The Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness (BAEH) has expressed sadness at the passing of one of its clients, while calling on authorities to do more to protect the homeless.
President Kemar Saffrey said the 77-year-old man, whose lifeless body was found in a phone booth at Independence Square in The City around 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, had been a client of the BAEH for almost a decade.
At the time of publication, the deceased’s name had not yet been released.
Saffrey described the elderly man, whom he said preferred to be on the streets, as “a quiet, private guy who made friends easily at his favourite spot in Independence Square”.
“After getting the call from police, I would have gone through his file and I would have seen that I was the one who signed him to be a member in 2012. We would have worked with him. When he first came to us, he said that he wanted counselling and he wanted some assistance with housing and assistance with other things and we would have worked with him to assist him where we could,” he said.
Saffrey regretted that even after many overtures and help from the BAEH, the man opted to remain on the streets, but would receive his meals and other assistance from the charity.
“He was always somebody that we would feed. We would go to him, we would give him different stuff if he neededs it, we would check on him and it sad to see that he died having been in the streets for so long,” he added.
Sharon Bellamy-Thompson, founder of the Fishers of Men charity that caters to the needs of just over 100 homeless persons daily, said she had helped the now-deceased man for more than 15 years.
“He used to be down town at Jubilee Gardens but . . . since he was unable to walk, every morning I have been coming for the last six years to feed him with his meals. Up to yesterday, I came here, even in the hurricane I came here, and he was in that said phone booth he died in. I am so shocked because he was very respectful to me and if I don’t see him, I would leave his food here by the taxi men, so it is a shock for me,” Bellamy-Thompson said.
Saffrey, meantime, stressed that authorities must not turn a blind eye to vulnerable people on the streets.
“There is a need for more care and services to be provided to the homeless elderly so they don’t find themselves in such a predicament,” he said.
Saffrey said the BAEH would provide all necessary assistance to ensure the deceased was properly laid to rest.
(sandydeane@barbadostoday,b.b)
