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Project Highlights


Project Title: Productive Aging—Elderly Shop Project
Name of Organization: The Salvation Army
Grant Approved: HKD$ 900,000
Project Duration: 4/2004 – 4/2007 (3 years)
Target Groups: local communities (elderly, middle-age unemployed, non-engaged youths, housewives, local organizations etc.)
Location of the Project: based on Tung Tau District


1. Objectives

photo of CIIF
  • Through the platform of “elderly shop”, the project aims at nurturing a group of elderly, who are commonly identified as service recipients, to venture business on a “self-finance mode”. Social groups liked housewife and non-engaged youth will also be enlisted to form service teams, with transmission of “know how” and consultative support derived from business and professional sectors, to render services to those under- privileged. “Empowerment” and “Transformation” will also be undertaken in the process for the achievement of “social capital” and “community integration” in the long run.


2. Brief Description of Programs to be organized

The Project aims at integrating different sectors in the community, including elderly, housewives and youngsters, through training and empowerment, to enhance their social concern spirit, and to promote their awareness to community service. The service group and those under service will ultimately be transformed to become social capital and make valuable contribution to society in return. To achieve the objectives, context of service can be divided into 2 folds:

2.1. Direct Sale Service of Goods: For enhancement the ideas of “self-financing”, “elderly power” and “collaboration with business sector”


Under the theme of “Healthy Life”, the project will network business sector and professional personnel to provide direct sale service to customers, in a reasonable cost with reliable quality assurance. Recycling program or second hand goods, for sale and for exchange purpose are also welcome. The project also plans to mobilize unemployed people to take up service opportunities liked delivery service, packaging service and shop keeping service in conjunction with the direct sale service. In the process, close collaboration with business sector and professional personnel will be taken in the following forms:

  • Through training and consultative activities, knowledge transmission and technical support could be delivered
  • Through mentorship and advice giving, to equip the elderly operating the Project to endow with sense of management and familiarize with business operating mode.
  • Provision goods on discount cost to the Shop for sale in a reasonable market price.

The shop will also perform a place for social gathering on neighborhood base. Interaction among people in the base will enhance purposes of volunteer recruitment, empowerment and transformation functions.

2.2. “Caring Community” Direct Sale Service: To implement the concepts of cross age service integrationand collaboration with business sector with highlighting on empowering the under-privileged to make nurturing of social capital possible.


In reference to the population profile of the community, as well as the contact experience gathered, guilt a number of single household elderly and deprived families, some of them are frail in nature and with mobility difficulty, are with weak support network. The unemployment rate in the district is also high. The Project aims at recruiting housewives and non– engaged youth, arranged them with training and service opportunities, to transform them to become local base service team. Strategy is to arrange tangible service to elderly at risk and under privileged groups in the forms of house repair and cleansing service, soup and goods delivery service etc. with intention to establish rapport among them. Ultimate goal is to net them together for social support purpose. Efforts would also be allocated to transform the service receivers to service givers in the long run. In the process, business sector and relevant professions will take part in the following items:

  • As mentor to youth repair apprentice
  • As instructor for skill training and transmission of technical “know how”
  • As advisor for business operating model
  • As consultant to promotion campaign and publicity.
  • As supporter in resources search
  • As partner in operating


3. Unique Features of the Project

  • The Project puts balanced emphasis on service development as well as business driven operation. The “ self-financing” mode of service ventured the idea of new financing mode to enable the sustainability of the service.
  • The Project aims at establishing a platform to enhance the co-operation and collaboration among various sectors in the District. In the forms of exchange of resources, knowledge transaction and technical support, the “Elderly Shop” is expected to perform the function as catalyst to boost up the integrative effort of Government (Social Welfare Dept., Housing Dept. and Home Affairs Department), business sector (local shops, goods supplies and professionals) and local people (elderly, housewife and younger) to enhance the concept of “community investment” and “community inclusion”.
  • The Project will strive to establish a social support network among elderly and deprived social groups in community, enhance their awareness to social concern and to promote their community participation. Through mutual influence and empowerment, service recipients are expected to transform to service givers for the purpose of accumulating of “social capital”.
  • The Project will foster the spirit of self-help and mutual help in inclusive perspectives by breaking through the age boundary. Intergenerational social groups join hand in hand and to work together. By enhancing the Intergenerational communication, appreciation and cooperation, community integration and solidarity will be harvested


4. Expected Output

  • Not less than 1,000 elderly fall in the Project network. Among them, not less than 200 is of at risk nature such as living alone, frailty etc
  • Not less than 50 heads attend drop-in service per opening session
  • Not less than 120 heads recruited to perform services of the Project (Elderly 80, Housewives 20, Youngster 20)
    Among them, not less than 30 will actively join various working groups.
    Among them, not less than 15 heads join the core management team of the Project
  • Not less than 15 business bodies to collaborate
  • In regular customers’ opinion polls, not less than 50% shows satisfaction to the services performed by the Project.


5. Expected Outcome

  • Net less than 50% of participants indicated their improvement on self-esteem, social support and skills acquired in reference to the periodic assessment with relevant scales applied.