Epworth's 25 years of serving children, youth and families in apt, worthy ways

Epworth Community Services originally started out as Methodist Children and Youth Centre (MCYC) around 1998. It was an outreach effort by Barker Road Methodist Church (BRMC) to the neighbouring community in Bukit Batok where MCYC was situated. In the early days, MCYC operated a small student care centre as well as a drop-in centre to serve vulnerable children and youths in the neighbourhood.

In April 2002, Tan Khye Suan (the founding and current Executive Director) was tasked to find ways to make MCYC more sustainable on a long-term basis.

"I felt that my goal was to bring MCYC to stability and carry the vision of reaching out in Christian love by providing meaningful programmes and services to children and youths in the community-at-large," Khye Suan said. He had a passion for working with children and youths and had already served The Boys' Brigade as an officer and at BRMC as a Sunday school teacher and General Superintendent for many years.

In 2002, when Khye Suan came in as Executive Director of MCYC, there were eight staff operating a student care centre serving over 50 children in the neighbourhood. MCYC was also doing school-based social work in a programme called Cabin Drop-in at Dunearn Secondary School. The programme was conceived by the school and MCYC operated it for free.

MCYC decided to start focusing on finding school-based social work which could generate income. It was a tough time as Khye Suan and his staff Angie Cham (still with Epworth today) had to go knocking on doors to ask for work. "We would go to schools asking to see the principals. Often, we would be turned away as we did not have an appointment. We simply said that we would wait and requested for a half hour to meet whenever the principal was available. We sat there and waited in the office for hours till the principals had no choice but to see us," Khye Suan said with a laugh. Epworth Family Day, 2016

Over time, MCYC started to sign on school-based programmes with several schools—starting first with Dunearn Secondary, then Chua Chu Kang Secondary, Yusof Ishak Secondary, Chestnut Drive Secondary and more. Most of the schoolbased programmes revolved around group work for offending students, including social skills, counselling and behaviour modification. These programmes provided the seeds for Epworth's impactful work with at-risk children and youths which has since developed into much deeper work and more structured services.

Epworth Community Services is now a social service agency recognised as an Institution of a Public Character (IPC). It operates as an independent entity and is a member of the National Council of Social Services. The Epworth name takes reference from the birth town of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, as a reflection of its Methodist roots. Epworth remains affiliated with BRMC which has provided unwavering support.

Today, Epworth is well-regarded in the social services sector for its specialised services for vulnerable children and at-risk youths in the areas of trauma care, therapy and foster care.

Home Sweet Home, which opened in 2013, became the first therapeutic group home in Singapore for children who experienced extreme trauma. In 2015, Epworth became the first fostering agency outside of the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). It is also one of two agencies appointed by MSF to deliver preFamily Guidance Order services, aimed at addressing at-risk behaviours of children and youths in partnership with their families.

Epworth broke new ground with its opening of the Centre for Positive Recovery in 2022, which provides therapeutic support for children who have been affected by trauma-related issues. Its two literacy intervention centres help children with learning challenges and impairments to cope with formal education, many of whom are referred by nearby schools and hospitals. It operates student care centres in AngloChinese School (Junior) and Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), which provide a safe space for children whose parents are unable to look after them after school due to work commitments in the day.

Celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year, Epworth continues to be guided by its mission to reach out in Christian love by providing quality programmes and services to children, youths, parents and families of all races, languages and religions. It serves those from at-risk and disadvantaged

Epworth's 25 years of serving children, youth and families in apt, worthy ways families with a vision to build strong families, foster their resilience and support their mental well-being.

"When I joined Epworth (then MCYC), there were only about 20 staff," said Mary Ng, Divisional Director (Children, Youth, Family and Corporate Services). "Today, we have over 110 staff across eight locations and have served around 30,000 beneficiaries over the past 25 years through our programmes and services. It's amazing to see how God has sustained and grown Epworth, using our work to bring hope and transform lives. All glory to God—may Epworth continue to flourish under his leading so that we can impact even more lives!"

Epworth's beneficiaries

Epworth has been amazing for my boys and they love attending Epworth Student Care Centre. The programmes have provided some structure to my kids' afternoons, giving them discipline to study and get their homework done, while filling their lives with fun because they are learning and hanging out with their friends and the lovely Epworth teachers.

Epworth has also helped me manage as a single, working parent, but most importantly Epworth's student care has helped my boys be the best versions of themselves.

 Lesley Renton , whose sons Louis (P4) and Max (Sec 1) benefitted from their time at Epworth Student Care Centre at ACS(P)

I still remember those days when Carys could not even read. However, under the patient guidance of teacher Jovian, I could see the tremendous improvement in her language skills. Today, she is in the top three for her English class! Recently, I was informed by her schoolteacher that they were considering appointing Carys as a school prefect. All these would not have been possible without the help of teacher Jovian and the Literacy team.

 Father of Carys Chua , former student at Epworth Literacy Centre