What happened to Mdm Hema?

Hema, 30, is a single-parent to a 7 year old son on the Autistic Spectrum and an 8 year old daughter. While she used to be a nurse, multiple hardships in the form of a drawn-out divorce, care-giving challenges and health issues lead to a lapse of her Nursing license. This meant a drop in her income, even though the determined mother went on to be a full-time paramedic, taking on as many over-time shifts as possible to make ends meet.In spite of her efforts, Hema finds herself trapped in a cycle of financial hardship with increasing arrears.

How can you help?

Your support can offer this resilient single mother and her two children hope and stability by  allowing them to break free from the burden of arrears. 5 months’ support of $750 covers all food and sundry costs for the family, allowing Hema to look into combatting arrears accumulated through the years of hardship, thereby giving them the opportunity of a fresh start.

Find out more/ Appeal for Hema and her children:

Home for the family of three is a sparsely furnished 2-room HDB rental flat. Rather than relying on government subvention, Hema tirelessly takes on all the over-time shifts she can, above and beyond her full-time hours as a paramedic. This is made possible only with her brave decision to take on a domestic helper who looks into caregiving, ferrying, housekeeping and preparation of all meals for the household. While unconventional, the salary costs of a helper is lower than that of arranging care for both her children, particularly her son who has special needs.

7 year old Ravi is diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and has some behavioral and emotional management challenges. With a developmental age of 3 to 4, he is still unable to read or communicate his needs in full sentences. It also means that he needs to attend a Special Needs School; his placement in Metta School is a significant distance away from the family home in the Chinatown area.

Apart from her responsibilities as sole breadwinner and carer, Hema has only recently completed her long-drawn out divorce proceedings. That, coupled with multiple hiccups in securing a helper who is sufficiently skilled to assist in care for her son, has resulted in days away from work that significantly impacted household income in the earlier part of 2023. 

While Hema has gotten back a regular rhythm of full-time work and over-time hours, her income is insufficient to cover both subsistence needs and arrears accumulated through their earlier struggles. She has been unsuccessful in her appeals for short-term assistance from Social Service Agencies and is deeply distressed about their state of perpetual debt.

Hema dreams of being debt-free and saving up enough to take on a refresher course to renew her Nursing license. She believes that she is fully capable of securing a meaningful, well-paying position that would allow her to take care of her children and purchase a home of their own. More than anything, she wants to show her children that it is possible to work for a better future and to strive for their dreams.

*Hema is not receiving social assistance.