This past year was one of unprecedented challenge at Mother’s Choice. With the unexpected outbreak of COVID-19, the already difficult conditions we face every day intensified, and the needs of the vulnerable babies and girls we serve increased.
Youth Service
- In the first months when COVID hit, calls to our hotline increased by 80% from the previous year
- Provided direct case management services to 102 girls, 16% more than the past year.
- Support to young parents was critical so pivoted to provide both online and in small groups, an increase of sessions by 27% from the past year
- With schools shut for most of the year, our team pivoted to deliver our Comprehensive Sexuality Education program online reaching 4303 students.
Foster Care Service
- We never closed our door or stopped admissions – instead we admitted 116% more children than the previous year.
- Seeing the increased need for foster families, we pivoted our trainings and info session to Zoom and were able to recruit 38 new foster families, a 36% increase on the previous year.
- We dispatched urgent protective gear and masks as well as home school support for all foster families.
Child Care Home
- We had to reduce volunteer child carers by 50% per shift to meet social distancing needs while caring for the same number of children.
- We had to keep our immune-suppressed children healthy and safe, but also give them as normal a life as possible.
- We created smile hour so that the children could see our faces through the glass at least 1 x per day.
- Unable to place children in group for therapy, we pivoted our way of work delivering 1,018 hours of individual therapy to children, a 225% increase on past year.
Adoption Service
- Despite travel around the world 3 families from overseas were able to travel to Hong Kong to bring their newly adopted children home.
- Working closely with social workers and caregivers to ensure COVID safe transition, we saw 22 children going home to their adoptive parents.
- In order to help children who were meeting their families for the first time, parents wore lanyards with photos of their happy faces and see-through masks so children could see their full faces.
- Despite all the challenges, our community stepped up for the children in need, we saw a 70% surge in adoption applications.
- Our teams worked tirelessly to approve all of these homes, a 160% increase on the previous year despite the team being split and working from home during part of the year.
This year, I invite you to make a financial gift to Mother’s Choice, to ensure that despite all of these challenges, we can give hope and change life stories for the next generation.
This is why our theme this year is Changing Life Stories as we believe we reach our full potential in authentic relationship. We are all created to be connected in a secure family, and family is the most powerful agent of change. Any amount makes a difference!
Please accept our heartfelt gratitude for your consistent and generous support! You can donate here.