SINGAPORE - Singapore's first vertical farm used to train people with mild intellectual disability was officially launched on Friday (July 8), at the opening of the Association for Persons with Special Needs (APSN) Centre for Adults.
The centre, located at the Kembangan-Chai Chee Community Hub in Jalan Ubi, provides sheltered workshops and job training for people with mild intellectual disability. It helps them to experience an actual working environment in preparation for employment.
At the vertical farm, clients are taught how to germinate and harvest crops, as well as the mechanics of transplanting, maintenance, soil care and mixing.
Vegetables from successful harvests will be sold and the income generated will be used to fund the running of the centre.
Its first crops were harvested on Friday by Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin, who was the guest-of-honour for the opening.
The refurbished centre has seven training rooms, such as a kitchen and a bakery, that simulate actual work environments, and an occupational therapy room.
A sheltered training room is also provided for clients to perform simpler tasks such as refurbishing spectacles and pasting labels on egg trays.
Said Mr Tan: "The close proximity of all the various VWOs in the Community Hub allows opportunities for them to collaborate and share practices and resources.
"Through these collaborations, everyone within the Hub ... can co-exist and explore areas where they can support each other to serve clients better."
