Collaborations
Little Dreams: A Safe and Nurturing Space
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Little Dreams - Poster to Drive Awareness
Riani and Zulynda are two mothers living in the Ghim Moh estate who noticed that a number of primary school-aged children were often left with limited adult supervision after school, as many parents juggled the demands of work and family life. Wanting to create a safe and nurturing space where children could feel heard, supported, and empowered, they set out to make a difference in their own neighbourhood. Their initiative, Little Dreams, was supported through Beyond Social Services Community Enabler Fellowship programme.
At the heart of Little Dreams is the desire to help children build their confidence in an environment where they feel accepted and free from judgment. Through art and craft activities, children are encouraged to express their creativity and emotions, while sports and games help them develop teamwork, resilience, and social skills.
The programme also creates opportunities for children to reflect on everyday situations through conversations about morals and values. These discussions help them develop sound judgment and consider how positive values can be applied meaningfully in their daily lives and relationships.
Raising children in Singapore is not without its challenges. Not every family has access to extended family support or the resources needed to care for children after school. The saying, "It takes a village to raise a child," comes to life through initiatives like Little Dreams, where neighbours come together to support one another. It is heartening to see parents placing their trust in fellow residents, creating a stronger and more caring community for every child.
OGF is privileged to support this initiative by providing regular volunteers who engage with the children, contribute ideas for activities that enrich the programme, and provide the necessary resources to support the program.
Recent Activity - Extract from a writeup featured in the Beyond Social Services newsletter
Practical Power of Community Building
Sharolyn and Choir Team - Getting to know each other.
Sharolyn and Choir Team - Coaching Sessions
Performance - Bright Hill Nursing Home on 19 June 2026
Performance - PCF Family Adventure Carnival on 26 July 2026
When we choose to connect with one another in the spirit of mutual support, we unlock a whole new network of resources. This is the practical power of community building – a belief that that every individual holds community assets, and that relationships are the threads that connect those assets to the wider community.
At the Learning Festival and Marketplace organised by the Community Development team at Allkin, Monica from Allkin Active Ageing Centre @ Punggol 677B reached out to OGF on behalf of a choir of about twenty-four seniors. The group comes together not only for the joy of singing, but also for the friendships built and the joy they hope to bring to others through their performances. Seeing the seniors’ enthusiasm and commitment to refining their singing, Monica hoped to find a singing coach who could guide them towards becoming more confident and to continue to share their love of music with the wider community.
At first, it seemed like a tall order to find someone with the right experience who was also willing to volunteer their time on weekday afternoons. Yet, within a week of sharing the request with the OGF community, Sharolyn, a former professional singer, stepped forward to generously offer her time and expertise to coach the choir. More than her musical experience, it was her willingness to serve and encourage the group that made this connection especially meaningful.
Time and again, we have witnessed stories from communities that remind us of a fundamental truth: every person has gifts to offer, and when those gifts are discovered and shared by willing hearts, the entire community benefits.
This experience also reminds us that every person can be a changemaker - the seniors strengthen community bonds through song; Monica champions their aspirations; OGF connects needs with resources; and Sharolyn contributes her time and talent in service to others. Each plays a unique part, and together they show how small acts of generosity can create something far greater than any one person could achieve alone.
Smol Boss - Children Spreading Joy
Founders Elizabeth and Benjamin with their volunteer friends
Volunteers engaging seniors at St Luke's ElderCare in game of whack-a-mole!
You are never too young to make a difference! Smol Boss was founded by siblings Elizabeth and Benjamin, who at just 11 and 7 years old respectively, have already launched a series of meaningful initiatives that bring joy to diverse communities. Balancing full school schedules, they continue to show what is possible when compassion meets commitment. Fittingly, Smol Boss’s tagline is Small Ideas, Big Smiles!
Together with their dedicated group of volunteers, Elizabeth and Benjamin demonstrate that impact is not defined by age. Guided by empathy and a sincere desire to help others, Smol Boss has delivered uplifting experiences through both small, personal efforts and collaborations with larger organizations such as Sheng Shiong and GIC.
