They were intentional in spending time with me, guiding me and understanding my struggles. They treated me like a friend. Even though I gave them a lot of trouble, they never once gave up on me. I gradually changed and opened up.

With much support, I was promoted to the Express Academic Stream in Secondary 2 (from Normal Academic Stream). Thereafter, I studied Law and Management in Temasek Polytechnic, and graduated in May 2019.

Today, I am 20 years old and my circumstances are much better.

Without Life Community’s support, things could have been very different.  I am thankful for this.

I plan to undertake Social Work studies in University. Seeing how my own life has been transformed, I intend to give back to Society, so that people, like Sam and myself, will receive the support they truly need”

– Mark is a Graduate Alumni of FOCY

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This story is also published on Singapore Kindness Movement Blog – The Pride

I have difficulties in my cognitive ability to process complex issues, hence, I was slower in development. As a result, I was often a victim of bullying growing up and suffered quietly, which meant I kept a lot of emotional wounds in me. 

When I came to know Life Community, I was grieving over the sudden death of my father. The staff and volunteers at Life Community stepped in to help. They were very kind. They provided weekly mentoring sessions to process, heal and manage my emotions, as well as counselling on good life choices. One of them even became like a father figure to me.

Life Community also arranged for a volunteer, who was a retired teacher, to tutor me one on one. My foundation in English was so weak that I had to start off reading books meant for 9-year-olds, even though I was 15 years old at that time.

He taught me the basics, grammar, sentence construction, and new words. He was very patient with me and travelled from Telok Kurau (East of Singapore) to Telok Blangah Rise (South-west of Singapore) every Tuesday afternoon to coach me.

After 2 years of perseverance, I saw a great improvement in my English scores. We were so happy we celebrated this breakthrough over pizza. I never thought this could be possible.

I’m able to be who I am today because of Life Community. To all the donors, volunteers, and staff, thank you for believing in me, showing me care and concern, walking with me in my most difficult moments and extending a helping hand to me. It would not have been possible without your help. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

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