CityUHK Launches Community Chilling Hub

City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) launched an integrated support hub for residents affected by a major fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on 26 November. The Community Chilling Hub, established with funding from China Hongqiao Group Limited, provides a one-stop service for physical, mental, social, and spiritual wellness without age or economic limits.

Professor Cherry Tam, an Associate Professor from the Department of Social and Behavioural Science, explained the university's rapid response. She said it was not a strategic plan but an instinct driven by the institution's mission to engage with and contribute to society. Within five days, by 1 December, CityUHK had organised a public lecture on resilience and mobilised psychosocial support.

From Immediate Response to Sustained Support

The initial focus was on primary school pupils impacted by the trauma. Professor Tam's team, partnering with an NGO and university senior management, invited children onto campus. They used adapted cartoon storytelling and artistic drawing to help them externalise fears. Tam stressed the importance of listening and normalising reactions. "Silence is a very, very important signal," she said.

Hope was central to this process. Bringing children to campus was symbolic. It aimed to reframe their identity around future possibility, not just trauma. "Even though university feels like it's a long way off, bringing them onto campus gives them hope for the future," Tam explained.

Recognising that frontline professionals also felt overwhelmed, the department launched a full-day trauma-informed workshop by early January. This "train the trainer" model aimed to build sustainable, distributed capacity within the professional ecosystem for future crises.

A New Model for Integrated Care

The Community Chilling Hub was created to offer longer-term, sustainable support. It draws on interdisciplinary expertise in social work, counselling, psychology, criminology, and sociology. Tam criticised existing Hong Kong services for being fragmented, often limited by age or socioeconomic criteria. "The services nowadays in Hong Kong to handle mental wellness-related issues are quite fragmented," she said.

The hub's model is deliberately inclusive. "Without age limit, without economic limit. Anyone can come here. It is a very inclusive service," Tam stated. It integrates health screening, mental health support, social services, and spiritual well-being in a single, welcoming space.

A key component is social prescribing, an approach first developed in the United Kingdom. Tam said traditional mental health systems are "very diagnostic oriented, very medical oriented." Social prescribing connects people to community resources and social support through trained community link workers. These volunteers are drawn from university students and local residents.

Building Community Capacity

The university provides basic training for these volunteers. They are then linked with families to co-design tailored "social prescriptions." This process also builds social capital, creating a local pool of resources. If evidence shows the model is effective, CityUHK hopes to present it to the Hong Kong government as a scalable alternative to improve existing services.

Professor Tam framed the entire initiative as part of the university's DNA to work with the community and break down institutional silos. The Community Chilling Hub is an attempt to close the cracks through which people often fall. It represents a blueprint for human care that is responsive, inclusive, and sustainable, starting with the people it serves.