This is the story of seven parents who live together in a shophouse in Singapore.
Uncle Chee usually goes up first. Aunt Lydia started the day with oats and blueberries. Uncle Cheong often goes to the nearby hawker centre, sometimes returning with hawker from the 7-Eleven next door.
Some days, the place is filled with more people than locals. On the Tuesday morning I visited in September, Camino House, an assisted-living home, was a flurry of activity. The preschoolers had arrived for the painting session, filling the shop with chatter and laughter.
It is also home to the Joo Chiat Social Club, which hosts art, cooking, and other activities that bring residents together with children, volunteers, and other community members. Rebecca Toh for Business Insider.
This is exactly the kind of interaction Mariel Chee and Bennett Lee, both 32, hoped to foster when they founded Camino House.
Instead of building a traditional care facility, he wanted to create a place where people from all walks of life could interact.
“One that is beautiful and welcoming, not clinical or institutional. Wherever we would like to grow old ourselves,” Chee told Business Insider.
Shops are part of Singapore’s heritage. As the name suggests, the ground floor of a shophouse is usually used for commercial purposes, while people live upstairs. Rebecca Toh for Business Insider.
Chee, an artist with a background in early childhood development, and Lee, an engineer, were childhood friends who later married. Lee also grew up in eldercare: both of his parents are doctors and founded other life providers in Singapore.
For Chee, the project is also personal. His father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in his mid-60s. Chee and his sister were still in school at the time.
“It’s hard, because he’s so young and nobody knows how to take care of him,” he said.
Mariel Chee and Bennett Lee are the founders of Camino House and Joo Chiat Social Club. Rebecca Toh for Business Insider.
The middle ground between home and nursing home
Populations are aging worldwide, raising important questions about how older people will survive and receive care.
By 2026, Singapore will become a “super-aged” society, with 21.4% of its citizens aged 65 or over. About 152,000 residents are now 80 and over, up 60% from 91,000 in 2016.
For older Singaporeans who are unable to live independently, care is usually provided to family members, sometimes supplemented by home services, or to nursing homes.
Camino House is currently home to 7 residents, aged between 70 and 93. Rebecca Toh for Business Insider.
Camino House is part of a small but growing private sector in Singapore that serves the elderly who need daily support but do not take care of themselves.
It is one of five providers in Singapore’s 2023 initiative to test shared care for groups of seniors living together – a country model that will eventually be formalized by the end of 2025.
Live at Camino House
The seven residents of Camino House range in age from 69 to 93.
Built between the 1840s and 1960s, shophouses once dominated Singapore’s pre-war urban landscape, with businesses on the ground floor and living quarters above. Public property records show the colorful two-storey shop in Joo Chiat, a neighborhood in eastern Singapore, was bought for $3.5 million Singapore dollars in 2020.
A big part of what keeps residents connected to the wider community is the Joo Chiat Social Club, which houses most of the activities on the ground floor of the building. Rebecca Toh for Business Insider.
There are six bedrooms – four singles and two twins – each with an en suite bathroom. An elevator connects the two floors of the building. Three health workers work in shifts, including overnight, to provide round-the-clock support.
When there isn’t a doctor on site at the store, there is a clinic a five-minute walk away, Chee said.
For many families, especially those with relatives living abroad, the guarantee is not only that their loved ones are safe, but also that they stay connected with people they know.
Christine Yee, a Singaporean who has lived in the US for almost two decades, told Business Insider that Camino House felt like a “godsend.”
His mother, Mary, 93, was the first resident. “It’s like a family, so my mom doesn’t feel like she’s being dropped anywhere,” Yee said.
The caregivers, dressed in green, also brought their own talents to the mix, singing, dancing, and playing music during activity sessions for residents. Rebecca Toh for Business Insider.
Bring the environment inside
A big part of what keeps residents connected to the wider community is the Joo Chiat Social Club, which hosts most activities on the ground floor of the building.
This half-day program includes exercise, cooking, and rattan weaving, sometimes with volunteers or children from a nearby preschool.
This activity is open to all Camino House residents. “The idea is to let them choose what they want,” Lee told Business Insider.
The social club also welcomes non-resident participants, with a one-session pass costing approximately S$100, which covers the cost of activities, lunch, and care support during the session. Multi-session pass bundles are also available.
The three-hour sessions run three times a week, with plans to expand the program to daily over the next year, Chee said. There is no age limit, although pass holders are usually between 70 and 90.
Preschoolers, students, and other volunteers regularly join residents for these sessions, sometimes helping to lead them. Rebecca Toh for Business Insider.
“When young and old adults meet repeatedly over time to create and learn together, the dynamic changes from ‘doing something for seniors’ to ‘doing something with seniors,’ with both generations participating as active partners,” Vivien Wu, assistant professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore, told Business Insider.
Participating in shared activities can help people bridge language and cognitive barriers, reduce social anxiety, and challenge assumptions about aging, she said.
Chee and Lee aren’t the first to try the idea. Intergenerational programs have paired senior care with child care centers in the US, including Providence Mount St. Vincent in Seattle and St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care in Milwaukee.
Over time, casual encounters can become genuine friendships. Rebecca Toh for Business Insider.
Yee said she appreciates the club’s activities give her mother a regular opportunity to interact with people of different ages and backgrounds.
“Older people get this excitement from kids, whether it’s their antics or their energy or their innocence,” he said.
Cost of care, and society
The average cost of assisted living in the US is $5,511 per month, although prices vary by location. The Boston metro area had the highest average, at $9,577 per month.
In Singapore, there is no public data on the costs of these shared housing providers, partly because the space is still small and the government only made the model a standard care option in December. The high-rise assisted living development that opened in August costs between S$8,900 and S$17,000 per month, or $6,952 and $13,280.
At Camino House, monthly fees start from S$4,500, or $3,515, depending on the type of room and the level of care required. This includes meals, laundry, and daily housekeeping.
Victor Lee, a resident of Camino House, said its social atmosphere has helped people come out of their shells. Rebecca Toh for Business Insider.
For Victor Lee, 70, living at Camino House has brought him out of his shell.
After a bad fall three years ago, Lee realized she needed more support than she could to live alone in her two-story apartment. He then moved in and paid S$5,800 a month for a one-room suite.
“I’m the one talking the most now,” he told Business Insider.
Like any family, living at a distance can lead to disagreements and tension, Chee said. But it means getting to know residents in a way that goes beyond care planning.
“We know his favorite songs, his history, even his love story. It feels like we are walking with him, until the end,” he said.