Pathfinders does the thankless job of caring for the children and migrant mothers who fall out of the Hong Kong system of health care, justice and welfare. In the occasion of the Woodland 40th Anniversary, KidsDressSmart has participated to the event, raising HK$10.000 to support Pathfinders’ work.
About PathFinders
PathFinders Limited is an independent, secular and non-partisan humanitarian services organisation with tax-exempt charitable status in Hong Kong. Pathfinders’ mission is to ensure that the most vulnerable children born in Hong Kong, and their migrant mothers, are respected and protected. In fact, the babies, children and women we help are either not supported, or are inadequately supported, by Hong Kong’s existing public welfare, healthcare and access to justice structures. In effect, they fall through the cracks of our otherwise world class social welfare safety nets.
Since our founding in 2008, PathFinders has helped over 4,800 of Hong Kong’s most vulnerable babies, children and migrant women. Over 10% of the children we have served would, but for PathFinders, have been at extreme risk of abuse, neglect, even trafficking.
Our approach is non-judgmental, respectful, passionate, courageous, empathetic, discreet and collaborative.
Who does PathFinders help?
PathFinders helps pregnant, migrant women (principally current or former foreign domestic workers) in distress and their Hong Kong-born children. Despite legal protections, too many of these women are unlawfully fired once their pregnancy is announced or discovered. In 2016, 88% of the fathers were in Hong Kong. Once their employment is terminated, these pregnant women immediately become homeless. Within two weeks they lose access to all public welfare support. Now destitute, they and their babies are among the most vulnerable and underserved people in Hong Kong.
Key Activities
We focus on filling the public service gaps in social welfare and support, healthcare, education and access to justice. We ensure that the standard of service and care we provide, where possible, matches that of Hong Kong’s public welfare system. We address all humanitarian needs from the beginning to the end of the particular crisis, typically:
- For a woman: from pregnancy through to when the woman and child find their path to a sustainable and legal future; and
- For a baby/child: from ensuring that all children are legally documented and immunised, to placing an abandoned/neglected child in a safe, permanent and loving family.