OGF is proud to support Smol Boss by providing volunteer assistance, empowering the young to drive positive change within the community.
Smol Boss partnering with Sheng Siong
Allkin - Building Caring and Resilient Communities
Community Kitchen - A resident-led CNY Celebration
SuperMamas organised a halloween block party to bond with families with children
Kopi w Kawan Kawan (AMK Blk 469) - Some regular kopi kakis
Kopi w Kawan Kawan (AMK Blk 469) - Coffee and snacks station. Come for the coffee, stay for the conversations!
Community building is a complex process with no one-size-fits-all approach. It requires a deep understanding of the lived realities of residents and stakeholders, as well as the nurturing of organic, supportive networks that enable mutual growth and shared purpose. At its core, community building is about connecting individuals around a common purpose and a shared commitment to care for one another. The stronger these relationships, the more resilient the community becomes.
Singapore is not short of community-building efforts, thanks to the active involvement of government agencies and grassroots organisations. While top-down, large-scale initiatives play an important role in mobilising the broader community, bottom-up, resident-led support at the individual level is crucial for long-term sustainability. In particular, identifying, equipping, and supporting resident changemakers helps ensure that community efforts remain grounded, responsive, and enduring.
Allkin’s Community Development team champions the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach to facilitate meaningful connections among residents. Examples include a resident-run community kitchen, regular coffee sessions such as Kopi with Kawan Kawan, and support for SuperMamas—a group of young mothers who came together to support one another while working to improve their neighbourhood.
OGF complements these efforts by providing sustained volunteer support, facilitating conflict resolution, and offering decision-making and consultation support to strengthen community-led initiatives.
Allkin - Dr Vasoo Community Innovation Award 2025
Breakfast Buddies led by Lydia Susiyanti Sukarbi and Halinah Yatim
Pilih Pilih - A community led fresh food distribution project
Resident Changemakers
A thriving community built on love, kindness, trust, and a sense of empowerment where every voice is heard is the ultimate goal of many societies. An Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) framework, which looks to empower individuals and values diversity in thought, culture, and individual traits as community assets, can play a vital role in creating such environments.
Allkin, a leading social service agency, applies the ABCD approach in its community-building efforts. In 2024, it introduced the Allkin - Dr Vasoo Community Innovation Award which celebrates ground-up initiatives that are conceived and led by residents, often in collaboration with professionals. This Award hopes to encourage residents to see themselves as active contributors and changemakers, rather than passive recipients of support.
Within fund raising, securing support for manpower needs in preventive social services such as community building work remains a challenge, primarily since the strength of relationships and social networks are difficult to measure using traditional metrics. Yet, the long term social and economic benefits of a community bonded by higher values beyond sub-identities such as race and religion cannot be ignored. Recognizing this,
OGF has pledged resources to sustain the Award, including funding for manpower to perform asset mapping, project identification, capacity-building, and coaching.
Panelists and Allkin staff
Children Tackling Littering in Community
Awareness posters
Community litter picking event
Our changemakers in discussion
We often forget that children, with their open hearts, can be powerful protagonists of change within their communities. Motivated by this belief, members of the OGF team, in their capacities as parents, reached out to other parents in their neighborhood to welcome their children to a collaborative space to discuss the social issues they observe around them.
A group of children, aged 7 to 11, came together and identified litter as an important problem in their estate. Meeting weekly, the children took ownership of the entire process from surveying and documenting litter, to developing an action plan, creating awareness posters, and meeting residents door-to-door. They then carried out a community litter-picking event, and assessed the results in the weeks that followed.
Child Development - Growth in the children’s sense of empowerment, communication skills, and social & environmental awareness.
Community Impact - A noticeable decline in litter during the litter picking event and in the following weeks, suggesting the initiative had an educational effect on residents.
Community Asset Discovery - Our team discovered like-minded individuals who had started the SmolBoss initiative. We look to future collaboration with them.
Community Engagement - Far East Organisation, the condo management, attended the litter-picking event, acknowledged the children's efforts, and took note of additional resident concerns over re-cycling initiatives.