“It Is Always a Special Moment”: An Insurer Marks 60 Years by Paying for Six Food For The Poor Homes

• British Caribbean Insurance Company marked its 60th anniversary by funding six houses
• The homes were built through Food For The Poor’s ‘Shelter with a Purpose’ programme
• The final house went to Lera Bless
• BCIC also launched a youth training programme in Kingston

In February 2023 the Jamaica Observer reported that British Caribbean Insurance Company had completed the handover of six houses built with Food For The Poor, the Christian charity that is one of Jamaica’s biggest builders of homes for poor families. The houses marked BCIC’s 60th anniversary, which fell on October 23, 2022.

The homes were delivered through Food For The Poor’s “Shelter with a Purpose” programme. Managing director Peter Levy attended the handover of the final house to Lera Bless. Levy said the company had wanted its anniversary giving to be meaningful rather than superficial, and added: “This is exactly what we mean when we tell our customers that everything we do, we do for you.”

Food For The Poor’s executive director Craig Moss-Solomon welcomed the partnership. “It is always a special moment when we can provide someone with a brand-new home,” he said. “With a partner like BCIC, we hope we can continue to spread our arms all across Jamaica.” The charity’s marketing manager, Marsha Burrell-Rose, and BCIC sponsorship executive Evan Dixon also took part.

The Observer did not give the cost of the houses or the communities where they were built. BCIC also launched BCIC YUTEWORK, a year-long training programme with Multicare Youth Foundation and HEART/NSTA Trust aimed at young people from Parade Gardens and nearby communities in Kingston.

Corporate sponsorship of charity houses has become one of the steady ways Jamaica’s poorest families get a secure roof. It works because the model is simple: a fixed-price house, a vetted beneficiary with land to build on, and a faith-based builder with a track record. For churches, businesses and diaspora associations looking for an anniversary project, sponsoring a single house through an established programme is a practical way to leave something that lasts.

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