FOR two weeks in April, the Shankars and their newborn daughter stayed at a temporary shelter for displaced families.

Home was a three-room HDB flat in Marsiling, which they shared with two other families.

Mr Shankar Ramu, 26, recalls: 'We took one room. One family was in the other room, and the other family was in the hall.'

They had no qualms about living in close proximity with others.

'Our daughter was only two months old, and we had nowhere to go.'

The Shankars were caught in a bind after their marriage last September.

They had applied for a subsidised HDB rental flat at the time, but were told they would have to wait a year or so.

They ruled out buying a new or resale flat because, with their unstable income and only $5,000 in CPF savings, they were not sure they could afford it.

Mr Shankar's predicament stems from having spent his early 20s in prison and not being able to find a better-paying job later because of his low educational qualifications.

He had studied only up to Secondary 3 level during his five years in jail.

After his release in 2006, he took up odd jobs moving furniture from homes.

He would earn $1,300 in a good month. But in other months, he had no work at all or failed to turn up for work, he admits during his interview with The Straits Times.

His wife Pushparani, 24, was earning $700 a month as a carpark attendant until she gave birth.

It did not help that Mr Shankar could not get along with his wife's family, and vice-versa.

The couple lived in separate places after their marriage: Mr Shankar at his sister's flat in Woodlands while his wife lived in her father's flat in Yishun.

Matters came to a head when their baby was born.

They sought help from Sembawang GRC MP Mohamad Maliki Osman and were given a place at a shelter run by New Hope Community Services, a voluntary welfare organisation.

The stay at the shelter gave Mr Shankar time to find a new job.

He now earns a regular monthly salary of $1,300 as a warden of a student hostel in Katong.

About $300 of his income goes towards renting a room in a friend's HDB flat in Boon Lay. A further $100-plus goes towards milk and diapers for four-month-

old Durgashini, and $100 to top up his ez-link card for travel on buses and MRT trains.

Some of the pay also goes to cigarettes for him, and pocket money for his wife.

He has set his priorities.

'My goal now is to work hard and bring up my daughter.'

He adds: 'We are waiting for our rental flat. If we like it, we will stay there.

'If not, we will save money and buy a flat.'

Hope and help for families without a home

A temporary home

The temporary shelter run by New Hope Community Services for displaced families is the first of its kind in Singapore.

Families are referred by family service centres and community development councils (CDCs).

They stay up to three months in HDB flats and pay a monthly fee of $50 to $150 which covers utilities.

Social workers help them in their search for longer-term housing, as well as in budgeting, finding a job and putting their children in school.

New Hope has helped 45 families since it opened in June last year.

If you know someone who needs help

ComCare Call hotline:1800-222-0000

They will link up the needy person with the right agency which can help, usually a family service centre or a CDC. Alternatively, go directly to a family service centre or a CDC.

HDB: 1800-225-5432

For information on subsidised rental flats.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on August 30, 2008.