New Chairman of the Board at the Barbados Vagrants and Homeless Society (BVHS), Anthony Da Silva, who also serves as Chairman of Innotech Services Limited, speaks about the push to get the BVHS a new home. He was accompanied by (from left) BVHS Founder and President, Kemar Saffrey; Vice Chairman of the Board, Imran Richards; and Board Member, Andre Walke.
SEARCH IS ON!
Tue, 04/05/2016 - 12:00am
BVHS looking for new home
By:
Regina Selman Moore
THE Barbados Vagrants and Homeless Society (BVHS) is seeking a new home it can officially call its own and as such, the Board of Management is in talks with Government to find an adequate building in the parish of St. Michael, with at least 10 000 square feet of space.
New Chairman of the Board at the BVHS, Anthony Da Silva, who also serves as Chairman of Innotech Services Limited, revealed the above to members of the media yesterday, during a press conference convened at Innotech’s Complex located at Warrens Industrial Park in St. Michael, at which the new BVHS Board was introduced.
“What struck me and the Board Members as well when we had our meeting of the newly-constituted Board and what we have come to realise is that we as a Society responsible for the homeless are ourselves homeless, in the sense that we do not have a fixed location that belongs to the Society for the purpose of carrying out the charitable business of the Society. And I know all of the Board members felt that that was something that we should address,” Da Silva remarked.
“We operate in Tudor Street from rented accommodation and while that has served the Society well thus far, it does not belong to us and therefore, there are certain restrictions,” he stressed.
“We feel that the Government of Barbados is a good partner and has been a good partner for the Society over the years and therefore, we felt that the Government could lend some assistance in that regard,” Da Silva further stated.
Noting that a meeting was held between BVHS officials and Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment and Community Development Steven Blackett earlier this year, Da Silva revealed that a meeting is scheduled with Minister of Housing and Land Denis Kellman today, to press ahead with the matter of finding the BVHS a new home.
The BVHS Board Chairman noted that Government has some properties, inclusive of some that are derelict, which the BVHS does not mind renovating and as such, the BVHS has identified some potential buildings that may be suitable and the meeting will be held to weigh the options.
Meanwhile, Founder and President of the BVHS Kemar Saffrey has noted that the charity wants to have its own multi-purpose facility, tailored in such a way as to better serve the homeless and fully expand on BVHS’ programmes. He acknowledged that a number of potential partners are also standing by ready to lend assistance to the Society, but first, the Society needs Government’s help in locating a new home, so it can give them word that it is now fully able to carry out its mandate of providing a stimulating environment for vagrants and homeless persons, to give them optimum opportunities to transition back to self-sufficiency and be reintegrated into society.