Establishments caring for the aged, abandoned, orphaned and sick running out of money

PETALING JAYA: Despite the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, charitable homes continue to receive donations from well-wishers.

However, these are mostly in kind, especially food, rather than cash. As a result, most of them are unable to pay bills or salaries of their staff.

Many fear that the food will eventually run out if the pandemic does not abate, leaving them with nothing to feed the abandoned children or homeless people who are in their care.

Persatuan Rumah KIDS senior public relations manager David Jansen Nathan said cash donations have stopped coming in.

“Our funds are now running low and we are struggling to cover operational costs,” he told theSun.

Nathan said expenditure for the four shelters Rumah KIDS has in Subang Jaya and Klang comes up to RM50,000 a month. The money goes to paying school fees, utility bills and staff salaries.

“We are grateful that people continue to send grocery items to us, but we desperately need cash to cover other costs,” he said.

Nathan said the administrators of the home have been forced to dip into their reserves, that are likely to last only up to six months.

Rumah KIDS, a home for abused, neglected and abandoned children, was set up 30 years ago. It now cares for 45 children. The youngest child is a seven-month-old baby and the oldest is a 20-year-old.

At Oasis Independent Living Home in Batu Arang, Rawang, Arokian Arokia Das, 73, has resorted to raising and selling organic chicken so that he has the money to pay the utility bills.

Arokia Das, who is the caregiver at the organisation’s three shelters, said 18 of its 25 residents had to go for medical consultations as well as to see to some legal matters in Sungai Buloh.

Oasis Independent takes in homeless HIV-positive individuals.

“It is an uphill battle. Our expenditure is RM8,000 a month. We are now down to RM6,000.”

“We usually make about RM3,000 a month from the poultry business, but (with the movement control order in place), it gets more difficult to sell.”

However, he said the objective of the facility was to remain independent “to preserve our dignity”.

At Rumah Kanak-Kanak Trinity in Petaling Jaya, administrator Mary Moses is praying that their financial reserves will see them through until the end of the year.

“We are waiting for more funding from the Welfare Department, but we are also being prudent with our spending,” she said.

Trinity is home to 20 children, aged three to 16.

Mary said the home has enough food for now, “but we are not sure what it will be like in the long term”.

The financial situation is her bigger worry.

“If we dip into our reserves now, there will not be enough left to support the children,” she said.

Bills at Trinity adds up to between RM18,000 and RM20,000 a month.

Some of the charitable homes have begun to share resources. For instance, Trinity sends additional grocery items to Oasis Independent and other orphanages.

Apart from depleting resources, those who care for children also face the challenge of keeping them occupied during the lockdown.