MARVETTE Johnson couldn’t contain her joy.

“I am over the moon,” the single mother of two who has cancer and is unable to work told the Jamaica Observer yesterday after she received one of 10 houses donated to needy families by Food For the Poor (FFP) and National Baking Company.

“I am elated, knowing that I am not able to afford any of this. And seeing it handed down to me, it gives me a fulfilling joy that I can’t explain,” added Johnson. “I just know that the Bible tells you about that unspeakable joy, so that’s basically what I am actually feeling now.

“It’s like having a piece of chocolate mocha cake and having that creamy part of that cake…when you put it in your mouth and it just start to melt on your tongue, and you don’t want to drink water for it to go away,” Johnson added.

Another beneficiary, Crystal Clarke, a mother of eight, was equally overjoyed.

“It has been wonderful. As you know, today I got the house and it is also my birthday, so that’s fantastic. They are all supportive and my kids and I love it,” she told the Observer.

Two houses were merged to accommodate her family.

Due to crowd restrictions under the Government’s COVID-19 protocols, Johnson and Clarke were the only two recipients present at the ceremony held in Portmore Villas, St Catherine.

“It is a wonderful initiative. I’m actually blessed to be here today because this shows that together we can make a difference,” FFP Director Kivette Silvera said. “Rainforest Seafoods brought food items, National Baking Company donated the house, HAJ donated the land, and FFP did the construction.”

Silvera stated that the beneficiaries deserve the houses as they were badly in need.

“We want to help a number of families, as we have over 1,000 applications on file. If we are able to get more persons on board then we are able to reach more families in need. One step at a time, one family at a time,” Silvera said.”

Nakia McMorris, HAJ’s senior manager of community development, explained that the agency “provides housing solutions through the provision of lands and land titles, but we are also fully aware that it’s absolutely necessary to have housing on the land”.

“FFP and National Baking Company were willing to do the partnership with HAJ to provide houses for these families. We teamed up to stabilise the families by providing the land and houses to get them on their feet,” McMorris added.

“Being involved in this initiative has been good. This is not new for HAJ as we do community development through the provisions of housing solutions. Behind every house and every solution that we provide there is a story – and it’s the story that is more exciting than anything else,” she said.

National Baking Company funded the initiative.

The company’s Executive Director Christine Scott-Brown said, “This year we donated $4.5 million, which will complete the 10 houses. We have been on board with all FFP initiatives and in whatever they do, it is well done. We are happy with the way they handled their selection.”