Chi Man is a man of few words, but is rarely without a smile. The 29-year-old was born with an intellectual disability into a family of 5 brothers and sisters, all similarly disabled.
“If people with intellectual disabilities can’t work,” says his supervisor, “they simply live at home on their welfare allowance. Giving them a job helps them integrate into society.”
Since 2011, Crossroads has employed Chi Man and two others as our on-site cleaning team. We found Chi Man through a creative Hong Kong social enterprise that trains and finds jobs for intellectually disabled adults. It is a privilege to have him: his cheerful presence is a delight to all he meets and greets on the job.
In Hong Kong, social enterprise is increasingly seeing small businesses developed that are employing people who might not, otherwise, easily find work. Crossroads is committed to being part of this movement. Social enterprise is one of the tenets of our ethos. As, Jacqueline Novorogratz, CEO of Acumen, puts it, aptly:
“It’s about all of us, and the kind of world that we, together, want to live in and share.”
