HEB-Ashram Halfway House

Today, the group made our first trip down to HEB-Ashram Halfway House to discuss the possibility of engaging some of their former residents in our interviews. As we decided to narrow our project's target audience to low-income ex-offenders in Singapore, we approached HEB-Ashram for their kind assistance and they willingly agreed :)

When we arrived, we were greeted by Mr Raveendran (counselor) and Mr Subramaniam (head). Mr Subramaniam was proud to announce that Ashram is the only halfway house in Singapore to receive the ISO Certification.

We were pleased to learn more about Ashram and the organisation's involvement in the lives of offenders/ex-offenders. Upon chatting with Mr Raveendran and Mr Subramaniam, we were introduced to the various initiatives and activities organised by Ashram itself for both its residents as well as the society. One example is the "Gift from the Heart" initiative (below).

Each bag of food rations is packed with care by the residents of Ashram, and subsequently delivered to households in need of temporary food assistance. We were deeply encouraged by this initiative as it reflected the desire of the HEB-Ashram to give back to society!

Apart from that, Mr Subramaniam gave us a tour around the self-sustainable ecosystem in their backyard. It consisted of small fruit & vegetable plantations, a manure collection area, a chicken coop, bee hive stands, and a fish pond. Some photos can be found below:

Despite only spending a few hours at Ashram, we were encouraged by both Mr Raveendran and Mr Subramaniam's dedication to helping the residents in their rehabilitation and reintegration process. We are looking forward to visiting them again and getting in touch with some former residents for our interview!

Thank you HEB-Ashram for having us!

#ashram