IMPACT 0507: A HEART FOR THE SOCIAL WELLBEING OF YOUTH

Youth Action Challenge (YAC) is a platform for youth to provide solutions that tackle the issues we are concerned about. Since October 2021, over 80 teams and more than 310 youths have undertaken the YAC Season 3 journey.

Timothy Moses, 24, studies Counseling at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. He also volunteers as an online text counselor at Singapore Planned Family Association and is also active in volunteering among the youth in his church community.

Impact, to him, would be to have helped youth in their time of need, be it mental, physical, social, or spiritual needs. In today’s world, COVID-19 has made such needs surface even more, especially in mental health. Hence, Timothy believes that coming alongside people, supporting them, and being a listening ear can really make a difference in these times, especially when there is limited social interaction as compared to pre-COVID times.

Today he shares more about Conexa!

I had an idea that I believed may impact youth in terms of social support and improve their mental wellbeing. My idea was to give youth spaces to explore their interests with mentors. So, I thought of bringing this idea to YAC to work on it! I found another person, my current team leader, with the same idea!

YAC was fun because there were many opportunities for me to brainstorm freely and come up with interesting ideas alongside like-minded people. Preparing for our final pitch was an exhilarating experience. We were trying to make our idea sound really convincing and fun to listen to. I also got much exposure learning about how social businesses work, how to pitch well and how to develop an idea well into a sustainable and workable solution.

One big challenge was narrowing down to a specific solution. Our team had many ideas and different perspectives. That was great, but to form a solution we needed a more specific idea. Getting to our specific solution was challenging as we had many long hours of discussions. Although difficult, these discussions were fruitful and helped us to produce a specific, refined idea.

Our project focuses on improving the social wellbeing of the youth. We want to give youth spaces where they can meet new people, explore their interests, and experience fun activities—especially for those who lack community or who have just graduated from educational institutions. This is meant to be a chance for them to make friends and experience social support. We hope that through this, their mental wellbeing is also improved.