Mr Neo (pictured right), shares a rental unit with a housemate, Mr Chen (pictured left). The two met over a decade ago when Mr Neo first applied for a public rental unit with the Housing Development Board (HDB). HDB paired them and they have been flat mates ever since.
Hit by a recent bout of illness and a long hospital stay of close to three months, Mr Neo has since taken a break from his usual employment at a nearby coffee shop. He mentioned his recent health issues had taken quite a toll on him. “Since being discharged from hospital, I feel breathless easily and with the bedbug situation at home, sleeping on the mattress is really itchy and I cannot seem to get a good rest.”, he shared in Mandarin.
Despite this, Mr Neo was excited to receive volunteers into his home, working alongside them to pack his personal belongings, carefully sorting items into a new set of storage drawers while seated on the steps at the staircase landing outside his home. Concurrently, volunteers quickly cleared out old or pest-infested furniture, mended cracks in the walls, and sealed up gaps to prevent re-infestation of bedbugs in the home.
As the Project HomeWorks session drew to a close that afternoon, Mr. Neo's face lit up with gratitude. "I can't thank you enough for your time, effort, and most of all, your physical strength. Older folks like us couldn't have done this without your help. We're getting older every day."
Mr Neo's home before and after Project HomeWorks:
