In celebration of Habitat Young Leaders Build, we have invited one of our Development Committee members, Thomas Huang, to share why he decided to volunteer his time and expertise to the team and why he strongly believes that the younger generation can create an impact on the housing crisis in Hong Kong. Thomas is a young entrepreneur, co-founder and COO of Happyer.io, and our youngest committee member! He said, ”I think it will be the younger generation that will successfully address the housing crisis. The younger generation is hungry for change and is willing to do something about it”.   

  

Thomas shared a story from his first volunteer experience with us when he went to his first Youth Build in mainland China, ”My mother always shared stories of her struggles, as a Cambodian refugee, escaping genocide and living without a home. It wasn’t until I went on my first Youth Build in rural China that I encountered homelessness first hand and saw the effects it had on struggling families. It felt so rewarding to provide homes, shelter and more importantly a sense of belonging for these families through fundraising, building and raising awareness around the cause”.   

  

He continued to share how powerful the younger generation is and the impact that they can create. ”We have a superpower that those before didn’t have – interconnectedness and technology. We all have social media, phones, computers and new technology that’s emerging.  We can easily keep up with what’s going on around the world, see what’s working elsewhere and come together to replicate solutions to serious problems, like the housing crisis. We are very adaptable to new technologies and new ways of doing things, which give us an edge in coming together and making an impact”.   

  

Thank you to Thomas for his continuous support, devoted time and expertise to Habitat Hong Kong. We appreciate his new and innovative ideas, which help us in achieving our vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. We hope his story can inspire more youth to make their mark in the world and become the changemakers of the future.  

 

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