JACKSON TOWN, Trelawny — A Trelawny woman and her family’s living conditions were handed a major boost last weekend when a house was constructed for them by a United States-based charity organisation.

Fifty-year-old Linda Dale, her two adult daughters, along with her sister, were living in a house in First Hill, Jackson Town, Trelawny in less-than-ideal conditions.

However, through the efforts of the local poor relief department, who identified the needy party, along with the World Imperial Beauties, the family is now looking at newer and better accommodation.

Through their charity arm, HOPE Foundation, Helping Our People Everywhere, who has built several houses on the island for needy Jamaicans, Dale and her daughters are looking at a brighter future.

Patrina Menzie, a native of Bunker’s Hill in Trelawny, led the delegation of beauty queens, who spearheaded the effort at the site in Jackson Town.

“Building a house in Jamaica means a lot to me. My roots started here in Jamaica, Trelawny, in a very small town called Bunker’s Hill,” she told the Jamaica Observer West, adding that “this is my fourth house that I am building in Jamaica.”

The family had been living in a one-room dwelling that was partitioned to divide the space between Dale, her two daughters and her sister. No water and electricity had been connected to the house and personal waste disposal was being done at an outside latrine.

On Friday, the ladies were quite active lifting building materials, nailing, painting among other tasks as they worked assiduously to make the house a reality for the family members.

Menzie praised their efforts.

“They’re hard-working; we raised the funds in the United States to make this possible,” she stressed.

When quizzed about the construction skills that the pageant winners possessed, she pointed to online videos.

“YouTube and determination because we have a heart that is so big that we want to give back and construction is not something we know anything about, so we went on YouTube and just put it to use,” she explained.

For Dale, the new house means a new beginning for her and her daughters.

“Mi feel nice inna mi body, I can do what I can do for myself in my own apartment,” she stressed.

Her sister, she notes, has health challenges and requires constant care which sometimes can be tiresome for her, so the change is welcomed.

“Sometimes mi feel tired and feel down, so like how mi get mi place now, mi feel alright,” she remarked.

The group has promised further help to the family with plans of adding a bathroom to the house and to procure a water tank.

During their time in Jamaica, the group also presented gifts to a number of entities in Trelawny, including the Unity Primary School in Bunker’s Hill and the Trelawny Infirmary in Falmouth.