our business is to build acceptance and offer hope to people with disabilities through god’s love....

Our business is to build Acceptance and offer Hope to people with disabilities through God’s Love.

Since 1979

Christian Outreach to the Handicapped Annual Report 2014

Contents

COH Executive Committee & Management Page 1-5

President’s Message Page 6-8

Our Vision & Mission Page 9

Our Philosophy Page 10-11

Our Core Values Page 12

Our Programme Page 13-14

Our Focus Page 15-16

Our Desired Client Outcome Page 17-18

Varied Activities at our Centres Page 19

Our Strategic Plan 0-23

Highlights of the Year Page 24-29

Future Plans Page 30-34

Reserves Policy Page 35

Governance Evaluation Checklist Page 36-42

Financial Statements Attached

COH Executive Committee & Management

1

Advisor Mrs. Patricia Eunice Sabapathy (till August 2014)

President Mr. Brian Paul Jenner


2

Vice-President Ms. Ivy Goh Hui Li

Hon. Secretary Mdm. Elizabeth Tan Lee Wah


3

Hon. Treasurer Ms. Teresa Khoo Gwek Neo

Hon. Chaplain Pastor Dennis Huang


4

Head of Administration & Human Resource DepartmentMs. Christabelle Ng

Head of Physiotherapy DepartmentMs. Maricar Alamon Lorenzo


Executive Director Mr. Samuel Koh

5

President’s Message

6

CHRISTIAN OUTREACH TO THE HANDICAPPED PRESIDENT’S REPORT FOR 2014/ 2015

On behalf of the Executive Committee, I would like to thank all Clients, Donors, Caregivers and Staff for their support and effort during the year.

When I look back over the past year, I see that we have good outcomes in terms of serving our clients. We have also continued to admit that we have room for improvement, in a changing social services scene, so that our service can be even more effective.

We have trusted God to support us financially and to bless our staff and clients - COH has positive financial results. Included in our financial results is the realisation that we have modest growing assets that must not be buried underground but used to God’s glory. COH has been more active in working with the community to bless our clients, touch lives and to educate the public about disability.

This year we have focused on three areas - they are on our clients, ourselves and the community around us.

Firstly, we have kept our purpose and mission in mind. We have a roll of ninety seven clients in both Tampines and Toa Payoh Centres. This complies with our original purpose in designing the Centres. During the year, a wider range of programmes and activities was presented to our Clients, enlarging their social space and enriching their life experience - a non-threatening and natural platform to build acceptance and offer hope to our Clients and their families. The concept of purpose-built Centres has been shown to be effective in matching Client activities to the physical layout of the Centre with resulting improvement of Client Care. We see a greater demand for our services.

Secondly, we are blessed by a dedicated Staff, Executive Director and Exco, who have continued the loving care of our clients and joined together in planning towards the future. We do try to treat our Staff as human beings with the utmost Love and Respect. We wish to do our best to understand their needs and provide a good environment for them to work in. Not only is this an example of love in action, but is another step towards developing staff and EXCO to be able to provide a better service to our clients. 7

Thirdly, we have actively worked with community partners that have the same objective as ours. This brings great benefit to our clients and the community and enhances COH’s standing.

How about the future?

We cannot dig a hole in the ground and bury God’s talents. We must use our money not only (as good Governance) to mitigate our own financial risk, but to continue and expand our work of developing Clients and giving them and their Caregivers hope.

Let us humbly pray for God’s guidance for our future development.

Brian Jenner Singapore, May 2015

8

This year, as partners in a clinical consultancy programme, we have training workshops, onsite attachment of professional psychologists and occupational therapist. This can only enrich our Client’s lives and assist our staff in difficult areas of care.

Our Vision & Mission

To be outstanding in providing acceptance and hope for people with special needs in Singapore through God’s Love

9

10

Our Philosophy

Recognising and Appreciating the unique God given worth in Everyone;

Identifying, Nurturing and Developing the Potential within each One!

11

Expressing hope with determination to create a better future for our Beneficiaries.

Our Core Values

12

Embracing the attributes of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, justice, mercy and humility;

Emphasizing organizational effectiveness through teamwork, professionalism, quality and cost-effectiveness;

Our ProgrammeDay Activity Centres for People with Intellectual Disability of IQ 70 and below in the age group of 16 to 55 regardless of race, religion or financial background.

13

Two Locations:

Tampines in the East

Toa Payoh in the Central Region

14

Our Focus:On a special target group who are not ready for open employment or supervised employment keeping to a staff to client ratio of 1:4 because of their lower functioning levels and/or challenging behaviors .

15

With special attention :

On helping them live and lead a normal life like anyone else;

We do this by keeping a look out for their special talents or skills to nurturing them to maturity and fruition;

While offering respite to their families at the same time.

16

Our Desired Client Outcomes

We engage our clients in activities designed to develop:1. Relational skills that will help them to better integrate into the community.

