The inability to pay for housing is now the main precursor to people ending up on the streets, says the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness (BAEH).
And the charity’s president Kemar Saffrey wants to partner with landlords and welfare agencies to curb the worrying trend.
During a press conference at BAEH’s headquarters in Spry Street, The City, where he revealed that the shelter began its 24-hour operations two weeks ago, Saffrey said drug addiction was no longer the main cause of people ending up on the streets.
“We still have the number one thing – landlord and tenant disagreements where the tenants can’t pay rent. That is still a big challenge [regarding] homelessness here. So drug [use] is dropping to below number five [as the main cause for homelessness],” he said.
Saffrey said while his organisation catered to the needs of homeless people, it wanted to see preventative measures taken and he expressed interest in helping people who may have difficulty paying rent.
“We would just ask that landlords that are willing to rent their houses, contact us at the charity and we want to partner with you on rental so that when persons find themselves in this situation, we can partner with you . . . . If you partner with us, we could work with you and the client to help make sure the client pays you. We have a housing solution policy here that we are willing to rent the houses through the organisation and make sure that you get the funds . . . so that people can transition . . . . The longer that people stay on the street, the harder it is for us and the harder it is to get them back into society,” he added.
The BAEH head further suggested that there should be housing solutions for at-risk people and/or families specifically.
He said: “The next big thing for the organisation is a housing solution for Barbados. We need to look at whether persons are willing to partner with us and help us build small container houses for people, or whether it be that people rent the organisation houses and we get people in the houses. But if we can get that housing solution as the next big thing in terms of people finding affordable accommodation, I think that Barbados will then rid itself [of homelessness being such a major challenge].
“I think that the government needs to look at [establishing] within welfare, a rental assistant department that focuses on socially displaced people. So that before people become homeless, the government will buffer you for two or three months till you get a job [or] till you get back a job. And once you get back a job, we stop that benefit to you.”
As it relates to the BAEH’s operations, Saffrey said the 24-hour shelter started on November 1 and there were 16 people staying in the 90-bed facility. There is a 11 p.m. curfew.
Additional staff was hired, bringing the total complement to 20, and the building was retrofitted to house more offices and a clinic, Saffrey disclosed.
He added that despite its round-the-clock operation, the facility still served as a transitional shelter where people stay three to six months before going back into society.
Those seeking assistance at the shelter will undergo skill-based training, counselling and self-development programmes.
Saffrey added that the BAEH was working with the Ministry of Health to identify and acquire another shelter to accommodate only women and children as the 24-hour facility could not have recreational spaces for children to play.
He promised to present a review of the shelter’s operations in the next three months to give the public an understanding of how things were going.
The government allocated $252 000 to transition BAEH from a shelter where clients could only stay from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., to a 24-hour facility.
Regarding the iPLEDGE programme which the BAEH launched to raise $1 million in donations to purchase the Spry Street, Bridgetown building which houses the charity’s offices and shelter, Saffrey said $400 000 has been collected so far.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
