Cornerstone Community Services

Say hello to Kakis Kitchen! 🍳🥗
🎉 We're thrilled to announce the opening of our community cafe, a social enterprise by Cornerstone Community Services.

✨ Serviced by Kipo’s Kitchen, the essence of serving delicious food & beverages at affordable prices for the community remains.

Join us as we embark on this delicious journey, filled with flavor-packed experiences and unforgettable moments. Bring your friends, your family, your kakis (mates), and let's savor the joy of good food and great company together! 🥳

Opening Hours:
Tues – Fri: 8am – 4pm*
Sat: 8am – 2pm
(*Breakfast menu will be served from 8 – 11am, 2 – 3:30pm)

📍 Come visit us at Kakis Kitchen for mouthwatering delights and heartwarming memories. Check out the full menu at www.cornerstoneservices.org.sg/kakiskitchenmenu. See you there! 🏠🍽️

Our Reflections Report 2024 edition is out.

Visit bit.ly/ccsreflections2024 to access the summary of our key events and expenditures in 2023.

Looking to enrich your family life? We got you covered with our online depository of family life resources for free! Whether you are navigating marriage, practicing self-care, managing conflicts, or mastering parenting, we have curated a treasure trove of articles & practical tips written by experts just for you.

Visit bit.ly/ccsfamilylife to view all the resources.

Click to read more about our collaboration with Singapore Prison Service and The Salvation Army Singapore.

Earlier this week on 29 April, we conducted “Thrifting: Embracing Sustainability in The Community”, a Learning Journey programme for 25 students and 2 teachers from Anderson Secondary School.

The students got to learn more about why sustainable fashion is crucial to our environment, and the various eco-friendly initiatives that are available within the community. They also had the opportunity to interact with our senior volunteers and experience hands-on operations at The Barn, which included sorting out donations, restocking the racks, and styling outfits to display on the dress mannequin.

This programme is open to schools and corporates. To find out more, email: [email protected].

Calling all badminton enthusiasts 50 and above! We are recruiting members to join our Badminton Interest Group starting on 17 April, every Wednesday, 3pm-5pm at Joo Chiat CC Hall.

Badminton rackets and shuttlecocks are provided but you can bring your own too. An annual membership fee of $10 applies.

To register, contact Alvin at 82994047.

We recently held the “Your Mental Health Matters” workshop on 2 March where our keynote speaker, Patricia Tan, a US-certified mental health therapist and founder of Healing Journey Singapore, covered essential aspects of mental health, the common challenges and the impact of societal stigma. She was joined by our guest speaker, Yanni Ruth, a local singer-songwriter and active mental health advocate who shared her journey on this topic. There was also a panel discussion at the end to take in questions from the audience. It was a fruitful and meaningful session as the participants mingled with the speakers and shared their personal experiences.

We look forward to organise more sessions in near future to build a mentally healthier and compassionate community.

We recently held the Cornerstone Development Initiatives (CDI) Award Presentation on 24 February where we awarded monthly allowances to students from low-income families.

This year, we disbursed over $150,000 to 183 students across 85 schools. At the presentation event, the student recipients and their families were treated to a hip hop dance by a group of energetic youth; song performances by Yanni Ruth, a local singer, songwriter & mental health advocate and a carnival with games and treats for everyone to enjoy.

This is made possible with the generosity of our donors, partners and volunteers. If you like to give to the CDI to make a tangible difference in the lives of the students and their families, visit https://www.cornerstoneservices.org.sg/donate for ways to donate.

On 23 February, we attended the ACE Partners’ Appreciation Dinner hosted by ACE Group under MOM. At the event, we were honoured to be mentioned as the 2nd top organisation that had contributed greatly to the migrant outreach, and received a certificate presented by Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon - 许宝琨.

It has been a wonderful journey partnering with ACE to reach out to our migrant workers, and we look forward to many new opportunities in the coming year!

Mental health is a critical component of overall well-being, yet it often remains a topic surrounded by misconceptions and stigma. Join us at our complimentary mental health talk on 2 March that aims to unravel the complexities of mental health, foster understanding, and create a supportive environment for our wider community.

