The Winning Solution
EFI’s pitch is based on a simple premise: the most effective way to lift people out of poverty is by empowering families. “Social assistance in Singapore can sometimes feel reactive and designed to cover just basic needs. In such a system, families would always be ‘in need’ — they would only survive and not thrive,” she explains, adding that support measures often do not sufficiently take into account unique circumstances and challenges.

Her conversations with low-income families, which began during her time at NUS, cemented her beliefs. “A group of us — social service practitioners, and families who have lived through poverty — came together to start EFI,” she shares. In her view, the premise of EFI is that low-income communities are not just made up of people who are in need and helpless. “Many of them are creative and, for instance, want to start home-based businesses to uplift their families,” she says. “But often, the support they receive only covers their basic needs and doesn’t support these aspirations, which means these dreams get shelved.”

EFI hopes to help these families dust off their long-held dreams, which can be related to employment, entrepreneurship, skills upgrading, savings and expansion of social capital. This is not an exhaustive list, adds Ms Adriana, saying that families are given a great deal of autonomy to chart their own course. “It’s important to remember that receiving social assistance should not stand in the way of affording these families dignity to make their own decisions,” she stresses.

Three to Thrive
EFI comprises three aspects: funding for projects of up to $1,500, a savings matching scheme, and efforts to foster a community through regular meetings among participants. To Ms Adriana, each of these plays an equally vital role. She cites the positive experience of the first four families onboarded to the EFI programme in 2022. Two of the families that were running home-based businesses used the EFI grant to buy equipment and increase their sales. Another participant successfully saved $25,000 through the matched savings programme and opened a car-washing business. Yet another participant — a food delivery rider who used to make deliveries on a bicycle — used the grant to obtain a motorcycle licence. With this, he could make more food deliveries and earn a higher income. “All four also reported a higher level of social support from getting to know one another,” concludes Ms Adriana.

These results impressed the =Dreams Asia Breakthrough Prize Competition 2023 judges, who included Mr Han Fook Kwang, editor-at-large of The Straits Times. Explaining EFI’s win, he told the national broadsheet, “We looked for a solution which will make a difference to the poverty problem. The team must have a workable plan with a realistic budget to roll out over a three-year period. It has to be implementable by existing organisations and Singapore Family Service Centres, social enterprises and charities. Most of all, it has to be innovative… achieving results not attainable in the current scheme of things.”