Urgent call for help for the homeless persons in Barbados

The Barbados Vagrants & Homeless Society is calling on Government and the private sector for urgent help to prepare for the Hurricane Isaac and generally the hurricane season.

President of the Homeless Society , Kemar Saffrey held a press conference yesterday at their headquarters, he stated “We have a possible hurricane on its way, if it does hit us we have to look at the fact that we have homeless persons that would be affected and we are trying to
see if we can swiftly work to get a shelter put in place.”

“We have identified the building, we just need the governments assistance in terms of getting it ready if that means a rental for the next three months. It is urgent, we want to get this in place by now and Wednesday. The building is hurricane proof and it is ready to go we just need assistance to get mats etc, we will provide the staffing, clothing and food. The shelter is in the heart of Bridgetown. We are reaching out to Government, private and anyone that can help us to get this shelter up and running.”

He indicated, “This is urgent attention, but it is an easy fix, the building is there, the landlord is ready, we just want the building ready with the cots inside and having the rental paid. We are not only looking at the shelter only for Thursday coming, we need to look at it for the hurricane season and having this place also for long term use. The plan is that this building will be the home for the organisation as well.”

“We want to use it right now for the hurricane season, but we need support to pay the rent for the next couple of months to at least deal with the hurricane season. It is already hurricane proof and at this moment we need cots. To rent the building will be about 40 000, but we don’t necessarily need that full amount for this Thursday, if we rent the building for the month [it] would be approximately $4 000…” (NB)