Government has taken a policy decision to partner with the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness (BAEH), from October 1, in a move that will see the operation enhancing its ability to provide a 24-hour shelter and care for the homeless.
This was disclosed yesterday as Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, addressed the post-Cabinet press conference at Ilaro Court, which was called to update Barbadians about decisions taken by Cabinet and the policy directions in which the country would be going.
While outlining the rationale behind the partnership, Minister Humphrey noted that there were shortcomings of the three shelters for the homeless, namely the Clyde Gollop Shelter for Men, the Salvation Army Male Hostel and Feeding Centre, and the BAEH.
Highlighting the BAEH, he said one of its challenges was that it could only have persons during the night because its operations run from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., which means that during the daytime, the person who is homeless really has no facility at which to stay. He added that during the nighttime was not a good time for interventions such as counselling and nursing, which are better delivered in the day.
Regarding Government’s policy decision, Mr. Humphrey reminded Barbadians that on several occasions there were discussions on the need to find a way to properly address homelessness, and his Ministry was already working on a homeless policy and an action plan.
Also acknowledging that Government would be working with the Third Sector/NGO community and the Barbados Association of Retired Persons to build facilities, he stated it was not the first time Government had communicated this. “We have been making that expression consistently; we just believe that the devolution of that responsibility is the best way to deliver goods and services to the people who need them the most,” he stressed.
The Elder Affairs Minister spoke about what he expects to occur from the partnership with the BAEH. “We believe that we will see immediately a reduction of the number of persons in town, if they agree…. I want to make it very clear that this is not a case where we are going to be going and drag men and women against their will into some institution. But, if they agree, and at that facility there will have access of course, to the beds.
“More importantly, we think, there will have access to nurses, doctors, counselling services… three meals a day and so forth. I think that when we do this we will be able to treat homelessness in a more holistic manner – we take the person off the street; we will be addressing the issues pertaining to their state of mind,” he said.
Mr. Humphrey also pointed out that the BAEH possessed “tremendous expertise”, and in addition to the partnership that is expected to go down to the end of this financial year, Government had entered into discussions with other entities, which are offering feeding and treatment opportunities to meet the needs of the homeless. Summing up the initiative, the Minister stated: “The [Barbados] Alliance to End Homelessness already receives a financial subvention to be able to operate but that subvention caters to the night operation. But this subvention will cater to the day operation and will therefore allow us to treat to the issue in a more holistic way that will allow us to treat to the issue at the core.”