January 2025 – 播道兒童之家

Where to go after the age of 18? For an independent life, they firstly need to have a “stable home”! The youth hostel of Evangel Children’s Home (ECH) in Wong Tai Sin provides low-cost housing in the urban. Through the 2nd Chance in Life – Youth Home Service, let the youth find the oasis in life, a place that gives strength and rest, and gain the feeling of home that their original family cannot give. Why would former residents recommend ECH youth hostel? Please understand and apply now.

Few hostels at Evangel Children’s Home extended building, located at 120, Shatin Pass Road, Wong Tai Sin, are still available.

Accommodation Support and Career Development for 2nd Chance in Life

Icy (a former resident)’s sharing: “In fact, for an 18-year-old youth, without family support and facing confused future, it is very important to have someone to help.” Lack of family or other financial support, face challenges of residence, self-reliant living, further education and employment, turn out a helpless situation. 2nd Chance in Life – Transitional Sponsorship Program has been established for more than ten years, and has helped countless young people transit to self-reliant living, equip them, overcome all difficulties and successfully move up in adversity, and help them get started with service elements such as residency, career development, knowledge, connection, support and hope, and funding. The mentor through counseling and care, continue to care for all residents even after their leaving.

In this fast-paced and high-pressure society, this place brings a living source of love, firm support and endless encouragement, igniting their hopes for the future.

Former residents' sharing

Affordable Accommodation as “Start-Up” Assistance, by 浩文

As a fresh graduate student, I was very financially strapped. I had to bear all my own expenses for clothing, food, housing, transportation, and tuition fees, which give me a lot of pressure. Living in a youth hostel has solved the dilemma of having to pay expensive rent (HK$7,000 can only live in a subdivided room). I only needed around HK$2,000 a month to pay for dormitory expenses include operating expenses and sundries. What was even more touching was that there were also various allowances, accommodation allowances, student allowances and other assistance, which perfectly matched my needs.

Career Development, Counseling and Advance Training, by Laura

The hostel provided me a convenient and stable environment, which allowed me to think about the future. I did not have to live in a place under complicated flow. The service provides life coaching and career planning, which would be a powerful force for young people to go upstream and pushed me to bravely pursue my dream and become a registered nurse.

Find the way, by Kyle

ECH mentor introduced a job to me, and let me found my future direction at work. By staying with young people, I learned how to get along with others, and also how to save money.

This is a right decision, by Gary

This is a place full of love. My mentor taught me how to find a job by learning practical skill of interview. He also helped me to develop the habit of saving through a savings plan. He taught me how to understand myself and how to deal with stress. He also taught me how to make desserts and makeup myself. There, I also got to know my good brother, friend and roommate Victor.

Find the warmth and love of home, by Lynn
The biggest gain from living there for two years is learning how to get along with a group of young people similar to myself. With a total of 12 girls living in 6 rooms, we would cook together and encourage each other in daily life. During this process, I felt a “kind of family” feeling that my original family could not give me.

Go through the difficult stage, by Icy

This place really feels like home to me! At that time, I felt confused and panicked because I had no support from my family, and I was in a negative mood. ECH helped me transition through a very difficult stage in my life. I was provided a lot of support and learned how to cook and take care of myself. In the ten years since I left, my mentor has continued to help me, encouraging me to participate in different interest classes, accompanying, listening and coaching my soul. So I changed to serve in an NGO finally, hoping to use my own experience to help children, and determined to influence lives with my life.

Service Users/Application

Foster home youth aged 18 to 24, in lack of family or other financial support or when they age out from foster care while returning home to live is impossible
Have work motivation or short-term work experience, or part-time students
Referred by institutional social workers or church staff, such as: children’s home, youth home, schools, Social Welfare Department and social welfare organization etc.
Physically and mentally healthy, no bad habits

Service Fee

Service and accommodation fees around two thousand more, please inquire ECH for details.

Service Period

2 to 5 years (subject to the need and individual situation).

Service Elements

Apply Now for a bright future！

For inquiries, please contact us at 2323 8224, extension 232/242.
https://www.ech.org.hk/en/contact-us/

“Am I living to survive or to make a living?” A youth who living in our hostel asked one day. Life has various pursuits. However, when someone is still worried about having enough food or a stable place to live every day, in lack of support, he/she may feel exhausted or stuck, and unable to move forward. Bing Bing (alias), who got help from SLY⁽¹⁾ program, broke through the “basic level of existence” and successfully transitioned to stability.

Those youths living in our Youth Home, bear the burden of growing up with trauma and lack of family support. They have to be independent from a young age and need to balance between their studies and earn a living. They struggle to meet their basic needs and thus find it difficult to establish a sense of security and self-esteem. In turn, their motivation for social interaction and personal development is affected. According to *Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory^, they remain at the lowest level, ie. basic level of existence.Bing Bing is one of them.

Bing Bing comes from a single-parent family that faces severe financial difficulties. While trying to make a living, she also has to pay for her basic diploma tuition fees. When she sought help from her mother, she was met with cold stares and harsh words. Bing Bing felt angry at her mother’s lack of care and began to see herself as useless and worthless. Fortunately, a social worker referred her to Evangel Children’s Home Youth Hostel and helped her apply for a startup fund, which assisted Bing Bing in facing her difficult situation timely and transitioning to stability.

When Bing Bing first moved into the Youth home, her emotions were often unstable, and became much stressed when her studies were far behind. After counseling and discussions with the youth workers, Bing Bing decided to switch to work in full time. The mentors arranged an internship for her. She performed well and was eager to learn. The internship provided her with a stable income which can lessen her burden and meet her basic living needs. As she adapted to the work routine, her emotion was more stable gradually. The program helped her to move up satisfying her safety and security needs rather than just the physiological needs.

Through her job, Bing Bing discovered a passion for brewing coffee and planned to become a barista. With a clear goal in mind, she became much more proactive and engaged compared to the early stage she was referred to live in. She is learning different coffee brewing techniques diligently, striving to move up the career and social ladder rather than remain at the “basic level of existence” (described in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory^).

Our ECH youth worker encourage the young people in the hostel to take steps to overcome their difficulties. With our service intervention, we walk alongside with them, providing support and strength, helping them break through the “basic level of existence.”

Keynote: SLY⁽¹⁾ Program –Second Chance in Life – Transitional Youth Sponsorship Program

ECH Youth Hostel•Good Home in Town