- An 81-year-old widow in Gregory Park, St Catherine, got a new one-bedroom house
- The Widow’s Mite Legacy Foundation found her through a co-founder’s church sister
- A builder discounted his work to about $100,000, including demolition
- The project emptied the charity’s funds during the pandemic
Gloria Peterkin had hoped to own a proper home before her husband Jonathan died in 2019. In September 2021, at 81, she was about to move into one. The Gleaner reported that the Widow’s Mite Legacy Foundation, a small registered charity started in 2018, had built her a one-bedroom house in Gregory Park, St Catherine.
The connection came through church. Co-founder Tasha Gordon learned of Mrs Peterkin’s situation while visiting a church sister who lived next door. Gordon recalled hearing that the widow had been trying to light a coal stove in the rain to cook for herself and her ailing husband, in conditions the paper described as deplorable.
Rather than offer a one-off hamper, the foundation chose to put up permanent shelter. “We had limited funds but we wanted to make a tangible difference and so we visited the site to assess the extent of the need and what it would cost,” Gordon said. A construction company chief executive discounted his services to about $100,000, a figure that included pulling down the old structure. Materials were the biggest cost, and the charity ran a T1-11/ply drive to raise money for them.
It was not easy. Charities across Jamaica were struggling to raise money during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It has been a very long journey. I’ve been discouraged many times when we saw that the money wasn’t coming in. It was stressful,” Gordon told the Gleaner. By late September the house was nearly finished, with tiling and bathroom work still to do. The foundation also gave a used refrigerator and a bed frame, and Mrs Peterkin’s grandson painted the house. “I am thankful that they have helped me. I am grateful,” she said. The effort left the charity’s funds exhausted, and Gordon said she had been using her own money to pay for some outstanding items. The foundation had helped about 20 families since it started.
The story shows how much of Jamaica’s housing help for the elderly poor still runs through informal church networks rather than formal schemes. A church sister’s word, a discounted builder and a small fundraising drive produced a secure home at a fraction of the usual cost. For churches, diaspora congregations and returnees looking to help, the lesson is practical: a modest, well-scoped build for one named person can change a life. So can checking early who owns the land the house will stand on.
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