WESTERN BUREAU – Valerie Morgan has called the often unfriendly streets of Montego Bay her home for the last five years. Now the 43 year-old woman and her three year-old son, Junior, have a place of their own, thanks to the Norwood Wesleyan Holiness Church (NWHC) and a group of missionaries from Springfield, Missouri in the United States.

According to Rev Bernard Scarlett, the pastor of the NWHC, they spent about $222,000 to build a home for the mother and her child.

Morgan first came to the church’s attention after she began visiting the church and listening to snippets of the gospel being preached. After Rev Scarlett learned more about her plight, he decided to help.

He contacted the Family Christian Centre, a US-based group. They had helped before, and were happy to help again.

Donna Nall heads the group. She said once Rev Scarlett told her Morgan’s tale, the decision was an easy one to make.

“It was not difficult to come up with the money for this project, because God spoke to the hearts of our members and other persons who we contacted – they willingly contributed to the cause,” Nall said.

Not only did the Americans absorb the full construction cost, they also made the trip to help put up the one-room board and zinc structure. “We come to Jamaica every year to engage in missionary work and we heard of this woman’s plight and decided to assist her,” Nall added. “And due to the fact that we were coming to Jamaica at the time that the house was being constructed, we decided to come and assist in helping to build the house.”

Rev Scarlett told the Observer that because of the danger Morgan had been exposed to when she roamed the streets, concerned church members decided to help provide her with a home.

“We are also going to give her the necessary furniture, such as a bed and a stove, so that she can cook her meals,” the minister said. “We know that this would assist her a great deal because she would now be off the street and would not pose any danger to herself and her child.”

Morgan, who said she was originally from Kingston, was grateful for the help. “I must say thanks to Pastor Scarlett and the Americans. I used to be on the road but now I have a place where I can say this is my home,” she said with glee. “I lived on the street for about five years now – I used to live at a house with a friend, but we could not get along and I had to leave and from that time I lived on the street ever since.”