“DOT’s Power Up Online” Campaign by Dymon Asia Women’s Network (DAWN)

Daughters Of Tomorrow (DOT) is a Singapore registered IPC Charity whose mission is to facilitate livelihood opportunities for women from low-income communities and support them to achieve financial independence and enable social mobility for their families. Donations above S$10 will qualify for tax exemption in Singapore.

By deep-diving into practical day-to-day constraints of these women, DOT offers hand-holding and individual coaching to help each woman reach regular and sustained employment.

In line with the government’s directive for social distancing and circuit breaker measures, DOT has taken swift actions to continue their support for their beneficiaries by redesigning their back-to-work preparation process and bringing their curriculum and skill-based trainings online.

Some of the limitations that could severely affect low-income families’ ability to tap online resources for school and upskilling for employment would be the availability of hardware (laptop/digital device) as well as stable connectivity (WIFI/ Mobile Data).

Many of the families that DOT serves do not have WIFI connection in their homes and many are on pre-paid mobile plans with limited data bundles. Whilst there are government initiatives that will help families get free WIFI connection, there is a processing time lag between application and installation.

 75% of women supported by DOT have secondary school or lower educational qualifications, and are primarily bridged to entry level employment opportunities in retail, customer service, F&B sectors and many on part-time/contract basis. With the evolving COVID-19 situation, many women have had their working hours reduced, leading to additional financial stress and potentially job losses in the coming days therefore topping-up prepaid mobile lines for continued connectivity may no longer be a priority.

 Achieving Impact with Dymon Asia Women’s Network’s Fundraiser

DOT is seeking funds and support to enable continued digital connectivity for DOT beneficiaries (up to 4 months) so that they can continue to support and prepare them for livelihood opportunities during this COVID-19 season. 

The “Power Up Online” initiative is intended to support DOT beneficiaries with continued access to training/learning and connectivity support. Financial strains aside, for these families who are living in the realities of multi-stressed environment, there is also an increased risk of social isolation which could be detrimental for their mental well-being.

DOT’s online initiative includes a confidence-building & peer-learning program (similar to the In-Person DOT’s Confidence Curriculum (DCC)), as well as befriending support which leads to employment bridging services . $10,000 will go towards sponsoring DOT’s first “Power Up Online” run due to launch end-April 2020.

Part of the funding would go towards DOT’s efforts in digitizing and uploading relevant job preparation content making them accessible to the beneficiaries as well as sourcing and preparing second-hand laptops which can be donated or loaned to the women for their learning needs or to be able to accept online learning assignments. 

To ensure continued high-touch support and to help establish and build social connections with the women, DOT is also exploring the utilization of video-conferencing platforms (e.g. Zoom, Google Hangouts, Whatsapp Video Calls etc) to provide additional guidance and clarification to the curriculum shared online.

 Thank you again for supporting DOT’s beneficiaries in this challenging time and being part of this brand new initiative.

NTUC Vouchers

Any money that our campaign raises in excess of S$10,000 will go towards purchasing NTUC vouchers for DOT beneficiaries that need them. DOT has given out 52 sets of vouchers (S$100 per set) so far, and another 56 beneficiaries have recently reached out for help. S$100 will allow a single mother to:

–    provide food for her and her 2 children for 2 weeks; OR

–    milk powder for a baby for half a month.