COVID - 19: nongovernmental organizations (ngos) have trouble?

If things get really bad，we can sustain for at most，half a year

The ongoing COVID-19 situation，has affected every business，in one way or the other

And this is especially true for，Non-Governmental Organisations

As NGOs inherently rely on，donations and volunteers，what happens when those resources，are suddenly cut amidst a global pandemic?，I spoke with two NGOs，to find out

Established in 1996，HCSA Community Services，offers a variety of programmes to empower，ex-offenders，single parents，and abused teenage girls

On top of providing a support system，through counselling，they also run a culinary training centre，that equips these vulnerable groups，with skills to reenter the workforce

In spite of the circuit breaker，HCSA has been able to keep some，of their programmes running，by leveraging on video calls，and can rely on government assistance as well

One particular programme，the whole service is about，befriending，and volunteering

That is SPIN，Single Parents Informed and Included

The volunteers actually，continue the service

Not in person，but through telecommunication

And in fact, I was told that，during this season, volunteers are actually，much more active than before, during circuit breaker

I suppose this is because，maybe the volunteers are all having to，work from home

So they probably have more controlled time，to meet up with our，beneficiaries through videos like this

We are a member of NCSS, National Council of Social Services，and as a member，we actually receive a lot of support

So they also have a，very open communication channel，in which we can contact them，when we need anything

Not just financially or，donations in kind but，any support that we need

But we of course also do some，getting connection with other people as well，our donors，our existing donors，trying to expand our donors and sponsors

Because we don't know how，far and how long this will go on

So we need to continue to，in all areas，we need to reach out，to get our needs known to all

While NGOs like HCSA are，managing to stay afloat，others like animal welfare group，SOSD are fighting a much tougher battle

Rescuing, rehoming and sterilising，stray dogs is challenging enough on its own

and the circuit breaker measures，have only made things harder

We've been affected by the，COVID-19 in many, many ways

We are primarily run by volunteers，so you can imagine that，a lot of things are not happening

A lot of arms of our operation，such as the shelter，to walk the dogs and to take care of the dogs，that cannot go on

Our rehoming，services cannot go on，and also all our outreach activities，are affected

Even before COVID-19 struck，last year，we were already having problems with，cash flow

We had zero surplus，so just nice to make ends meet

And this year，in the first three months，our one-time donations dropped by，40 per cent，and we really think that，it's going to get worse

So if it persists，if the money does not come in，it can be an，unfortunate eventuality that we will have to close

Because we have so many dogs under our care，we're talking about hundreds of dogs

So, yes, if the organisation closes，then there's no where to put the dogs

What we can do to prevent closure，is to scale down operations

So if this persists，we may just have to，rescue less，and we cannot give so much，medical care to the dogs in need，in order to keep the organisation alive

There are over a hundred，NGOs in Singapore

Each facing a similar challenge，to HCSA and SOSD

Even with government support，some of them might not make it out of this，without external assistance

So, consider sending some help their way if you have the means

What we need the most，because they cannot provide manpower，is of course, to help with，donations

They can go to our website，www.sosd.org.sg/donation，Another way that people can help, of course，is to keep the cause alive

Our social media platforms，are still very active

So if people can，like the posts and share the posts，that will keep people，aware of the situation，and also, when the situation gets better，then it will help to，facilitate people moving back to volunteer

They can go to our，website, www.hcsa.org.sg，That's the website that they can，donate

They can go to，HCSA Community Services Facebook

That's where we have，different campaigns that we put up there

And we are also，connected to，Giving.sg

We have different kits that people can，donate, like for example，$100 to help an ex-offender，in terms of their living，those who lost their jobs

We have another kit that，they can donate for single parents, and，support them with groceries and so on.

Sources of article:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OedmqQ6uGf4