Name of Programme: Singapore Gujarati Care Fund (“SGCF”)

1.  Objective

Introduce a more consistent and structured approach to community service by SGHET and SGS. One goal within this is to provide financial support to individuals and/or families of the Gujarati community in Singapore who are experiencing financial difficulty. The primary aim is to provide immediate and interim subsistence support for specific situations, broadly defined below. Although this memo covers a specific area of our community service initiative and the funding for the same, this is intended to be an all-of community effort both in terms of funding as well as non-monetary contributions.

2.  Funding

1. SGS and SGHET Funding The programme will be funded by SGHET and administered jointly by SGHET and SGS. SGS will supplement the SGCF by allocating an amount from its budget. The SGCF budget for the subsequent year will be determined either at the end of the current year or at the beginning of the new year and will be based on the surplus from the current year. As this is a contingency- based programme, it is understood that the budget serves only as a guide and there may be situations of under-spend in some years and over-spend in other years.
2. Fund-Raising SGHET and SGS will also initiate fund-raising activities both for the general SGCF and, as necessary, for specific situations where the beneficiaries’ financial needs exceed SGCF’s budget (eg Covid-19). The fund-raising activities will have a broad reach within and outside of the Gujarati community. 

3. SGCF Committee

A committee (“Committee”) comprising any three Trustees from SGHET and President and one Management committee member from SGS will administer the SGCF. This committee  will primarily be responsible for evaluation and approval of applications for support. The committee will also provide input to SGHET and SGS respectively on budget-setting and out-reach programs.

4. Types of Situations Covered by SGCF

1. Social

    a) Bereavement: Funeral expenses, expenses directly related to death (travel, repatriation of mortal remains, condolence/prayer meetings, etc)

    b) Marital/Domestic: Marital /domestic stress causing financial hardship on one of the spouses and/or the family

2. Ageing

    a) Ageing individuals/households with no family support and/or financial resources

3. Health

    a) Medical expenses for treatment of illness

4. Loss of Employment Income

     a) Sudden and unexpected loss of employment income causing immediate financial distress on the individual and/or family

5. Education

    a) School fees for pre-school to tertiary education

    b) Expenses for uniforms, textbooks, technology aids (laptops, tablets, WiFi connectivity etc)

Note: It is understood that educational support may need to be provided for an extended period of time.

5. Eligibility Criteria

    1. Any Gujarati resident in Singapore and/or their immediate family member

        a) As this is a community service initiative, ‘Gujarati’ will be broadly defined to be inclusive in order to maximise impact on those who require support.

        b)  ‘Resident’ being defined for this purpose as anyone residing in Singapore, including citizens, permanent residents, employment pass holders, any form of work permit and student       pass holders. It does not include those on a tourist or social visit pass.

        c) Immediate family members being defined as spouse, children under the age of 21 or having special needs, siblings under the age of 21 or having special needs, parents, parents-in-law.

        d) Individuals are eligible to apply for support as long as they meet the criteria of 5.1.a)&b) and are experiencing financial burden even though the specific hardship may be suffered by an immediate family member as defined in 5.1.c) above

    2. With a monthly household income of s$4,500 or lower or a monthly per capita income of s$1,125 or lower (household income divided by number of household members). The eligibility benchmark reference used by SGCF for all situations is Ministry of Social & Family Development (MSF) guidelines for ComCare Student Care Fee Assistance (SCFA) (as at may, 2020).

6. Loans

Requests for interest-free loans will also be considered on a case-by-case basis under the same situations as stated in 4. above but if some/all criteria stated in 5. above are not met. It is understood that a trust/honour-based approach will be adopted for evaluation of loan requests by the committee.

7. Limitation

1. The Committee may approve financial support upto a maximum of s$8,000 (one-off or cumulative if recurring) for each application. Any higher amount will require the approval of all SGHET Trustees and majority vote of the SGS Management Committee for utilization of their respective general funds.
2. It is understood that the parameters governing the SGCF may be reviewed and amended periodically with the approval of all SGHET Trustees and majority vote of the SGS Management Committee

8. Exclusions

The SGCF is not intended to be used for commercial or business purposes or to re-pay personal or commercial debts. SGCF is also not intended to be a provider of medium or long-term financial support to individual applicants (education may be an exception).

9. Assistance Requests

Applicants to write-in or call the committee or SGHET AND SGS office bearers or Administrator with specific requests. It is not possible to cover all unique situations hence applicants seeking financial support that are not covered under 4. or 5. above are requested to write-in with full details.

The Committee will remain non-judgmental/impartial (eg in instances of domestic disputes) in its assessment of each request and will focus on the occurrence of financial hardship. Notwithstanding everything stated herein, the final decision will be at the discretion of the Committee.

10.  Confidentiality and Data Protection

Best efforts will be made to protect and preserve the privacy and confidentiality of applicants/beneficiaries. It is however understood that minimally the SGHET Trustees, the SGS MC and the Administrator may be made aware of each application. It is also understood that documentary evidence supporting the application may be requested on a case-by-case basis.