SHELTER aims to be excellent and effective in what it does. With that desire comes the need for evaluation to ensure that goals are met and that resources are sued wisely while maintaining the relevance of the work.

“Are we getting the desired results? If we are not, then we need to ask why and find ways to bridge the gap [between what we do and the results we get],” says James Nayagam, Executive Director of SHELTER.

Anderson Selvasegaram, Administrative Manager of SHELTER, says, “An organization needs to be constantly reassess itself so that it knows how to move forward.”

Over the course of the 25 years but particularly in 2006, SHELTER has spent a considerable amount of time rethinking how it goes about its work: what is most effective; evaluating on what works and what doesn’t; things that could be improved; things that should have been done differently to reach goals that were initially set out and how the organization should be run.

Prevention work

This evaluation prompted SHELTER to initiate a youth centre – SHELTER felt that it could be doing more preventive work among youth. Thus, DropZone, a community youth centre in Petaling Jaya, was formed – it has been in operation for about six months now [See article on DropZone]

DropZone is not merely relief work aimed at filling the immediate need of young people – it is a preventive measure to deter young people from seeking relief in places which may be unhealthy and temporary. So, DropZone reflects SHELTER’s desire to move on from merely targeting and filling a need to understand the root causes of problems and addressing them – i.e. to prevent instead of just cure.

Personal development

SHELTER’s review of the efficacy of its work also led to changes in the area of childhood development. To help the residents grow up to become responsible, well-adjusted citizens who can contribute to their country, SHELTER focuses more on personal development and not just on meeting physical needs.

“It [children’s work] has to be more on personal development. If all we do is give them a roof over their heads and feed them, they’ll just probably just mess up again after they leave the homes,” said Anderson.

One area in which changes were made was in education. The organization felt that its residents were not getting the most out of the public education system. Most school-going SHELTER children do not have the basic foundation of reading, writing, and arithmetic (the 3Rs), which means that they often suffer in the public school system. For most of the SHELTER children, not only do they have to struggle to master the 3Rs in school but they also have to come up to the level of their peers. In view of this, SHELTER decided to home-school some of the children to suit their academic levels and abilities.

Developing socially conscious youth

SHELTER has also placed an emphasis on developing youth to empower them to be socially concerned – the support of new “blood” is needed to continue the work that has been started. The two-week internship programme for University students where the students are exposed to various social needs in society and required to carry out an attachment to a welfare organization is noe example of SHELTER’s efforts to develop a future generation of socially conscious citizens.

Being a voice

The Single Mothers’ Support Network is another are that SHELTER wants to develop. SHELTER wants it to move beyond from just being a group that provides support and relief to single mothers to a group that advocates the rights and needs of its members and eventually become a voice for those that do not have a strong enough voice of their own.

“It’s about going beyond the ‘traditional’ way of only giving help when and where help is needed. SHELTER hopes to give effective help so that the members are able to quickly independent,” explained Anderson.

Although SHELTER already has a public presence that its voice is heard in the newspapers, it is not enough for James and Anderson. For 2007 and beyond, they want SHELTER to grow in the area of advocacy; to be a voice that actually makes a difference – where people will take notice and listen. They want the public to view SHELTER as organization that not only provides relief but one that also brings about change by being a loud, strong voice for the “voiceless” in society.