Page 28 - Preservation for the Documentation of Chinese Christianity

D evelopm ent of Social Services

Since the 5 0 ’s , th e Council has been playing a 3. to create a more relevant model of service and
pioneering and coordinating role in the development accountability in order to improve the quality
of social services. Some services are under the direct of our services and increase harmony among
management of the Council, such as Hong Kong our thirty five service units,
Christian Service; others are cooperative ventures 4. to forge a team of outstanding workers to
such as the Sunnyside Hostel and the Joint ensure the continuation of Christian Service's
Committee for Development; yet others operate contribution to the community.
under independent boards through the appointment
of directors by the Council, such as the Christian Sunnyside H ostel
Industrial Committee, Nethersole Hospital and the
United Christian Medical Service. Sunnyside Hostel was jointly founded by the
Council and the Junk Bay Medical Council in 1977.
Hong K ong Christian Service It is a centre for the care of fifty serious mentally-
retarded children. Beginning this year, the Hostel
Hong Kong Christian Service is a multi-service has become a residential special school.
agency, representing churches in Hong Kong in As the children in residential care begin to grow up,
providing seventeen different forms of social the facilities become increasingly inadequate.
services, including youth leadership training and Therefore a plan for expansion was decided upon. A
children nurturing, rehabilitation and home for the new structure is hoped to be completed in two years
elderly, preventive and curative clinical psycho­ and will be capable of providing good services to
logical counselling and medical services. For a long eighty serious mentally retarded adults and youths.
time, Christian Service regards itself as: 1. a The project is estimated to cost five million dollars.
laboratory for innovative social services, 2. a Apart from grants from Government and overseas
training ground for social service personnel, church agencies, the churches in Hong Kong will
including volunteer workers, and 3. an advocate on raise part of the capital cost by the end of 1981 as
social welfare policy. our contribution to the UN Year of Disabled
Persons.
In January 1980, by decision of the Executive
Committee, I was given responsibility for Christian Jo in t Com m ittee on D evelopm ent
Service. In the past eighteen months, I have been
focusing on consolidation in the following This group was formed in 1970, composed of five
directions: representatives each from the Council and the
Catholic Diocese. Its chief purpose is to assess the
1. to set a social service philosophy based on development situation of the Hong Kong
Christian principles for the guidance of our community in a general way, and to make
three hundred strong colleagues, representation to authorities. Last year, education,
2. to stimulate the evolvement of a better especially moral education, and Christian commit­
administrative system in order to provide ment to the disabled were the major concerns.
support for the many departments and their
programmes,