Register at tinyurl.com/CCSmentaltalk

A group of 18 students and 2 teachers from Compassvale Secondary School participated in the “Learning Journey on Ageing in Community” at Cornerstone@ChengSan Active Ageing Centre (CAAC) on 4 January 2024. The programme comprised a presentation and tour around CAAC where the students learnt about the works at the centre and possible career options in the social service and care community sectors. They also had the opportunity to interact with 20 seniors from CAAC through various activities and insightful conversations over lunch.

One of the learning highlights involved a stimulation-based ageing experience where the students wore goggles and taped fingers to complete basic daily tasks. This helped them to develop a greater sense of empathy and reflection on ageing faced by the seniors. “I learnt how to communicate better and understand what my grandmother is going through”, commented a student who attended the programme. Another student said, “I learnt more about the life experiences of the seniors I interacted with”.

Through this programme, students feedbacked that they have gained a better understanding of the ageing community and the challenges faced by the seniors.
This programme is open to schools and corporates. To find out more, email: [email protected].

Do you have any expired CDC vouchers in 2023 that you have not utilised? You can now donate them to us for charitable causes.

Simply visit vouchers.cdc.gov.sg/donate/ and follow the instructions there to pledge your unspent vouchers accordingly by 31 January 2024.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Cornerstone Community Services. Have a joyful time celebrating with loved ones this festive season!

To celebrate and appreciate our community of migrant workers in Singapore, we organised an International Migrants’ Day carnival for around 3,000 workers at Penjuru Recreation Centre last Sunday. From the smiles on their faces, you can tell they enjoyed themselves during the game activities and the goodies they got to pick as their prizes.

We are glad that we could bring joy to the workers through this fun event with the help and support of our 27 volunteers.

Today is International Migrants Day, and we like to thank our migrant workers for the contributions and sacrifices they make while being far away from home and their families.

As we celebrate them today, we also strive to help them integrate into the broader community. That is why we run The Barn@Penjuru (a thrift shop) and organise outreach events & wellness programmes specially for them.

If you are passionate about volunteering and supporting our migrant workers in this area, visit bit.ly/supportingccs for more details.

It’s the month of festive celebrations and we recently had the opportunity to bring some Christmas cheer to the residents of MacPherson and Aljunied through a carnival at MacPherson Community Club. Both parents and children enjoyed themselves with activities and highlights like station games, The Barn pop up, magic show, and candy floss stall.

A big thank you to our volunteers and partners from Aljunied RC, Lions Club Good Link, Lions Club Oriental, Lions Club Mandarin, Lions Club Clarke Quay, Brighton Connection and Emmaus Evangelical Free Church for supporting this event.

The importance and roles of families in society cannot be overlooked.

That is why families and couples are key impact groups for us where we offer programmes such as Food Care, Casework & Counselling and Family Life Education to ensure that every family & couple receives the care, understanding, and financial & educational resources they need.

Partner with us by giving and volunteering as we continue to do the works to strengthen and impact families & couples. Visit bit.ly/supportingccs for more details.

Today is International Volunteer Day! A special shout out to all our volunteers for supporting our various programmes and initiatives. As a non-profit organisation, we would not be able to serve and impact the community without their help. Thank you, volunteers!

If you like to be a part of our volunteering team, email: [email protected] to find out more.

Since its inception in 2018, Cornerstone@ChengSan Active Ageing Centre has served and impacted more than 750 seniors. We need your donation to continue to run the centre and promote healthy living, social engagement, and overall well-being for the senior community.

Visit bit.ly/supportingccs on how to support this initiative by Cornerstone Community Services.

We recently held our annual Badminton Tournament at Terusan Recreation Centre. With 20 participants playing doubles, the finals was a competitive close match between the migrant workers from Myanmar and India! It was a fun evening full of heat, sweat and loud cheers for them.

A big thank you to the 12 volunteers who helped to make the event a success.

As the promise of tomorrow, children and youth are a key impact group for us. That is why we started the school allowance, mentoring and reading programme for them.

Partner with us by giving and volunteering as we continue to do the works to improve and transform the lives of children and youth in the community. Visit bit.ly/supportingccs for more details.

With the school year coming to an end, we celebrated the achievements that our students from the Cornerstone Achievement Programme (CAPE) have accomplished in 2023. At the CAPE Awards Ceremony held on 18 November, certificates of achievement were handed out to 16 children from Aljunied Crescent and 8 students from Cedar Primary School. 1 student even completed reading 60 books since the programme started in Term 2 this year!

