Upward Mobility of Temporarily Impoverished Households
In recent years, many people that have adequate abilities and talents are forced into housing hardships and short-term poverty by temporary financial distress or changes in family structure. If these Temporarily Impoverished Households do not receive aid promptly, their impoverished situation might become chronic. On the other hand, if we could give these households specific support targeted at this new sort of poverty, they could have a chance to rebuild their upward mobility and sustainably contribute to the development of our economy, all without increasing the burden on social welfare.
Light Be’s mission is not to simply provide housing, but more importantly, to give these Temporarily Impoverished Households a chance to rebuild their upward mobility.
Apart from providing a place of living, Light Be also puts emphasis on providing Upward Social Mobility Training for these Temporarily Impoverished Households. Each beneficiary household will be assigned a place to live, while a Specialist from Light Be will provide follow-up. The Specialists will coach them throughout a training period of no more than 3 years, in which the Specialists would help beneficiaries establish personal development goals and meet monthly with them to review their progress in key development indexes. Light Be’s Upward Social Mobility Training puts great weight not only on self-reliance but also on work-life balance. The ultimate goal is for beneficiary households to build enough momentum to keep moving forward even after they have graduated from the training.
Housing Schemes with Specific Social Purposes
Under the reality of limited land supply and a lack of immediate developmental solutions, the focus has shifted to how we make the best social impact out of currently available real estate resources. Light Be strives to optimize current real estate resources and to develop them into housing schemes with specific social purposes to tackle this conundrum. These include establishing the Light Home network with individual landlords, revitalizing an idle dormitory into the Light Housing community. Light Be is also now planning for the new Light Village in the New Territories. Moreover, Light Be has developed an Upward Social Mobility Training programme targeted at Temporary Poverty as well as a vast array of facilities and activities targeting different beneficiary groups.
Social Housing Enterprise
Light Be, established in 2010, has adopted a brand-new model of development, being the first Social Housing Enterprise in Hong Kong. Ricky Yu, the Founder and CEO of Light Be, has resigned from his post in corporate management to establish Light Be, and has since on different projects gained the support of Social Ventures Hong Kong, Lee Hysan Foundation and Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation. Light Be has continuously proposed new perspectives and alternative solutions to housing problems and the youth’s upward mobility. Housing projects by Light Be can be found in all 18 districts of Hong Kong. Light Be manages the entire process from contacting landlords to providing training for beneficiary households and has accumulated a decade’s worth of experience in Social Housing and Upward Social Mobility management.
