CAUSE

Time to Care

Being Neighbourly x Jeff Rotmeyer, Love 21

Author/ Being Neighbourly
14 February 2025

I like the name, ‘Being Neighbourly’”, Jeff Rotmeyer, Founder of charity Love 21 tells me, “because that’s precisely the point. We should be doing our best to care for our neighbours, especially during such challenging times. It seems we are hearing so many messages and narratives telling us reasons to not care for others. A huge part of a love 21’s holistic model is in educating about the strengths and needs of the neurodiverse community so that they will be more accepted and cared for when they step outside.”

“That is the kind of community I want to live in,” he continues.

Rotmeyer came to Hong Kong as a NET teacher and worked in the public primary school system for 13 years, though he jumped early on into charity work here. He says that his voluntary work leading a sports team comprising of mixed Autistic and Down Syndrome players soon became a highlight of his week and set the scene for the eventual founding of Love 21.

What might seem to be a disparate clientele, Rotmeyer says, is actually not. According to him, people with Autism and Down Syndrome actually complement each other. “People with autism are sometimes socially awkward and find it hard to be around others and connect, while people with Down Syndrome are genuinely loving and their authenticity brings out the best in people, making our autistic friends feel accepted and quite comfortable,” he explains.

“I am not an expert in neurodivergent disorders but I’m definitely a good friend to the community and am doing my best to learn each day. This community has given me so much and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of this community and support in anyway I can,” he shares.

At the root of both of the charities he heads (Rotmeyer also founded Impact HK to serve the homeless of Hong Kong) is a holistic methodology that encourages whole person development that encompasses: public education and engagement, such as going in to schools to plant the seeds of change; medical services, counselling support and sports programs; even employment opportunities.

“At Love 21, we offer 60 different kinds of sports activities. We’ve just launched a volleyball class and we offer dragon boating, Zumba dancing, and so on. The list is long,” he says, adding that exercise is an essential part of their offer.

Recalling his volunteering days as a team captain, he shares, “Back when I was volunteering, the team I was given was 75% Down Syndrome and 25% Autistic, but now those numbers have flipped, and about 75% of our nearly 500 members at Love 21 are Autistic. Down Syndrome is the most common genetic diagnosis, but the Down Syndrome community in Hong Kong is decreasing, because most fetuses who are discovered to carry it are aborted.”

Regretful as he sounds, Rotmeyer is quick to acknowledge the realities: that parents of special needs children have a very difficult lot and are often as much in need of support as their children. ‘Over 60% of our parents are single mothers, probably in many cases because the situation was too difficult for the partnership to survive, although we do have some great fathers in the picture too.”

One of the ways in which the charity’s 15 full-time staff and its volunteers, offer support is to help parents deal with the difficulties of being out with their kids, as many parents are reluctant to leave the house for fear of public judgement.

“It’s time to care,” he says, adding that he sees donors as essential partners in change. We are living in a city where there are so many needs and people struggling. It would be so great to see more people contributing.”

“We have over 200 families on our waiting list. The only thing preventing us from bringing these families in now is a lack of funding,” he says, adding that from a funder perspective, their clients should graduate and leave, making room for new clients to come in, but that one year in their program, for example, is just not enough. “I don’t want them to leave, to graduate. I want them to stay on and feel supported.”

What is the best thing about the work that you do?

“The recent AIA Carnival was an amazing moment for me,” says Jeffrey Rotmeyer, Founder of charity Love 21.

“One of our autistic friends, a gentle giant of six feet who is non-verbal, was waiting for his dance performance to begin, and listening to the music ahead of his moment, just started moving to the beat with such freedom. This is someone who really struggled in his early days with us.

Watching him on stage later, dancing freely in front of a large audience with such confidence was so beautiful. We are seeing all of our members making small and big strides forward daily. When we give this community real opportunities and care, they will only keep surprising and inspiring us with their abilities.”

Love 21 Office
1102, 11/F, Artisan Lab, 21 Luk Hop Street, San Po Kong, Kowloon.

Love 21 Space
2/F, Artisan Lab, 21 Luk Hop Street, San Po Kong, Kowloon.