About Us

Aranya Sangha Dana Fellowship Limited (Aranya) is a charity organisation that supports community-based Buddhist monastics in Singapore who live in the community and age with dignity. Aranya supports a network of more than 100 community-based Buddhist monastics who are senior or live alone, and have challenges managing their multiple health and social care needs. We aspire to enable them to continue their spiritual practice and live in the community healthy and well.

Aranya provides healthcare support and social assistance such as medical escort, volunteer visits, befriending, legal consultation, information and referral, annual spring cleanings, end-of-life preparation and palliative care. We also organise merit making events for lay Buddhists to rejoice in festive celebrations and make offerings to the community-based Sangha.

Our team consists of staff and volunteers from all walks of life, including Buddhist monastics, professionals, working adults, homemakers and retirees.

vision

Monastics in Singapore empowered to age well with the support of the Buddhist community. 

Mission

To consolidate the lay Buddhist community’s resources to support monastics in the fulfilment of their aspirations to practise the Buddha Dhamma, to enable them to age well, and with dignity.

Objectives

To enhance the well-being and quality of life, particularly for ageing monastics, by addressing the challenges of deteriorating mental and physical conditions through professional social work case management.

To improve the quality of life of ageing monastics with life-limiting illnesses.

To bring the Buddhist community together to care and support the ageing monastics.

To alleviate the suffering caused by ageing and illness among monastics and provide support in alignment with the propagation of Buddhism.

To promote mental well-being and healthy living among monastics, adhering to the Buddhist Vinaya (code of conduct).

To groom and nurture the young monastic community, fostering their spiritual growth, education, and well-being, with the aim of ensuring the continuous propagation of the Dhamma through the teachings and practices to the next generation of Buddhist monks and nuns.

Operations & Funding

To support the growing community of ageing monastics, whose needs include medical care and psycho-social support, Aranya relies totally on generous donations from devotees and largely on pro bono professional services.

As a registered charity, our annual operating budget expenditure is significantly spent on social services such as case management, medical kappiya, volunteer visits, vihara improvement and management of volunteers. Costs of organising regular merit-making events to allow devotees to partake in the support of the monastics, are kept low.