Operation Santa Claus: charities help Tai Po fire survivors rebuild their lives

Inside a sparsely furnished 100 sq ft public housing flat in Hong Kong’s Hung Shui Kiu, a family of two lives with little more than a bunk bed, television stand, sofa and some donated clothes racks.This flat is the temporary home of 69-year-old resident surnamed Ho and her daughter. They were among the 5,000 Wang Fuk Court residents displaced by an inferno that ravaged the Tai Po estate on November 26 last year, killing 168 people.The pair had refrained from settling into the accommodation they had called home for the past six months because they were expecting to buy a new place after selling their flat to the government under a buy-back plan.“Buying [furniture] costs money and we don’t know how long we will live here,” said Ho, who preferred not to use her full name.On a recent day, however, a team of contractors, staff and volunteers from Habitat for Humanity Hong Kong visited Ho, bringing new furniture, including a shoe cabinet, foldable desk and wardrobe.Watching the frenzy of installation and everyone’s hard work, Ho fought back tears.“It feels more like a home now. I can put my things away,” she said. “My daughter will be even happier than me because she can finally put her things in a wardrobe.”To date, Habitat has furnished more than 800 transitional homes, helped 150 families affected by the fire relocate to and settle into temporary housing, and has distributed more than 10,000 essential household items, including furniture, appliances and bedding.Jo Hayes, Habitat’s CEO, said the residents’ needs were great.“Hundreds of families have moved into transitional housing, and many units were completely empty, without even basic beds. At one site alone, we fully furnished 170 units,” Hayes said.“There’s a wide range of needs, but for every family affected by the fire, the reality is the same: they’ve lost everything.”Habitat for Humanity Hong Kong’s staff and contractors are providing displaced Tai Po fire residents with furniture for their temporary homes. Photo: Cindy SuiUnder the project funded by the annual fundraising campaign Operation Santa Claus (OSC), through donations from Morgan Stanley, Habitat will help 350 families transition from short-term housing into longer-term temporary accommodation, and ultimately safe, permanent homes over three years.Further ReadingThe funding comes from the HK$5.3 million (US$676,460) raised last year by OSC through an emergency appeal after the fire, which has been allocated to four charity projects to help Tai Po fire survivors with housing, adjustment, mental health and other challenges.For Chan Pui-lin, 75, who with her husband has moved into a temporary flat located about 1½ hours away from Wang Fuk Court, coping with the loss of the home they had lived in for more than 40 years and their close-knit community remains challenging.“We cared about each other … We watched our children play together, grow up together and get married,” Chan said of the residents.She said she and her husband had been under stress because the money from the government’s flat buy-back offer was insufficient for them to buy a new home in a neighbourhood they wanted to live in. They had also looked elsewhere and failed to find anything suitable.That was why she was grateful to attend a high tea gathering hosted by another charity – Tai Po Baptist Church Social Service (TPBCSS) – in April at a Tai Po restaurant.The event was held for 22 former Wang Fuk Court residents who chatted with corporate volunteers over food and drinks, and painted on canvas bags together.“Seeing so many people who are so good to us, I felt like crying,” Chan said, adding that attending the event helped to alleviate her stress.Catherine Ho Hiu-yan, TPBCSS’s senior communications manager, said its OSC-funded project focuses on helping 120 Wang Fuk Court residents and their family members, totalling 300 people, integrate into their new community while staying connected with the old one.“They told us that after the devastating fire, their social connections were severed. They said seeing their neighbours’ happy faces already made them happy,” Catherine Ho said.In the coming months, TPBCSS will organise a variety of activities, including a photo shoot for families, a tea party with an artificial intelligence theme to strengthen community connections, and tours to help residents learn about the neighbourhoods they will relocate to.Both charities urged the public to continue supporting them and the families, who will need long-term help to rebuild their lives.“When the headlines fade, the need is still there, and people are navigating incredibly difficult situations,” Hayes said. “This is not a quick fix.”OSC, jointly established by the South China Morning Post and public broadcaster RTHK in 1988, has since raised over HK$415 million and supported more than 382 charitable projects across Hong Kong. It has benefited more than 100,000 people.