ACS met with Rachel Chow, Resource Development Manager at Teen’s Key, to understand how the ACS Community Support Platform has helped Teen’s Key:

1. What services does Teen’s Key provide?

We provide immediate crisis-intervention, case follow-up, post crisis psychological and explorational life-enrichment programs to abused local young females including underage sex workers, pregnant teens & young moms. Teen’s Key also provides sex education classes and free STD screening. So far it has supported more than 13,000 marginalized young women. Our work focuses mainly on sexual and reproductive health issues and offers holistic treatment to our clients in crisis. We are the first recognized young women-led S88 charity helping marginalized young women gain access to holistic information, services and support they need in such situations.

2. How were your clients affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, especially during the 5th wave crisis in March 2022?

Some disadvantaged young women and girls who tested positive for COVID-19 or underwent compulsory home quarantine were left isolated. There was only limited basic food items, medical and hygiene products. They felt they were living without much hope or social support.

Among our clients, many are young mothers with multiple caregiving roles in their families, looking after siblings or elderly relatives. Others live alone. Poor living conditions increased their susceptibility to virus infection.

3. How did Teen’s Key collaborate with the ACS to cope with the high demand for services from your clients?

With the vital support of generous donors and sponsors who connected with us through the Community Support Platform, Teen’s Key was able to offer emergency funding and psychological support to women in need across Hong Kong, especially those living in sub-divided flats with shared toilets. Our staff and volunteers went to densely populated and remote areas to deliver more than 500 food packs and care packages to those living in challenging conditions.

200 families obtained the anti-pandemic emergency packs while 100 young women in severe distress received mental distress therapy.

4. What are Teen’s Key’s future plans?

We will continue to empower girls and young women through education and financial support. Our plans include organizing Key for Girls post-crisis life enrichment workshops and providing marginalized girls and young women with living subsidies. We would also like to help some of our clients return to school and
arrange professional counselling service for them.

With the help of sponsors and donors, our clients have increased tremendously in the past 11 years. We will continue to reach out for more patrons to support our work.

Having said that, we are currently seeking passionate and skilled professionals to volunteer with us! Feel free to contact info@teenskey.org for more details.

Current skill sets in need:

• Gynecologists, dermatologists, venereologist,  psychologists, psychiatrists, and other sexual health professionals 
• Content translation (Traditional Chinese < > English)
• PR and fundraising event organizer
• Legal and accounting

5. What message would like to share with the public?

I wish to stress that our clients are not victims but powerful young women who just need unfailing support to get out of crisis and move on to the next phase of their lives. We believe vulnerability can be a strength.