Eighteen Years in One Leaky Room: A Seamstress Gets a New House as Food For The Poor Turns 40

• Food For The Poor opened its 40th anniversary with two donated houses
• One went to Lovette Blair, a seamstress who shared one leaky, termite-infested bedroom for 18 years
• The National Baking Company Foundation and Wisynco each paid for a house
• Each came with water harvesting, a stove, a gas cylinder and a solar unit

As Food For The Poor began celebrating 40 years in Jamaica in 2023, it marked the anniversary in the way it is best known for: with houses. The Jamaica Observer reported in April 2023 that the National Baking Company Foundation and Wisynco, through its Boom brand, had each donated a house under a new campaign called “Build Back the Love for Jamaica.”

One of the new homes went to Lovette Blair, a 52-year-old seamstress living with bipolar disorder. For 18 years she had shared a single leaky, termite-infested bedroom with her son and two relatives. She applied to the Christian charity for housing help in 2018. The second house went to Kensworth Witter.

Each house came with water-harvesting supplies, a stove, a gas cylinder and a solar unit. Blair’s reaction was simple and grateful: at night, she said, lying down in her new home, she tells God, “Thank you Jesus.”

Craig Hendrickson, director of marketing and sales at National Baking, and FFP’s Marsha Burrell Rose took part in the handover. The Observer reported that the National Baking Company Foundation was raising its yearly support from 10 or 11 houses to 12 houses a year.

Five years from application to keys is a long wait, and Blair’s story shows how deep Jamaica’s housing need runs among its poorest families. It also shows a partnership that works: a faith-based builder with a proven model, companies willing to pay for a set number of homes each year, and beneficiaries who own land or have permission to build. For churches and diaspora groups who want to help, sponsoring a single house through an established programme is one of the most direct ways to turn giving into a roof.

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