Hello Flowers! — Enjoying A Collaborative Partnership With Babes

Anne

I’ve known about Babes since my University days when I trained in social work. Babes’ cause is unique amongst social service agencies as few focus on teenage moms. Having my own girl in 2020, and with an interest in the mental health and well-being of youths, I was drawn to supporting Babes.

Supporting a cause with my business

Why should I support Babes or other causes? Simply, it’s because it’s what we ought to do. When I started my business I knew that it had to be one that gives back to society, and I wanted to use it to bring awareness to lesser-known issues. My intention was to set up a social enterprise to empower people from all walks of life, but with a focus on women and their mental health. Through my social work research, I know that girls are especially vulnerable to mental health issues. The issue of teenage pregnancies has so many misconceptions and is something that people may not want to talk about. This makes unwed teenage moms even more vulnerable. 

Bringing the healing experience of nature to Babes 

It’s been a very enjoyable process working with Melisa and the team—they are friendly and welcoming. The process is collaborative and we discuss plans together. Melisa aims for partnerships that are win-win, to meet the needs of both our social enterprise and Babes service users. They are also very open to us trying new things. When we suggested a microgreens and edibles workshop, they were supportive. 

Through the workshop we wanted to convey the healing and therapeutic experience of nature. Just being mindful or slowing down and appreciating nature has a lot of benefits to our well-being and can help us to gain new perspectives on things. In our workshops we also endeavour to engage the participants beyond teaching them a skill, by being attentive to their needs, aiming to build strong rapport. The microgreens workshop for Babes was the first workshop that we conducted for teenage participants and the facilitators were happy to see the girls so intrigued with the experience of working with nature. As our facilitators are usually trained in social work, they are aware of the issues, but I think the interactions with participants from social agencies like Babes also motivates the facilitators to continue to work for social causes. 

Supporting Babes service users directly

We have also worked with one of Babes service users, Isabela, who has a small business, Asherknot, selling crochet items. I’ve been following her story, and through the years as Babes has featured her story, I’ve seen how she’s taken ownership of her own journey. We were happy to offer her crochet flowers through our website, where her story was also featured. 

Babes’ role in supporting an important cause  

I feel that being pregnant and having a child is already difficult for married women, what more for single moms, and even more so for unwed teenaged moms. I cannot imagine the challenges they have to go through during their pregnancy journey, to be doing this on their own. Many may also come from vulnerable families who may not be able to support them. 

I think the cause of teenage moms is under-supported, so for Babes to want to support this cause is something that we should help amplify. The girls should not be doubly marginalised. Having an agency that is non-judgemental and who gives them support is very important. This will help them feel less lonely. Raising a kid in Singapore is not easy, and they are children themselves but they have to be parents. They need good role models and I think Babes can be an agency that shows them what good mothering is. Having Babes championing them and providing services such as the hotline is something we really need for youths that lack support.

How companies can support Babes

Businesses can advocate more conversations on this topic and raise awareness. To other business owners, I encourage you to use your company as a platform and channel to allow others to be aware of this issue. Awareness is the first step to helping the girls be empowered to be good mothers and role models for the next generation.

Written by volunteer, Sherry Nee