SINGAPORE – Almost every day, stroke survivor April Kwek makes the 45-minute journey from her home in Boon Lay to the Enabling Village in Redhill to join wellness activities such as adaptative table tennis and seated tai chi.

“It’s like my second home – I meet so many friends here,” said Madam Kwek, 58, of the inclusive community space in Lengkok Bahru, which repurposed the old Bukit Merah Vocational Institute. “This place has everything, including cafes.”

Just over 10 years since national disability agency SG Enable established the space in 2015 to demonstrate how persons with disability (PWDs) can live, learn and work alongside the wider community, clients and tenants at Enabling Village said they are bullish about its long-term prospects.

Mr Edward Chew, senior director for SG Enable’s employment and lifelong learning group, noted that the village’s monthly footfall has increased from 12,000 to 22,000, compared with the same period a year ago.

With the space currently at 100 per cent occupancy, visitorship is expected to keep increasing as more tenants commence operations, he added.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the village’s average monthly footfall was about 26,000. Following the

closure of its FairPrice supermarket

Ms Jacelyn Lim, executive director of the Autism Resource Centre (ARC), said the pandemic years were particularly challenging. ARC operates The Art Faculty, which sells art and merchandise created by people with autism and related challenges, as well as the Employability and Employment Centre (E2C) at Enabling Village.