Help us open an Accessible Wellbeing Centre 幫助我們開設無障礙身心福祉健康中
About YAMA Foundation
Yama Foundation makes yoga, arts and meditation accessible to people with disabilities and special needs.
Our therapies are not designed to "fix" a person's condition. Rather, we follow the yogic philosophy of acceptance. Through yoga, arts and meditation, people can find peace and confidence right here in their current situation. From a place of acceptance, transformation is possible.
The results have been astounding. We've seen children with ASD gain strength, balance and endurance, and learn to calm themselves with breathing techniques. We've seen a six-year-old with developmental delay run and jump for the first time, a non-verbal child find his voice, a secondary school student find peace amidst intense exam pressure, an 80-year-old find relief from chronic back pain, and we've seen smiles replace tears countless times.
The Need for a Centre
Since we started in 2016, we’ve been operating without a centre. We’ve been renting, borrowing, and scrambling to find suitable venues across the city for our sessions. It’s been a constant struggle to find venues with proper wheelchair access and facilities for people with special needs.
Wheelchair-accessible venues are few and far between and have limited availability.
Buildings with lifts often have steps before the lift which presents a challenge for anyone with mobility limitations.
Many of the venues we use aren’t designed for yoga, arts and meditation, e.g. cluttered spaces present challenges for children to focus and calm down.
For some of our programmes, our teachers arrive 2 hours early to check if the one lift is working. If it’s broken, the session has to be cancelled.
We have to fit our sessions around other people’s schedules and often struggle to give our beneficiaries their preferred times.
Whenever we have to move to a new venue, our students with SEN struggle to adjust. They prefer a consistent environment, especially when learning new things.
Our team spends a significant amount of time finding venues, organising schedules, negotiating contracts, setting up and clearing up spaces - time that could be better spent working directly with beneficiaries.
For too long, we’ve been asking our students to put up with cramped and cluttered spaces with inadequate facilities. They deserve a space purpose-built for them. A space that adapts to their needs, rather than the other way around.
The Goal
“Our goal is to open an Accessible Wellbeing Centre, purpose-built for people with disabilities and special needs.”
With a centre of our own, we can:
1) Hold more classes and serve more people
2) Ensure all special needs are met by experienced staff
3) Build an inclusive community where participants can meet others like them
4) Give our beneficiaries a better experience
5) Provide a space for the wider accessible wellbeing community in Hong Kong
“Everyone who walks through our doors will feel welcome, respected, and accepted as they are.”
How you can help
In total, we estimate the cost of renovations and rent for the first year to come to HK$1m.
You can help us make this a reality by:
Everything we've achieved so far has been a communal effort. Every child we have helped, you have helped. Every life we have changed, you have changed.
Let's do this like we've always done it:
Together.
“Together, we can make Hong Kong a kinder, more inclusive place for EVERYONE.”
With gratitude,
The YAMA Foundation team
香港需要一家無障礙身心福祉健康中心。
香港大約有一成的人口，那是約75萬人, 有殘疾或特殊教育需要。 然而，城市中的殘疾人士設施卻嚴重缺乏。 我們的學生告訴我們，即使是一些醫療中心也沒有輪椅通道。
需求
我們的瑜伽治療計劃幫助殘疾和有特殊需求的人士感受到身體賦予的力量。我們面臨的最大障礙之一是尋找可以容納到輪椅使用者或有特殊需求的人士的場地。這，是持續不斷的掙扎。
目標
擁有我們自己的無障礙身心福祉健康中心，給受益我們服務的人士專誠建立，將在很大程度上滿足這一需求。
這中心促使我們能夠為數以百計的人士提供服務。該中心的工作及管理人員都是專業兼富經驗於為殘疾、有特殊需求、長者和低收入背景的人士提供服務。每個踏入我們大門的人都會感到受歡迎、尊重和被接受。
基金
總括來說，我們預計第一年的裝修和租金成本將達到 100 萬港元。
您可給予的幫助
您可以透過以下方式幫助我們實現這一目標:
直接捐款到
參與我們的重返身心福祉籌款活動
與您的網絡分享我們的使命
我們大家攜手合作，讓香港成為一個更友善, 讓每一個人都被包容的地方。
感恩地致上,
YAMA基金會團隊