Walking through the ups and downs, for decades we have been upholding our service motto “Children come first” to care for our children with intellectual disabilities along their life journeys, as well as to witness the Association’s development in various aspects of our work.
In mid-1960s, a teaching class was set up at a church (Union Church) to provide education to children with special needs.
The Association’s first special school – Morninghill School was set up in 1965. The school was later renamed as Lions Morninghill School with generous funding support received from the Lions Club International District 303 – Hong Kong & Macau, China for the setup of a proper school building in 1968. The school was moved to its current campus in 1974 and renamed as Hong Chi Lions Morninghill School.
In 1973, the Association took over Pinehill Village from Christian Children’s Fund and gradually turned the different architectures into various service units, serving some 30 children of different ages and grades of intellectual disabilities.
The Pinehill Pre-school Centre was opened in 1973, which was the first of its kind in Hong Kong to provide residential care to pre-school children.
Between 1970s and 1980s, several training centres were set up by the Association, and were later adopted into the education system as special schools in 1979.
The Pinehill Village Advanced Training Centre (later titled as Hong Chi Pinehill Integrated Vocational Training Centre) was set up in 1976, which was the first vocational training centre in Hong Kong that provided residential services.
In photo: Visited by the then Governor of Hong Kong Sir Murray MacLehose.
In 1980, the Chai Wan Morninglight Centre started to provide additional classes for students with mild intellectual disabilities and became Hong Kong’s first mixed grade special school. The school later changed its name to Rotary Club of Hong Kong Island West Hong Chi Morninghope School.
The Association’s first sheltered workshop – Kwong Fuk Workshop was set up on 1987. Later it was renamed as Hong Chi Kwong Fuk Wai Yin Workshop.
The Association set up the first small-group home “Little House” in 1989 in Pinehill Village, which was a hostel for children with mild intellectual disabilities to receive individual care and training in a family setting. The service was pioneered by the Association and was later adopted as a government policy. The Association’s small-group homes are subsequently described as Hong Chi Children Home.
In the 90s, the Association began to set up a variety of services, such as sheltered workshops, day activity centres and hostels, etc., to cater for the needs of people with different grades of intellectual disabilities.
In photo: Lady Natasha Wilson visiting Kwong Fuk Workshop in 1991.
In 1990, the Association pioneered the Supported Employment Service to assist people from mild to moderate intellectual disabilities in seeking open employment, as well as to provide pre-job training, on-the-job supervision and supportive services.
In 1997, the Association changed its name from “The Hong Kong Association for the Mentally Handicapped” to “Hong Chi Association”, which means “to assist the intellectually challenged”.
Since 1999, the Association has set up various social enterprises for trainees to receive job training and placement in real-life environment.
In 2003, the Association set up the Hong Chi Fanling Integrative Rehabilitation Complex at the former site of Fanling Hospital, which is the first service complex that adopts an integrative mode to provide one-stop services.
To cater for the aging needs of elderly trainees with intellectual disabilities, the Association has launched the “Hong Chi Elder Care Programme” since 2005 to address to the physical, mental, spiritual and nursing needs of elderly trainees.
Started since 2015, the three-year Pinehill Village Development Project has reached a completion to provide a series of new services that benefit more people in need.
The Association’s flagship social enterprise restaurant hc:Bistro was set up in Tai Kwun in 2018 to provide job training and employment opportunities to trainees with intellectual disabilities.
In 2020, the Association’s 14th special school opened in Tung Chung, which is the first special school in Hong Kong that provides education to students with mild, moderate and severe grades of intellectual disabilities with boarding facility.
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