This is part two of a two-part series. Today’s Catholic editor Jordan McMorrough recently traveled for four days to Kingston, Jamaica, with Food for the Poor, a Deerfield Beach, Fla., based relief organization, and a group of pilgrims from the St. Paul Newman Center at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

    KINGSTON, Jamaica • Food for the Poor (FFP) has as its mission to link the church of the First World with the church of the Third World in a manner that helps both the materially poor and the poor in spirit. The poor are served by local churches, clergy and lay leaders who have been empowered and supplied by goods by FFP. Ultimately, the group seeks to bring both benefactors and recipients to a closer union with the Lord.

    And, it is obvious that the poor in spirit are being renewed by their relationship with and service to the poor in the Caribbean.

    The streets of downtown Kingston have become home to thousands of destitute men and women in the capital of Jamaica. They sleep in abandoned buildings or cars, or even on the sidewalk. Their meals are often scavenged from garbage cans. The Poor Relief Department is a Jamaican government welfare agency created to improve the standard of living for those who are destitute and enhance their quality of life through counseling and rehabilitation. It is also an agency which relies island-wide on Food for the Poor to provide food and housing for many.

    In 1989, the newly elected mayor of Kingston expressed a desire to improve the circumstances of her fellow brothers and sisters who were living on the streets. Pearline Barrett, inspector of the poor at the time, sent a letter to the mayor congratulating her and pledging to work together to achieve the goal of helping the street people.

    In 1993, FFP donated $700,000 for the construction of a feeding and bathing area. While construction was taking place a team including the Salvation Army, community mental health officers, Poor Relief staff and police visited street people to let them know about the facilities that would be available and to see if they were interested. The response was overwhelming.

    Without any fanfare people came in; some willingly and some enticed. The stronger ones took the weaker ones. That first morning, they had a bath, a change of clothes, said grace, sang and had breakfast. The Feeding and Hygiene program was officially launched on Nov. 16, 1993.

    Subsequently, it was determined that the program was not enough if the people went back to the street to sleep and a decision was made to construct a night shelter. Females are accommodated upstairs and males downstairs. Many people have been reunited with their families. Some have even left the shelter to start a new life. Currently, emphasis is placed on the care of the elderly.

    Residents are encouraged to attend church and they are also responsible for their cleaning of the building and premises. This shelter is a partnership between the government, who pays the staff, utilities and maintenance bills and others such as Food for the Poor who provide food, clothing, toiletries and bedding.

    FFP continues to assist with the provision of goods and is currently involved in the renovation of the sanitation system and much needed repairs to the building, such as replacing floors and roofing.
Food for the Poor also supports the Golden Age Home in Kingston by providing assistance to feed, clothe and care for the residents there. Without the support of donors, the residents in the facility would be turned out on the streets.

    FFP has supported Cluster D since 1986. Today, this facility primarily houses mentally and physically challenged children who have been abandoned by their families. This year, the organization has provided a new area for physical therapy. Some of the older “children” are up to 40 years old, but have the mental capacity of a child. A dedicated staff attends to all of their needs, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Though most of these children are severely handicapped, they enjoy the physical contact of caregivers and visitors as they many times reach out just to touch or hold hands.

    Cluster G was adopted in 1991 and is home to elderly and senile and infirm residents. Some of these seniors have been abandoned by their families or simply outlived their relatives. All of the residents are former street people and without this facility would have died on the streets of Kingston. The cluster provides a comfortable environment where these people can live out their sunset days in dignity and comfort. Yvonne Thomas manages this cluster.

    A sprawling facility located on 13 acres at the foot of Wareika Hills, the Golden Age home houses 360 elderly and handicapped residents. Strategically situated close to several major hospitals, it was built in 1985 following a devastating fire at the existing government facility, Eventide, which took the lives of 153 residents. The facility became home to survivors of this deadly disaster.

    Seven housing units, or clusters, care for these forgotten members of society. Each cluster consists of a square, one-story building which surrounds a courtyard. The courtyard allows the non-ambulatory residents and the mentally and physically challenged to enjoy a garden-like setting, while remaining in the safe confines of the cluster. Ambulatory patients who pose no risk to themselves or others are able to enjoy the expansive property.

    St. Pius X Church is located in White Wing, a severely impoverished, inner-city neighborhood in Kingston. The church conducts many different outreaches to the community including a feeding program and a primary school. Over the years, FFP has helped the parish in a variety of ways and is currently scheduled to rebuild houses in an area of White Wing that was decimated by fire.

    St. Pius X sponsors many social programs in this disadvantaged neighborhood. Father Burchell McPherson, the parish priest, is dedicated to addressing the employment problem among the young people in the community. Without adequate vocational training, they are adding to Jamaica’s high rate of unemployment. In acquiring a marketable skill, however, these individuals will become self-sufficient, improve their self-esteem and develop confidence in managing their lives and their families.

    One of Food for the Poor’s long-term, on-going projects is funding the operating expenses for the St. Pius X Skills Training Center, which is located on the church grounds. The school offers vocational instruction in cosmetology, catering and sewing; programs that are in great demand in the community.

    The facility is primarily directed toward unskilled and unemployed women living in the inner city who are unable to pay the fees required by other skills training institutions. The center operates four days a week, Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering courses from September to May.     Those who qualify for certification must pass theory and practical evaluation prior to their May graduation.

    Prior to starting classes, students are given an entrance exam to assess their reading and writing skills. English and math are taught as part of the regular curriculum with remedial classes offered to those lacking proficiency. The school assists in placing the students in internships to encourage on-the-job experience. The center’s success is evident in the feedback from the intern employers who frequently comment on how well the students are training and, whenever possible, with employment offers to the students.

    Completing the program is an accomplishment that could mean the difference between living in abject poverty or becoming a productive member of society who can provide support and sustenance for family members.

    My Father’s House, a Mustard Seed community, cares for 64 mentally and physically handicapped children who were abandoned by parents who could not care for them. Some of the children have Down syndrome or have physical handicaps and are given physical therapy.

    The community, founded and directed by Father Gregory Ramkissoon, began in 1978 as a means to enrich and empower the poor. The center has a workshop employing young adults and women to make greeting cards. There is a ceramics workshop and other training programs for disadvantaged men and women. Mustard Seed also has a radio station that broadcasts Christian programming to the Jamaican community. Zink Link was added recently, giving poor children access to the Internet.

    Projects such as these reach out and address some of the commuity’s unmet needs, but because they also suffer financial difficulties, they cannot always achieve their goals. Through the generosity of donors, these eforts provide assistance and hope.

    The Web site for Food for the Poor is www.foodforthepoor.org.

See the Nov. 24 issue for a related column from the editor.