With hundreds of people estimated to be homeless and as climate issues and family disputes displace more individuals, the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs hopes their newest unit could help more people back on their feet.
Officials are also hoping the Resilience and Reintegration Unit will take some of the pressure off the Welfare Department.
Minister Kirk Humphrey shared that hope on Friday as he spoke of the roll out of the 24-hour unit, expected to be launched by April 1.
“The number of persons being evicted I believe has increased in terms of family failings . . . and the Ministry is also responding to Housing. The current reality is over the last few years, we’ve been facing a climate crisis. After [Hurricane] Elsa the Ministry was called upon to house most of the persons who were displaced.
“That takes the Welfare Department off their track which is to deliver regular social services. Therefore, this unit is meant to address those things and this unit is going to be vital to the delivery of services,” Humphrey said.
He was speaking during a post-Cabinet briefing at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Wildey, St Michael.
Humphrey said on December 12, they conducted an assessment of homeless people with the assistance of 50 University of the West Indies students, Soroptimist International of Barbados and other agencies.
225 homeless
While making it clear that the figure was only a point-in-time count and that the number could be different, Humphrey said 225 people were homeless.
“There were 225 homeless persons, with 139 persons living on the streets and 86 of those homeless persons were accommodated in shelters.
