Thirty-four-year-old Eugenie Morgan, 32 year old Patricia Bravo, their 24 year old brother Albert Duncan and their six children, will no longer have to worry about a leaking roof or falling through the termite-infested floor of the one-room shack they called home for more than 20 years.
 
“Whenever it rained, my sister Patricia and my brother Albert had to put the two beds on blocks and set buckets throughout the house because the water would just come in through the floor and roof.  Sometimes the children would be walking through the house and they would fall through the rottening floors.  The house was in such a deplorable condition that even the dogs would come inside to sleep and left their mess on the floor,” stated a teary-eyed Eugenie as she gazed at the newly constructed J$553, 800 home recently presented to the family by Food for the Poor.
 
Eugenie, who suffers from Lupus, has two children while her sister Patricia is the mother of four. So severe were the living conditions for the family, neighbours and residents found it necessary to involve the police.
 
“People used to make degrading remarks about the house and even about our children.  I used to operate a small business and I received little or no support from the community because most persons scorned us,” remarked Patricia.  “My eldest daughter and I were so ashamed that we cried at the Police Station while explaining to them that we did not have the wherewithal to improve our living conditions,” she added.
 
When the Poor Relief Department of St. Catherine requested assistance from Food for the Poor following their investigation, the charity organization responded by constructing a three-bedroom house for the family.  A few days ago, staff members from Food for the Poor journeyed to the St. Catherine community to paint and furnish the structure plus witness the family’s exodus into their new home.
 
“This is the first time in a long time we’ll be able to sleep in a proper house, relax our minds and feel really comfortable because we have a proper roof above our heads.   The days of feeling afraid and ashamed are finally over,” said Eugenie happily.
 
In addition to their newly constructed house, painted and furnished, the family also received building materials for a bathroom area and farming tools and seeds to start a backyard garden.
 
Patricia, who buried her nine-year-old son on Mother’s Day of this year said “I was looking desperately for some kind of hope and happiness in this life and Food for the Poor has delivered this gift in the form of a new house and I am more than grateful especially for my children,” stated Patricia.
 
Food for the Poor is a non-profit charitable organization which has built over 18,000 homes for destitute families Islandwide from 1997 to date.  Since 2008, FFP has built over 900 single and double units for the poorest of the poor.