Saffrey welcomes plan for 24-hour shelter next month

Government’s move to make the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness (BAEH) a 24-hour shelter from next month is being welcomed with open arms by the head of that organisation, Kemar Saffrey.

He told Barbados TODAY that he was pleased his call was finally being heard.

“We would have made requests for the shelter to be 24-hour well over a year ago because of the rise in homelessness in Barbados. So we are happy that Government could have considered it and we are happy that we can assist the people that utilise the shelter beyond 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.

“It will assist those that want to use the shelter beyond just coming in, sleeping and having to go back out. We can provide more long-term solutions, give them more care, facilitate those that may be challenged medically and need treatment. We will have the resources and manpower to do more. So this is good news, we will be able to reach more people, make headway on reducing the homeless situation in Barbados and we hope to strengthen our relationship with Government,” Saffrey said on Friday.

On Thursday, during a post-Cabinet meeting at Ilaro Court, Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Kirk Humphrey announced that Government would be pumping $252 000 into the BAEH operations to transition its 90-bed shelter to a 24-hour facility where clients will have access to three meals a day, medical care, counselling and other support.

Saffrey said homelessness was a growing crisis situation in Barbados and there has been an increase in people accessing the shelter’s services.

He said that while there were more men than women coming forward, he noted an uptick in the number of women in need of help, most of them mothers with young children.

Barbados only has two other facilities catering to the homeless – the 24-hour Clyde Gollop shelter which currently houses 34 men who have to provide their own food and other necessities, and the Salvation Army male hostel and feeding shelter which caters to 21 persons, with a small fee attached.

(SZB)