Building Community Resilience through Employment-Based NGO Intervention: A Case Study of the Jang Wan Kha (Hire Me) Project for the Homeless in Bangkok, Thailand
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Abstract
This study examines how the “Jang Wan Kha” project, an employment-based intervention initiated by an NGO in Bangkok, Thailand, contributes to community resilience among homeless populations. Using a qualitative case study approach and in-depth interview with the project leader and post-homeless participants, the research identifies four key strategies that support collective resilience: (1) Capacity for building new mode of social reproduction, (2) Provision of care and its abeyance effects, (3) Leveraging political connections with state support, and (4) Being strategic actor in influencing state intentions. These interrelated strategies show how grassroots initiatives not only provide basic services but also foster mutual support networks, adaptive capacities, and long-term stability within vulnerable communities. Framed through the lens of community resilience, the study emphasizes how NGO-led interventions enable bottom-up responses to the homeless issues, especially in contexts where formal welfare structures are limited. Beyond the Thai context, this case offers transferable lessons for cities across the Global South facing urban inequality, aging homeless populations, and rising displacement. The findings underscore the potential for NGOs to bridge critical gaps in state provision and contribute to more inclusive, collaborative forms of urban governance. When state and civil society actors work in synergy rather than in conflict such partnerships can reinforce the social infrastructure necessary for communities to persist, adapt, and transform in the face of ongoing urban challenges.
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