“It takes a village to support a child with special needs. Our goal is to build that village, one neighbour, one volunteer and one community at a time.”
– Edward Chan, Head of Programme and Services at CaringSG
For many families, caring for a loved one with special needs is marked by constant planning, the emotional weight of responsibility, and an ongoing uncertainty about what comes next, all of which are carried alongside the feeling of having to navigate it largely alone.
While support systems for persons with disabilities have grown steadily in Singapore, caregivers themselves can still fall through the cracks, often left to piece together resources on their own, make difficult decisions without guidance, and manage the demands of daily life with limited support.
Several staff at CaringSG understood these challenges through lived experiences, and from that, CAREconnect was born, a support network designed to help caregivers cope, while ensuring they never have to walk the journey alone.
A Need That Could Not Be Ignored
For Edward Chan, Head of Programme and Services at CaringSG, the caregiving journey is deeply personal.
As a father of two daughters with autism, he understands the realities that many families face. Even before joining CaringSG, he had spent more than a decade supporting caregivers, working closely with professionals from KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and organising support groups where families could share openly and find comfort in one another.
Over time, one gap became clear.
While systems existed to support persons with disabilities, caregivers often had to find their own way through a complex landscape, navigating multiple agencies, complex eligibility criteria, and application processes that were difficult to interpret without guidance. At the same time, they had to coordinate across healthcare providers, social services, schools, and community organisations, often repeating information and managing different requirements.
During COVID-19, these challenges intensified. Homes became classrooms, therapy spaces, and workplaces all at once, routines were disrupted, and stress levels rose significantly. For many caregivers, the pressures they had long managed quietly became impossible to ignore.
Building a System of Support
CaringSG was established in 2020 to meet this need. From the onset, the intention was to build an ecosystem of support for caregivers.
At the heart of this ecosystem is CAREconnect, a community-based programme that brings families into shared spaces where they can connect, participate, and support each other.
Surrounding CAREconnect are additional layers of support. These include a peer support system where trained caregivers provide emotional guidance and help others navigate services, as well as a more intensive layer of coordinated support for families facing complex challenges such as financial strain, caregiving for multiple dependents, or crisis situations.
Together, these layers form a system that meets caregivers where they are and assists them as their needs evolve.
Reaching Families Where They Are
CAREconnect operates on the belief that before families can receive support, they must first be reached. Instead of expecting caregivers to seek help on their own, the programme brings support within the communities that they are already a part of.
To make this possible, CaringSG works closely with grassroots organisations across Singapore, including Resident Networks, community leaders, and volunteers, who are often the first point of contact for families but may not always have the experience or training to support those with special needs.
Through its CAREkaki initiative, CAREconnect bridges this gap by training grassroots volunteers in disability awareness and supporting them as they begin engaging families through a combination of workshops and real-world experience, including co-organising inclusive events, participating in house visits, and working alongside the CaringSG team.
Over time, this builds both confidence and capability, embedding support within the community rather than limiting it to a single organisation.
In one instance, a mother who was heavily pregnant and caring for two children found herself overwhelmed as she struggled to support her older son with special needs while managing financial and household pressures. Through the various touchpoints across the CaringSG ecosystem, she was provided with timely, coordinated support that addressed both her immediate and longer-term needs.
This included mobilisation of the local grassroots network, with a Resident Network chairman, volunteers, and the CaringSG team visiting the family and arranging immediate support such as groceries and meals, while a nearby volunteer offered to check in regularly. Emergency contacts were also provided, ensuring that help would always be within reach.
Support came together across multiple layers, each playing an important role in stabilising the situation. A year later, the family is in a stronger place, and the mother remains in contact with her support network, a reminder that support does not end when a situation improves.
How ELI Grant is Enabling Growth Beyond its Origins
Behind the growth of CAREconnect is a broader system of support and partnership that helped CaringSG grow from a ground-up initiative into a more integrated community support network.
Since its inception, CaringSG has worked closely with SG Enable, alongside partners across the disability and social service sectors, to strengthen support for caregivers of persons with disabilities. This collaboration has included efforts to identify gaps in caregiver support, co-develop community-based solutions, and connect caregivers more effectively to services and support networks within the community.
When CaringSG first began, CAREconnect was still in its early stages. The vision was clear, but reaching families across communities required more than commitment alone. It required resources, trusted partnerships, and the ability to work across agencies, grassroots networks, and community organisations.
In this regard, the ELI Grant provided both funding and support that enabled CaringSG to strengthen and expand CAREconnect. Beyond financial support, the grant also created opportunities to deepen collaboration with grassroots organisations and community partners, helping the initiative gain traction across different constituencies.
In its first year, CAREconnect operated in just two constituencies. By the second year, it quickly expanded to several more. Today, it is working with around 20 constituencies across Singapore, with growing awareness and participation across the island.
More significantly, as part of the scaling support provided by the ELI Grant, CAREconnect has partnered with SG Enable’s Enabling Services Hubs, extending its reach through existing community support networks for persons with disabilities and their caregivers. What began as a ground-up initiative is now part of the national infrastructure supporting persons with disabilities and their caregivers, and closely connected with the broader ecosystem of support available to families.
Looking Towards a More Connected Future
The story of CAREconnect reminds us that impact begins with understanding, of needs that are often unseen, of the people behind the challenges, and of what truly makes a difference.
For CaringSG, the work continues as the needs of caregivers evolve alongside the changing realities of family life.
The vision is to build a community grounded in accessible support and mutual care, where grassroots volunteers are empowered to step in when needed, where caregivers support one another, and where individuals with special needs can live, work, and belong.
Today, CaringSG and CAREconnect continue to grow this network of care, and for many caregivers, it means one thing above all else: they no longer have to do it alone.
