‘MI HOUSE TUN UP FI CHRISTMAS!’ — MOTHER OF TWO GETS HOME
Abandoned by her own parents, mother of two gets new home
SHARON Roache, a humble 29-year-old with an adorable smile, could easily blend in with other women in her age group.
In fact, if she doesn’t tell you the struggles she has had to bear at her young age, no one could guess.
Her story is, however, one of triumph, as, despite the many hurdles since a child, she can today thank God for one of the biggest improvements in her life — her own home.
Roache, who was abandoned by her parents and left in the care of housemothers at Maxfield Park Children’s Home in St Andrew, was kept at the facility longer than usual because of a terrible condition of epilepsy, then at 21 she finally had to leave the place she called home because of pregnancy.
Now with a second child, no steady job because of her illness, and paying rent of $3,500 for her one-room structure, the Lord answered her prayers and on Tuesday she was overcome with joy when Active Home Centre, in partnership with Food For the Poor, presented her with the keys for her brand new two-bedroom house — complete with a living room, bathroom and kitchen — built on a parcel of land she leased.
“I have a roof over my head but it neva proper, and I didn’t want to continue living in that condition as it not stable,” she said of her old home.
“Yuh know how long I don’t get a real shower? Is pan we have to use bathe. Now, I can take a good shower. The bathroom pretty! It nice!” she said with a loud laugh when she was asked how she felt moving into her own home.
“Oh my gosh! I am overjoyed and can’t even explain the feeling right now,” an appreciative Roache stated. Mi house tun up fi Christmas!” she exclaimed, and had a good laugh.
Susan Melbourne Townsend, marketing manager at Active Home Centre, said: “As part of our overall focus for the holidays we wanted to give back to someone in need, so we reached out to Food For the Poor to help us build a home for a worthy recipient. When we saw Sharon’s story it was an immediate no-brainer that she and her beautiful daughters deserve a home for the holidays.
“It’s been pure joy constructing this new home that they so greatly deserve. From start to finish they were on site eagerly giving a hand wherever they could, even though we had more than enough staff volunteers. They’ve been through so much and we’re very happy to be able to give her the break she’s been praying for,” added Melbourne Townsend.
Roache, who said she could not sleep for one week before the start of construction,
visited the site daily with her daughters, Maryann Roache and Shavelle King, as eight volunteers from Active Home Centre carried out the work alongside the Food For the Poor construction team.
Kivette Silvera, executive director at Food For the Poor, said: “We are so happy for Sharon and her two daughters. A few months ago the Ministry of Health and Wellness encouraged persons to stay home to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 virus, but what about those without homes? So our ‘Tan a yu yaad’ campaign was launched and we’re very happy that Sharon is one of over 20 recipients to receive a home since its launch. We wish
the family a Merry Christmas!”
“Thanks, Father God. I pray everyday [as] without Him, nothing would be possible,” said Roache.
But she broke down in tears when she started to talk about the lack of support from the father of her two adoring girls, one seven and the other three years old.
As she cried, a member of the team on location offered prayers, which helped her to regain her composure.
Because of the pregnancy, Roache was moved to a facility run by Father Richard Holung’s Missionaries of the Poor but had to leave when her daughter turned a month old, and she wondered what next. But an angel came to her rescue as a former housemother at Maxfield Park Children’s Home decided to take her in. It was while there that another man walked into her life and she got pregnant with her second child.
She vowed that no matter how challenging life gets, she will not abandon her two children “because they are the only family I have. I won’t leave them like what my mother did to me”.
Evelyn Gordon, a Maxfield Park Children’s Home housemother for 26 years who has been instrumental in the life of young Roache since her time at the facility, said she accommodated her at her home after she left the Missionaries of the Poor facility with her onemonth-old child.
“She was initially to stay with me for a month, but ended up staying until she got pregnant with her second child. I have been like a mother to her,” said Gordon.
A neighbour, Devine Knight, said she volunteered to be the godmother of Roache’s second child, but said she ended up being like a mother to her.
“She used to drop the baby when she had a bout of seizure, and so I had to take the baby sometime. I was happy to help her with clothing, food and education [for the children]. I am so happy for her [and her new house]. You nuh know how much mi pray and mi pray. Jesus Lord, I am so glad. She is such a mannerable young lady,” said Knight.
In an interview outside her former home two weeks ago, Roache said: “Mi nuh have nuh mother, nuh father, nuh sister, nuh bredda, nobody, as I was at Maxfield Park from mi eye deh a mi knee.
“Now I just want a better life for my daughters,” she added.
Her new home is beautifully upgraded with ceramic floor tiles throughout, a tiled shower with pedestal sink, and a kitchen outfitted with countertop, backsplash and cabinetry. The staff at Active Home Centre also donated food, clothes, toys, a tablet, and cash to the family.
“Children who have no mother and father, I have always heard, that God takes care of them, and I am sure God is taking care of us now,” said Roache.