17

2. Functional skills so that they can gain greaterindependence in different aspects of their lives.

18

Varied Activities at our centres:Our activities encompass the following:

1. Assembly Time - Music & Song2. A Walk in the Park3. Drop-in to the community kopitiam4. Exercise and Sports5. Public Speaking6. Music and Dance7. Painting8. Art and Crafts9. Lunch 10. Outings and Excursions11. Home Living Skills12. Journaling13. Money Skills14.Shopping15. Going to the movies16. Bowling17. Physiotherapy18. Outdoor Camps19. Celebrations20. Other Collaborations

19

OBJECTIVES

•To provide communities of acceptance, joy and hope for people with disabilities so as to help them integrate back into the community.

•To provide a caring environment for people with disabilities to learn various adaptive skills so that they can live a more fulfilling life.

•To lend support to the care-givers/family members of our clients so that they need not be in a state of despair but can be encouraged to look forward in hope.

Our Strategic Plan

•To nurture and develop the God given talents of staff so that they can serve our clients better as well as achieve personal work satisfaction.

•To play a pivotal role toward cultivating a strong spirit of volunteerism so as to give the members of our community the opportunity to participate in the love, care and concern for our clients.

20

•To be part of the catalyst to the government effort to make known the sufferings of the people with disabilities and work towards their being accepted as equals in society.

•To be sensitive to the needs of the community in our Heartland Homes and actively contribute toward Community Harmony.

21

STRATEGIES

•To lovingly serve people with disabilities, including those with challenging behaviours, regardless of race, religion and financial background.

•To partner and network with other voluntary welfare organizations, government ministries and agencies, and the larger community.

•To encourage and train volunteers to work with people with disabilities and their care-givers/family members.

•To spearhead and promote the adoption of clients programme.

•To raise public awareness of disabilities and advocacy for our clients.

•To maintain a suitable teacher to client ratio to achieve quality care for our clients.

•To have purpose-built facilities to cater to the needs of our clients.

•To comply with standards of DAC practice and Board governance as laid down by National Authorities.

22

•To increase our funding capability to keep fees affordable for our clients through a sustainable fund raising programme.

•To continue with the Parent Support Programme and include training, counseling support, financial assistance and referrals.

•To continuously review the Human Resource policy with a view to improving staff motivation, skills upgrading, by continuously reviewing training needs and providing necessary training.

•To continue to encourage training for EXCO members.

•All staff and volunteers to be Ambassadors of Love and Caring within the community.

•For the EXCO to continue to regularly review strategic planning, fund raising, Board recruitment and orientation and promoting the organization.

•To continue development of a service manual.

•To ensure effective Service through systematic processes, measurement and review of outcomes with the objective of improvement. The use of knowledge management to institutionalize the COH way of caring.

23

Highlights of the Year

24

Our DACs are reaching full capacity COH is going through a consolidation stage aimed at professionalising on delivery of programmes and services to our clients. We are reviewing and documenting our systems and processes, mapping out training needs of the staff, re-shaping organization development where there are gaps to fill. All these must dovetailed to arriving at the following:

1. A higher quality of care and service delivery to our clients,

2. To grow our level of support for parents and caregivers in the home and 3. To develop our staff and provide them with professional training and career enhancement opportunities in COH.

COH Planned Activities and Advocacy

The Christian Outreach to the Handicapped (COH) reaches out to intellectually handicapped individuals aged between 16 and 55. Many of the people we serve have either been born with, or acquired disabilities including:

Down SyndromeCerebral PalsyAutism Spectrum DisorderHearing impairmentsSpeech handicapPhysical disabilitiesEpilepsy We support these people by providing day activity centres where they can experience varied and engaging programmes, tapping on their talents, abilities and interests. The programmes encourage and assist these inspiring individuals to not only develop the necessary skills to achieve independence in their day-to-day activities, but they also aim to boost their self esteem and confidence levels.


25

We understand the importance of making life as normal as possible for these special individuals. Given this, we help get them involved in outdoor activities and other social functions with the general community. Our goal in doing so is to help limit the divide between people that are able and those that are ‘disabled’, leading to a much needed acceptance that these individuals seek in their lives.

Our organisation goes beyond simply helping these extraordinary people, in turn, we also provide their families with support, guidance and peace of mind. Our centre supplies families with time through the day that can be used for work, errands, or simply getting some rest so that they can offer the best possible support for their loved ones.

As an organisation that relies on the support of donations for day-to-day operations, your contribution is greatly appreciated.


26


National Day Celebration

27

Our clients, staff, volunteers and family members celebrated our nation’s 49th birthday on 1 August 2014 at the Changkat Community Club.



COH aspiring sportsmen and sportswomen showing their achievements ;posing photographs with Ms Irene Ng, Grassroots Adviser andMP for Tampines GRC,the Guest of Honour.

28


Our client Wai Choy paints a beautiful artpiece for our Guest of Honour.

Our client Lysandra presentsWai Choy’s painting to our Guestof Honour.


