A Self Reliance Project for the Homeless: T-Shirt Workshop
The story of Chi-wa tells a lot about St. Barnabas’. At his 50's, Chi-wa was laid off about 10 years ago because the change of economic climate. He tried to work in a restaurant but unfortunately, his boss wound up the business without paying all his employees a penny. Chi-wa became very desperate and later indulged himself in alcohol and gambling afterwards. He lost all his money, family and hope. Finally he became a street sleeper to whom St. Barnabas' gave service.
Chi-wa's story is quite common among the street-sleeping community. We may say their mishaps were all because of their own mistakes or weaknesses. Irrespective of how we look at them, Hong Kong, though an affluent metropolitan city, has quite a few street sleepers hiding in obscure corners and alleyways who are ignored by most people.
Helping the poor and homeless is the mission of St. Barnabas' Society and Home. Encourage them to re-order their lives, to regain strength to face the difficulties and to rebuild their self-dignity and self-confidence. Base on the belief of Christianity, we believe that God's creation is equal and meaningful. We found that the homeless can rebuild their self-worth easier with the help of faith.
"Self-reliance project for the homeless" is a project aiming at breaking the cycle. We are going to engage our friends to participate in the production process while participants will gain the recognition of their own work. It is not profit-making in nature. Any profit made from the sale will be used to subsidy the ministry.
We do hope you can place orders of our products produced by our friends. This is not only a support, but also a far-reaching encouragement to people who have already lost confidence in themselves and perhaps in life. For details about the project, please contact us at 2548 9056 or email us at enquiries@sbsh.org.hk. You are also welcome to visit our centre to learn more about out work.
We also take this chance to thank the individuals and organizations who have showed great enthusiasm to supporting the homeless. Without their donations or involvements in fundraising activities, we will not have funds to continue our work.
「露宿者自立支援計劃」
五十多歲的志華(假名)原是印刷工人，因本港經濟轉型的緣故在十多年前被裁退，轉行後又遇到無良老闆突然結業。遭受種種打擊，他開始沉迷賭博及酗酒，最終家人離他而去。而志華亦自暴自棄，結果淪為露宿者。
志華的遭遇在露宿群體裡並不陌生。有人會替他們心酸，有人卻認為他們是咎由自取。不論你的感覺是如何，肯定的是在香港繁榮的背後，正有一群人瑟縮在孤寂的街角。
聖巴拿巴會之家致力協助這群人。鼓勵他們重整自己的生活，重拾信心及個人價值。我們是以基督教信仰為基礎，相信上帝的創造原是叫人生來是平等而有尊嚴的。我們看到露宿者在信仰裡面更容易重建個人的價值，更有能力去面對逆境。
「露宿者自立支援計劃」就是因此理念而生，藉著設計一些生產銷售項目，讓他們參與生產過程，掌握有關工作的知識、技巧和態度，提高他們的工作能力和信心。我們希望藉此能加強參加者的積極性，卻不是以營商賺錢為目標。在銷售中所得的收入，扣除成本，會再投放於服務內，讓更多人士受惠。
我們盼望能獲得各方社會人士的支援，訂購我們的產品，以鼓勵一群有需要的人士。現附上宣傳單張乙份。如有任何查詢或意見，請致電2548 9056與陳先生聯絡，若能獲得您的支持，實是失業人士之福！
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