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The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) announced during their Committee of Supply debate that the first Enabling Services Hub (ESH) and Enabling Business Hub (EBH) will be launched in 2023.

The hubs aim to give persons with disabilities, as well as their caregivers and families, access to community and employment support closer to their homes.

The hubs are also part of the Enabling Masterplan 2030, which sets out for Singapore as an inclusive society in 2030.

Enabling Services Hub

The ESH will be launched in Tampines West Community Centre by mid-2023, and a satellite site will also be set up in Heartbeat @ Bedok.

"The ESH will take a regional approach towards strengthening support for persons with disabilities within the community, and making our local communities more inclusive," Senior Parliamentary Secretary for MSF Eric Chua said.

At the ESH, an outreach team will be on hand to actively engage persons with disabilities and their families living in Tampines and Bedok.

It will also offer social inclusion activities, continual education and learning courses for persons with disabilities.

Drop-in respite care will also be available to support caregivers by giving them a short break.

In addition, ESH will reach out to persons with disabilities in the region and match them with community befrienders and resources as needed.

Enabling Business Hub

On the other hand, EBH will launch in Jurong West in the second half of 2023.

Chua stated that the EBH would "bring jobs closer to where persons with disabilities live."

"Many persons with disabilities can and want to be gainfully employed with dignity, not just for charity [...] Beyond the benefit to the individual person with disabilities, companies with inclusive hiring practices find stronger empathy amongst co-workers and a more cohesive workforce."

At the EBH, SG Enable will collaborate with industry associations to practice inclusive hiring and encourage more employers to adopt such practices, giving persons with disabilities work opportunities and job support near their homes.

There will also be a team of job coaches on site, Chua shared.

The EBH also aims to help identify other suitable employers in the region and match them with persons with disabilities who have the necessary skills, and if necessary, prepare them for those jobs.

"Along with other measures, the EBH will contribute to our aspirational target employment rate for persons with disabilities of 40 per cent by 2030, up from 31 per cent today," said Chua.

Top photo via Google Maps