Gov’t promises 24-hr homeless shelter

Government is moving to establish a 24-hour shelter as part of an action plan to address homelessness.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Jehu Wiltshire said the ministry will shortly be submitting a paper to the Cabinet on the matter.

Addressing members of the media during a press conference on Thursday, he said the move was necessary as anecdotal evidence suggested there has been an increase in homeless people in recent years.

It was highlighted this week when Danae Gibbons and her two toddlers were sleeping at the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness (BAEH) shelter at night and on the streets during the day because the Spry Street, Bridgetown facility closes to clients at 7 a.m. and reopens on evenings.

“We recognise that there are several of these cases and we have a paper that is going to be submitted to Cabinet shortly for the establishment of a 24-hour shelter to deal with cases such as this,” said Wiltshire.

He noted that since the onset of COVID-19, there have been several cases of people being evicted from their homes. He gave the assurance during the press conference at the CCB’s headquarters that authorities were moving quickly to formulate a policy to tackle homelessness.

“We are in the process of formulating a policy on homelessness, as well as an action plan,” Wiltshire said.

“We are now seeking to carry out an evaluation and to determine the causes of homelessness in Barbados for a policy which we expect to be formulated by the end of the year.”

On Wednesday, on the heels of Gibbons’ two children being placed in the care of the Child Care Board (CCB) because of her current living arrangements, President of the BAEH Kemar Saffrey told Barbados TODAY it highlighted the urgent need for his organisation’s shelter offering a 24-hour service.

“If we linger any longer, then we will have more cases like hers coming to us and seen on the streets,” he had warned.

While some members of the public had accused his organisation of putting Gibbons and her children on the streets, Saffrey reiterated that the shelter was not open 24 hours because the BAEH did not have the finances to do so.

(AH)