29

Key Issues facing COHa. Staff matters covering the following:

i.) Recruitment - up minimum entry levelsii.) Training and Developmentiii.) Performance Appraisaliv.) Compensation

b. Inculcating dynamism and robustness into our Systems and Processes to enable COH to facilitate a more systematic management approach across multiple branches and better definition and control of outcomes

c. Nurturing Community Relations

d. Long term care for our clients; after their parents have passed on

e. Dedicated transport system for our clients

f. More physical space needed for our day activity centres for conducting wholesome and conducive activities and programmes for our clients

g. Working in unity with Society as a whole towards better care for the intellectually disabled and their caregivers.

Future Plans

30

Contribution to Development of the ILTC Sector

To become a professional organization that is effective and efficient in honing our skills at programme delivery for our clients,

To be an active partner in the propagating of ideas and know-how in the various Communities of Practice both to learn and contribute to learning,

To harness technology making it into a force multiplier and work towards setting new trends.

PROGRAMME INITIATIVESRecruitment drive to fulfill manpower needs,

Review of systems and processes and formalizing into a service manual,

Total comprehensive training plan for staff,

Critical enhancements to providing therapy services in delivery of (current) programmes and services and transport system,

To pilot new programmes - Group Home for people with intellectual disability.

31

OUR THINKING BEHIND ALL THESE INITIATIVES

Our organization's desire and quest to become a professional outfit,

Delivers cutting edge programmes and services,

Uplifting the lives and well-being of our clients and their families.

“Like a Jigsaw Puzzle….

32

COH is the missing piece that completes the picture.”

COH in the public eye:

“The journey to understanding people with intellectual disability begins here….”

33

Intended Impact - Building Acceptance Offering Hope

By being an integral part of the social ecosystem, working together to add colour to the social landscape.

34

For better financial stability to run our programmes effectively, we continue to aim at building up our unrestricted reserves to achieve a ratio of unrestricted reserves to annual operating expenditure equal to 2.

COH is dependent heavily on public donations to run our programmes and services; so we need this minimum level of reserves to cushion us against periods of prolong economic downturn.

Our reserves will be used in the following manner:1. To cover any deficit in the current year of operation2. And to top up shortfalls in the various funds under the restricted/designated funds.

The Executive Committee will review the amount of reserves regularly at least once a year to ensure that they are adequate to fulfill our continuing obligations.

Our Reserves Policy

35

Governance Evaluation Checklist S/No. Code

DescriptionCode ID Compliance Please

provide explanation if your charity is unable to comply with the Code guidelines, or if the guidelines arenon-applicable.

BOARD GOVERNANCE

1 Are there Board members holding staff appointments?

No

4 There is a maximum term limit of four consecutive years for the Treasurer position (or equivalent, e.g. Finance Committee Chairman).

1.1.6 Complied

5 There are Board committees (or designated Board members) with documented terms of reference.

1.2.1 Not Applicable

The responsibilities of the Board committees are carried out by the Board.

36

6 The Board meets regularly with a quorum of at least one-third or at least three members, whichever is greater (or as required by the governing instrument).

1.3.1 Complied

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

7 There are documented procedures for Board members and staff to declare actual or potential conflicts of interest to the Board.

2.1 Not Applicable Actual or potential conflicts of interest are disclosed and recorded at Board meetings.

8 Board members do not vote or participate in decision-making on matters where they have a conflict of interest.

2.4 Complied

37

STRATEGIC PLANNING

9 The Board reviews and approves the vision and mission of the charity. They are documented and communicated to its members and the public.

3.1.1 Complied

10 The Board approves and reviews a strategic plan for the charity to ensure that the activities are in line with its objectives.

3.2.2 Complied

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

11 The Board approves documented human resource policies for staff.

5.1 Complied

38

12 There are systems for regular supervision, appraisal and professional development of staff.

5.6 Complied

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND CONTROLS

13 The Board ensures internal control systems for financial matters are in place with documented procedures.

6.1.2 Complied

14 The Board ensures reviews on the charity's controls, processes, key programmes and events.

6.1.3 Complied

15 The Board approves an annual budget for the charity's plans and regularly monitors its expenditure.

6.2.1 Complied

39

16 The charity discloses its reserves policy in the annual report.

6.4.1 Complied

17 Does the charity invest its reserves?

No

FUNDRAISING PRACTICES

19 Donations collected are properly recorded and promptly deposited by the charity.

7.2.2 Complied

DISCLOSURE AND TRANSPARENCY

20 The charity makes available to its stakeholders an annual report that includes information on its programmes, activities, audited financial statements, Board members and executive management.

8.1 Complied

40

21 Are Board members remunerated for their Board services?

No

24 Does the charity employ paid staff?

Yes

25 No staff is involved in setting his or her own remuneration.

2.2 Complied

26 The charity discloses in its annual report the annual remuneration of its three highest paid staff who each receives remuneration exceeding $100,000, in bands of $100,000. If none of its top three highest paid staff receives more than $100,000 in annual remuneration each, the charity discloses this fact.

8.3 Complied

41

PUBLIC IMAGE

27 The charity accurately portrays its image to its members, donors and the public.

9.1 Complied

42

our business is to build acceptance and offer hope to people with disabilities through god’s love....

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