From a Garage to a House of Her Own: A Portland Mother and a Blind Elderly Man Get Food For The Poor Homes

• Food For The Poor gave new houses to a Portland mother of three and a visually impaired elderly man
• Jacqueline Thompson’s family had lived in a garage and then shared one bed in a relative’s back room
• The Ministry of Housing provided land at Darlingford Housing Scheme in Manchioneal
• A Church of God in Christ pastor, Roy Titus, advocated for the family

In January 2017 the Jamaica Observer told the stories of two Portland residents who had received new homes from Food For The Poor, the Christian charity that builds houses for poor families across Jamaica.

Jacqueline Thompson and her three children, two daughters and a son, Okeno, who is physically challenged, had lived in a garage before moving into the back room of a relative’s home in Waybridge, Portland, where the family of four shared a single bed. In October 2016 they received a house at the Darlingford Housing Scheme in Manchioneal, on land provided by the Ministry of Housing, with help from the parish council and the National Insurance Scheme. The charity also pledged furniture. Their case was championed by Roy Titus, a justice of the peace and pastor of the Church of God in Christ at Long Road.

“I am feeling happy about getting my house. I thank God as I can’t leave him out,” Thompson said. “I am a happy person now. It was a long and horrible wait; I cried sometimes.”

The second recipient, Urnal Taylor of Boston, Portland, is visually impaired and had been living in a one-bedroom house with a dirt floor. “This house is beautiful as much as mi can’t see it. I am comfortable and mi have space,” he said.

The Thompson story shows how several pieces have to come together for a poor family to get a home: land from the State, a house from a charity, support from public agencies and a local advocate, in this case a pastor, who pushes the case. Churches can play that advocate role. For Jamaicans overseas with relatives in similar conditions, knowing how to connect them with land programmes, charities and a trusted local pastor can make the difference.

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