We would not be able to run CAPE and this event without the support from Mr Chua Chun Hock, Principal of Cedar Primary School; MacPherson Aljunied Crescent Zone 2 RC Centre; Lions Club of Singapore Goodlink, and our volunteers.

Partner with us if you are passionate to help the children learn and grow through CAPE. Visit bit.ly/supportingccs for more details.

We organised a carnival for close to 1,050 migrant workers at Penjuru Recreation Centre on 11 November to celebrate Deepavali with them. With the help and fundraising support of our 30 volunteers, the migrant workers were able to participate in interesting game booths and watercolour painting activity at the event.

The atmosphere was fun and joyous for everyone. We were glad to see them enjoying themselves and we look forward to organising the next celebratory event in response to their valuable contributions to our nation.

As we approach year end and take stock of 2023, we want to give a shout out to all our volunteers for supporting us with our events, activities, and programmes. As a non-profit and volunteer-driven entity, we could not have done the works in the community without all of you (volunteers). We also want to take this opportunity to appreciate and celebrate our Volunteer Manager who plays a critical role in our team to engage our volunteers and strengthen our programmes and services. Thank you all for serving the community!

Our Food Care Programme is started in 2013 to provide needy families and elderly with groceries and daily necessities, and emotional support through befriending efforts from our volunteers.

87-year-old Mdm Song, a widow is one of our elderly beneficiaries who receive monthly NTUC FairPrice vouchers from our staff to buy her own groceries. Last year, this programme has impacted 46 needy households and elderly like her. This is only possible through the donations and support from our generous donors and volunteers.

We would like to extend our appreciation and thanks to NTUC FairPrice Foundation for donating to the Food Care Programme this year, and we look forward to help and impact more beneficiaries like Mdm Song in the community.

On 30 September, we organised a Children’s Day celebration for 30 kids from CAPE (Cornerstone Achievement Programme) at MacPherson Aljunied Crescent, Zone 2 RC Centre. Instead of the usual reading and learning routine, our group of 11 volunteers prepared various game stations for the children to participate in this celebration. It was a fun occasion for the kids and we are thankful to our volunteers and donors for making Children’s Day a memorable one for them.

CAPE was started in October 2022 to give children from the underprivileged background an opportunity to shine and excel in life by fostering a culture of learning and reading. Under CAPE, there are two clubs for the children to join. Kids aged 5 to 6 years old can join the Busy Bee club, while the Caterpillar Club is catered for kids aged 7 to 12 years old. We are currently recruiting volunteers for Saturday slots. To register or find out more, email [email protected].

On 1st October, Cornerstone@ChengSan Active Ageing Centre held an event to celebrate active ageing under its new identity (from “Cornerstone Senior Centre” to “Cornerstone@ChengSan Active Ageing Centre”), and its 5 years since inception in October 2018.

Ms Karen Lee, Vice-Chairman, Cornerstone Community Services graced the event with Ms Nadia A. Samdin, Member of Parliament, Ang Mo Kio GRC as the guest of honour.

Over 200 seniors turned up and participated in activities at various booths related to health, digital, fitness and interest groups such as calligraphy, cooking demonstration and gardening. There were also stage, song and dance performances by the centre’s volunteers and senior members.

Many thanks to our 72 volunteers, staff and community partners for supporting this event. We look forward to many more fruitful years of serving, engaging and impacting the senior residents at Cheng San with our partners (Cheng San Cherry RN, Jing Shan Primary School, TOUCH Community Services, Empower Ageing, Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) ) and supporters.

“One person caring for another represents life’s greatest value.” While care-giving is a noble journey of unconditional love and compassion, caregivers also face tremendous challenges that impact their physical and emotional health.

HALT is a simple acronym to remind caregivers about self-care. Read more about it here: https://www.cornerstoneservices.org.sg/self-care-for-caregivers

“Forgiveness is giving up our perceived right to get even.”

At our recent talk “Navigating Through Forgiveness”, the participants had the opportunity to understand more about the topic of forgiveness. It was a wonderful time of learning and sharing for them.

We hope that they are able to apply these useful handles and practical tips to succeed in their relationships.

“What will happen to my family?” – This is a common question that family members ask themselves when they are faced with dilemma of whether to disclose and share about their experience of abuse perpetrated by their loved ones.

Here are some ways that you can help support your family and friends who might be victims of abuse: https://www.cornerstoneservices.org.sg/what-will-happen-to-my-family