More people need houses due to COVID-19, says FFP

MORE Jamaicans are seeking assistance with housing from Food For the Poor (FFP), Jamaica since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The entity, which currently builds approximately 30 houses per month for the nation’s poor, is reporting that more of their applicants are claiming evictions due to job losses as their reason for wanting housing assistance.

“We have been getting so much more applications for houses. You have people coming to us who were kicked out of their house because they lost their job and could no longer pay their rent.

“We also see situations where persons are applying in case they get kicked out, because their landlords are telling them they can’t stay there anymore because they lost their job. We have been seeing a lot of this coming to us,” FFP, Jamaica Finance Director Kivette Silvera told the Jamaica Observer.

Silvera explained that many of the applicants would have been in need of housing assistance before the pandemic hit. However, with living conditions made worse by economic hardship and social distancing requirements, more people are now applying.

“We consistently get over 100 applications per month from persons who are in need of a house. Whether it is because they lost their job, or they didn’t live anywhere in the first place, or women who are being physically abused and have to move out of their matrimonial home.

“But separate from that, you also have families who already had poor living conditions where sanitation and social distancing would have been a challenge,” Silvera explained.

In response, the charity organisation has been targeting individual donors and sponsors to assist with their housing programme.

“While we continue to build at least 30 houses per month, we have been trying to find persons to give us donations to assist persons who need a home, because this is one area in which we are seeing more persons needing assistance,” Silvera said.

The organisation has also sought to augment its housing solutions with the launch of a Fruits for the Poor campaign, whereby recipients and their families receive plant seedlings towards facilitating food security.

The initiative, which was officially launched in August, began in March with 5,000 plant seedlings being distributed. The project aims to plant 10,000 fruit trees by the end of 2020.

“Our aim is to distribute as many fruit trees as possible. So, along with our Food For the Poor houses that we build... we provide them with two to four fruit trees to plant around their house and we also give to the children’s homes and other charitable institutions,” Silvera explained.