Homeless, elderly fêted
Published:Tuesday | April 26, 2022 | 12:08 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
More than 1,000 homeless people in Kingston were treated to a day of care at the St William Grant Park in downtown Kingston on Saturday.
The event was the inaugural staging of the Desmond McKenzie Wellness Day of Care, put on for the homeless and the elderly, named in recognition of Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie for his contribution towards the care of the homeless population over the years, and held under the theme ‘Empowering our Most Vulnerable: Protecting the Homeless’.
It was an atmosphere of festivity for the often-neglected, homeless population of Kingston and St Andrew as some were transported from Half-Way Tree and Cross Roads to the venue, where they gathered to the sound of music bellowing from speaker boxes. They were also treated to meals, medical and dental care, as well as professional counselling done by volunteer doctors and psychologists, in addition to services rendered by the Registrar General Department and the National Council for Senior Citizens.
CARE FOR THE VULNERABLE
Kingston Mayor Delroy Williams, who hosted the event, said the aim of the initiative is to provide service to the vulnerable population.
“With the pandemic measures now relaxed, the homeless population would have experienced a difficult time, hence there is the need to implement several programmes and take some initiatives to provide care for the often-neglected people.
“We decided that it would be good to do this as part of our general programme, where we provide some 800 meals twice per day for the homeless population, and also to raise awareness to the issue of homelessness and the challenges they face,” Williams stated.
The mayor continues: “So we come together to do this as a service, and also to [position] the city of Kingston as a caring city. It is important to us that we have this image within the country and across the globe.”
Williams said the new transitional centre on King Street will be officially opened in May to serve the growing homeless population.
Meanwhile, McKenzie said he was happy to be associated with the event because of his passion for the homeless population.
“We are going to extend this initiative to the parish of St James in June, the board of supervisions has commenced working to have a similar one in Montego Bay,” McKenzie disclosed, while lauding the initiative as “significant”.