Page 15 - 香港房屋協會 Hong Kong Housing Society Annual Report 2020/2021

香港房屋協會 2020/21 年度年報
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It has been a year like no other, bringing with it the worst and best of times.
The coronavirus epidemic had exacted a devastating toll along the path it travelled, taking lives and shattering economies. It has been the worst of times for the global economy as the pandemic sent most countries into one of their worst recessions ever.
Despite the vaccine rollout in Hong Kong, a full recovery had yet to be in place as businesses are still struggling with social distancing measures in force while unemployment rate hovering at high levels.
Some of our residents were struggling under the pandemic, no doubt about it as applications for rent assistance hit record high. To help the community ride through the tough patch, we rolled out multiple rounds of rent concessions for our domestic and commercial tenants in an effort to alleviate their financial burden and keep them going.
To take it further, we initiated a matching donation campaign to raise funds for residents encountering financial difficulties, as well as charity bodies in hopes of supporting them to go the extra mile.
A month-long Bounce Back Together Shopping Promotion Campaign was launched during which 90,000 sets of coupons worth $100 each were delivered to our tenants and stakeholders, giving them a lift and providing vitality to the community.
These acts of kindness were a throwback to the early days when a similar sense of empathy and philanthropic spirit helped establish the Housing Society to address the housing shortage consequent to the influx of refugees after World War II.
Since then, we have brought that human element into our more than 70 years of journey of creating homes and reviving communities, and made it the guiding principle underlying every aspect of our work as we strive forward.
CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT 主席報告
過去一年是史無前例的一年，也是衝破逆 境、迎向光明的一年。
新冠肺炎疫情肆虐，既奪去寶貴生命，也使 經濟蒙上陰霾，各地損失慘重。疫情令環球 經濟經歷最壞時期，多國陷入歷來最嚴峻的 經濟衰退。
儘管疫苗接種計劃在香港推行，但經濟仍有 待全面復甦，企業受社交距離措施所限，掙 扎求存，且失業率持續在高位徘徊。
部分住戶在疫情下生活艱苦，申請租金援助 的個案創下新高。為協助社群度過難關，我 們向住宅及商業租戶推出多輪租金寬免措 施，以紓緩他們的財務負擔及維持生計。
為進一步協助社區，我們推行配對方式的捐 款活動，以支援陷入經濟困難的住戶，並捐 贈慈善機構，務求令其發揮更大力量。
房協推行為期一個月的「同心 • 再撐起」消費 推廣活動，期間向租戶及持份者派發九萬套 現金代用券，每套代用券價值一百港元，為 他們打氣，也為社區注入活力。
追本溯源，房協正是在慈善互助的理念下成 立，以解決第二次世界大戰後難民湧入本港 帶來的房屋短缺問題，因此，今天我們亦竭 盡全力回饋社會。
房協自成立至今七十餘年秉持人文關懷的精 神，致力為市民創建家園，振興社區發展， 更以此為宗旨，推進各方面工作。