Mom still in search of home, job

A homeless mother who came to the public last month asking for help is still fighting to find a home for her family.

Cheriann Doyle, who was thrown out of the Black Rock, St Michael house where she was living with her maternal aunt and grandmother said after Barbados TODAY highlighted her plight on June 3, she was contacted by officials at the Welfare Department who informed her about the process she must follow in order to qualify for housing assistance.

Doyle, who was recently diagnosed with lupus, said she filled out the application form online as she was told and is now in the process of looking for a landlord who would be willing to accept the payment of the rental fee from the Welfare Department.

But, the 31-year-old mother of a five-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter said finding a landlord who would be willing to accept payment from the Government agency has thus far proven to be a difficult task, though she continues to search every day.

“I am still fighting the good fight, trying to get through every day and hopefully something will happen soon regarding housing, and regarding a job,” she said.

Doyle, whose mother died from the autoimmune disease 12 years ago, went to live with her mother’s family sometime in March after they removed her from her rental property because she had gotten sick and was unable to work to meet her financial commitments.

She recalled that after living with her relatives for a few weeks, her condition worsened and she had to be rushed to the hospital where tests determined that she had lupus.

Doyle said a few weeks after being discharged from the hospital, her aunt informed her that she could no longer stay at her grandmother’s Black Rock home and insisted that she find an apartment to rent. However, Doyle said she immediately told her aunt that she would be unable to pay rent because she is unemployed.

On the night of May 28 Doyle and her five-year-old son were forced to stay with a friend after she was asked to leave. However, Doyle who said she will always be grateful to the friend for allowing her to stay at their home indicated that she does not want to overstay her welcome.

She said: “I am very thankful, but I really am looking hard for somewhere.”

Doyle has also been hunting for a job with little luck. The talented cook and baker, said that she has not only been going around to bakeries and cookshops seeking employment, but she has also visited gas stations inquiring whether there were any job vacancies. She said she has also sent out numerous job application forms.

Several Barbados TODAY’s readers have also reached out to Doyle and assisted her with food supplies for which she offered her gratitude.

“I would just like to say a big thank you to those people for really helping me out in my time of need. I really am trying to find work. Every time I see jobs that I can do advertising on Facebook I would try to apply. Right now anything is better than nothing.

“It doesn’t have to be cooking and baking which I am accustomed to doing. It could be housekeeping work; I am willing to try it. I am just really hoping to get something started at least for when school starts back in September so that I can get my daughter, who is with her father now because of my situation, to be with me,” Doyle said. (AH)