New support group for men from low-income backgrounds
Rise Community aims to help them find employment and cope with mental health issues
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam (centre) and Nee Soon GRC MP Carrie Tan, steering adviser to Rise Community, interacting with members and volunteers of the non-profit. For a start, as part of a two-year pilot, the organisation plans to reach out to 500 men between the ages of 20 and 59 in Nee Soon South.
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
Amir Nazir has lived a life of crime since he was 15. Now 44, he has been in and out of prison for various offences, including those related to drugs.
Unmarried, his relationship with his siblings and mother is strained. Just released in November after his latest spell in prison, the Nee Soon South resident said he was struggling with depression and anxiety.
He said: "I needed to find hope, control my emotions, and overcome negative thoughts."
In January, hope came in the form of a new non-profit in Nee Soon South, Rise Community, which is the brainchild of Ms Carrie Tan, an MP for Nee Soon GRC.
Made up of residents and volunteers, it is the first organisation to focus on men from low-income backgrounds, helping them find employment and cope with mental health issues.
A Rise Community volunteer encouraged Mr Amir to look for a job, checked in on him every day and got him to pen his emotions in a diary. A month ago, he got a job as a town council cleaner.
The non-profit was unveiled yesterday at the PAP Nee Soon South branch in Yishun. Its name, Rise, is short for resilience, integrity, strength and energy.
The organisation works on improving the men's socio-emotional, physical and financial well-being through peer support groups and by creating employment opportunities.
For a start, as part of a two-year pilot, Rise Community aims to reach out to 500 men between the ages of 20 and 59 in Nee Soon South.
The men will include those who are the sole breadwinners in their families living in rental flats, those who have lost their jobs, or have always been in low-wage, unstable employment and are looking to gain social mobility.
The non-profit is currently working with about 50 men who were identified through outreach at rental flats and referrals from Ms Tan's Meet-the-People sessions.
The pilot's first year will focus on befriending and building trust with the men, so that Rise Community can understand their needs and design specific programmes with them.
Trust-building is the most crucial first step for the non-profit, said Ms Tan, who will be the organisation's steering adviser.
"Men build up walls around themselves because of traditional notions of manhood and masculinity, and it is not easy to get them to share their problems."
After creating programmes from the pilot, she hopes to expand Rise Community to the rest of Nee Soon GRC and Singapore.
A new MP who entered Parliament after the 2020 General Election, Ms Tan is no stranger to helping low-income individuals.
In 2013, she founded the charity Daughters of Tomorrow, which facilitates job opportunities for underprivileged women and supports them in building resilient families.
"Time and again, I've been asked by community partners: 'When will you start Sons of Tomorrow?'
"Women in rental housing tend to have a lot of different support from the community. But I noticed that the dads in the family are sometimes neglected, and they also tend to be the breadwinners," said Ms Tan.
Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam, who is the anchor minister of Nee Soon GRC, is the patron of Rise Community.
Speaking at the non-profit's launch yesterday, Mr Shanmugam said the traditional expectations of men, where they are not allowed to show emotion or openly share their issues and just act as the provider, can be brutal.
"When you put up a wall like that, it shows up in higher suicide rates, higher crime rates and higher rates of dysfunctionality," Mr Shanmugam added.
Sociologist Paulin Straughan from the Singapore Management University said it was crucial for non-profits like Rise Community to act as a bridge between low-income groups and job assistance schemes introduced by the Government.
She said: "As with all helplines in Singapore, the difficulty we have is getting the information out to those who need it, and reach out to those who have fallen through the gaps.
"What the Government needs are the warriors on the ground to drive the take-up rate and fine-tune the support that is available."
