BAEH President wants two young people off the streets and back in safe homes

The Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness (BAEH) cannot provide all of the social interventions necessary to assist a growing number of people, particularly youth, in search of shelter.

This was the persistent message from BAEH president Kemar Saffrey as he made a passionate appeal for two mentally-challenged young people to come off of the streets.

He was responding to reports about the plight of Amaris Gittens, 19, and her 22-year-old boyfriend Enrique Marshall who have been living in Heroes’ Square for the last two years.

According to a report in yesterday’s Barbados TODAY epaper, the romantic relationship has failed to secure support from relatives on both sides. Gittens also alleges that she was sexually abused at home. As a result, the two have opted to stay on the streets.

Saffrey said the two young people were offered a range of services including shelter at the BAEH building in Bridgetown, but they opted not to accept housing because they would be unable to sleep together.

The activist, who the day before described their relationship as “puppy love”, said he had spoken to the parents of both young people who said it was perfectly safe for them to return home. He said that Marshall has agreed to return to his mother’s house but there is some uncertainty about Gittens’ situation.

“I think people are wrapped in the fact that Saffrey said ‘puppy love’ which is teenage affection in the dictionary… when we should be really spending time addressing how to address these young people, because most times it is talk  rather than action from people” declared Saffrey. He appeared to be responding to a barrage of criticism from social media sites criticising his response to the plight of the two and his reference to their relationship.

“We have done more than enough for them, we are pushing beyond what we can do for them, but without help from other institutions, sometimes you are hitting a brick wall. Sometimes the clients themselves allow you to hit a brick wall, because in this case, these young people both have homes that they can go back to.

“I just came out of a call with the young man’s mother and the young lady’s mother and we discussed a number of things… In the young lady’s case, we have heard based on what is being [said] in the media that in her home, she is sexually assaulted,” he added.

Saffrey, who appear unaware of Gitten’s claims of sexual abuse, made clear that if Gittens is not comfortable at one parent’s house, she is free to go to the other or accept an open invitation at the BAEH shelter.

“We will provide the shelter here for her if she wants. She can sleep, she can get counselling, she can get a bath, she can get food. She can get everything she needs from here until the matter can be thoroughly investigated and then brought under control or the relevant persons brought to the court if that is the case,” said Saffrey.

He said the shelter, which currently has 90 rooms, houses men on the top floor and women at the bottom, meaning that couples cannot be accommodated. Saffrey said that although the Welfare Department might be able to assist them with a home, the couple was not in a position to maintain it.

Saffrey also called for greater inter-agency cooperation from organisations that offer psychiatric, welfare, and other key services to assist the shelter.

In the meantime, he said the numbers of homeless people, including youth coming forward for assistance is growing by the week with 193 active cases of homlessness on the BAEH’s plate.

“The people on the streets need the help and in most cases, we are leaving it to one organisation to do it. It can’t be that way going forward. It has to be a collective role to play,” said Saffrey.

“We have to move past this one organisation doing all – and it falls most squarely within most NGOs in Barbados –  taking the brunt and carrying it, and the agencies, whether they be government mostly, that have the money and the resources and the manpower are not extending it to us and we find ourselves trapped.

“Nobody asks these questions. When they see homeless people on the street, they say ‘Saffrey ain’t doing nothing. But what more can Saffrey do if he’s done all he can, if the organisation and the team here have done all we can? What more can we do?

“The two young people we have are but two of the situations that we have, because there are way more young people out there with mental health challenges. There are many more young people out there that are in that position, but they weren’t highlighted,” he added. kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb