To help meet the shortage of residential care for frail visually-impaired elderly, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust donated HK$166.3 million for the Hong Kong Society for the Blind to redevelop its Yuen Long Home and expand its Tuen Mun Home for blind seniors.
Today (6 December), Jockey Club Steward Dr Eric Li Ka Cheung , Social Welfare Department Assistant Director (Rehabilitation & Medical Social Services) Cecilia Yuen and the Society for the Blind Chairman of Yuen Long Home Redevelopment Committee Lam Wai Pong officiated at a House-Warming Ceremony at the Jockey Club Tuen Mun Home for the Aged Blind.
“There are a total of 120,000 visually disabled people in Hong Kong,” Dr Li noted. “As the ageing population grows, the demand for services for visually-impaired elderly will continue to increase. When completed, the new Yuen Long Home will double the number of beds there, while the Tuen Mun Home has already gained 30 percent more beds to maintain ample services for the elderly.”
With the Trust’s donation, the 40-year-old Yuen Long Home will be redeveloped into an eight-storey integrated building, doubling the existing capacity from 80 to 160 places, so as to serve 120 frail elderly with visual impairment, as well as 40 multiple-handicapped people with visual impairment who need day rehabilitation support and residential care. The new home is expected to be completed by 2013 and will be renamed as The Hong Kong Society for the Blind Jockey Club Yan Hong Building.
The recently-completed conversion of the Tuen Mun Home is designed to provide continued quality care for those being affected by the Yuen Long Home redevelopment. The work involved renovating the roof garden and staff quarters to add 80 additional residential beds. The total number of residential beds of the Tuen Mun Home is now increased from 240 to 320.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club
Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club has become one of Hong Kong’s best known and respected organisations, providing the public with world-class sporting entertainment as well as being the city’s major non-Government community benefactor, now donating more than HK$1 billion a year to charitable and community projects. It has been a part of Hong Kong through good times and bad, sharing the city’s growth and development with its people, and is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for future generations.
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Jockey Club Steward Dr Eric Li Ka Cheung (2nd left), Social Welfare Department Assistant Director (Rehabilitation & Medical Social Services) Cecilia Yuen (1st right), the Hong Kong Society for the Blind Chairman Nancy Law (1st left) and Chairman of Yuen Long Home Redevelopment Committee Lam Wai Pong (2nd right) unveil the plaque at the House-Warming Ceremony at the Jockey Club Tuen Mun Home for the Aged Blind.
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Jockey Club Steward Dr Eric Li Ka Cheung (right) notes the new Yuen Long Home will double the number of beds in the district, while the Tuen Mun Home has also gained 30 percent more beds to maintain ample services for the elderly. He receives a souvenir from the Hong Kong Society for the Blind Chairman Nancy Law (left).
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Photos 3, 4: Guests visit the renovated Tuen Mun Home.
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Yuen Long and Tuen Mun Home residents stage a performance.
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Photos 6, 7: Guests chat with two elderly residents Lai Kam Chung (2nd left) and Wan To Wan (1st left). The elderly couple had a brief encounter when they were young and crossed paths again during their residence at Tuen Mun Home after decades.
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