The Poor Relief Department of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) is being touted as a “beacon of hope” for homeless people in the Corporate Area.

It operates two main shelters – the Marie Atkins Night Shelter, which was established in 1993, and the Desmond McKenzie Transitional Centre for the Homeless, which opened its doors to the public in 2022.

The department is equipped to offer essential services in a structured and dignified manner, including meals, clothing, shelter, and medical and mental health care.

“Under our homeless programme, we offer a wide range of services. We not just only provide meals for these individuals, we try to develop rehabilitation programmes. So most persons who live in our facilities, in particular our transitional home, they are a part of our rehabilitation programme,” Donna-Gaye Brady, Acting Inspector of Poor, KSA, tells Observer Online.

As part of the rehabilitation prpgramme, customised treatment plans are developed based on assessment of individuals at the facilities, including upskilling programmes.

“So what you’ll find is that individuals in our shelter, they also work,” Brady said, noting that the department provides direct access to services through partnerships with various stakeholders such as HEART.

“HEART is where a number of our residents traverse on a daily basis to get a skill. And after they get that skill, HEART will assist in job placement for those individuals,” she said.

What’s more, Brady noted that the KSAMC has an environmental warden programme, developed specifically for the homeless population in the Corporate Area.

“So you’ll find that the homeless population, they are the individuals who are employed to carry out the duties of environmental wardens, wherein they clean the city.

“So you’ll find that you’ll see individuals downtown sweeping and cleaning the streets of Kingston. And they are paid by the municipal corporation,” she said.