Single mother finally has a place to call home

For years, Shooters Hill, St Andrew resident Kimeisha Francis yearned for a place to call her home.

After being displaced for over a decade, the 39-year-old mother of one was given the key to a brand new, two-bedroom house on Tuesday afternoon by her Member of Parliament (MP) Juliet Holness. Francis said that she is still on 'cloud nine'.

"When mi look mi see French window and granite counter mi frighten. A bare tings a gwan and when mi look round a back, mi see pit a build from scratch. Mi a wonder how dis happen because a di first mi see summen like dis. This is history. When mi look up mi see a very expensive roofing whe build fi hurricane. A whole heap a hardship mi go tru, but mi deh right ya now inna mi nice clean house whe mi nice clean prime minister, him wife and the councillor give to mi," she said.

Francis' concrete structure is a part of the New Social Housing Programme that was initiated in 2018 by Prime Minister Andrew Holness. The programme, which was implemented under the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment Programme, with oversight from the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, is aimed at improving the housing conditions of the country's most needy persons through the provision of quality, affordable and sustainable housing.

Francis recalled that she and her son were displaced for several years after the landlord gave them notice.

"It (the rent) might seem like $5,000 but mi just couldn't afford it. Mi guh through a lot of things , words can't even explain. Mi used to cry day and night. Mi make mi little juice and sell along with little fry chicken back, but it did still hard. Mi deh to and from mi fren dem house. Sometimes I had to let my son stay with my mother," she said.

Francis said a few years ago, she sought the assistance of the councillor, Celia James, who knew about her living condition and promised to help. Francis then met Juliet Holness shortly thereafter at her office in Gordon Town.

"I realised that things were starting to look up but it was a hard task because there was a lot of paperwork to be done and my mother had to pay up the taxes for the land and all type of things. But mi mother tell mi say once you getting anything good, things haffi go rough first," she said. As she shared her story, Francis' mother Sandra looked on with pride.

"A lot of times she use to call me at nights crying and ask mi how dem nah come start the house. She was just unhappy, because she was going through a lot and mi just always tell her to be patient. It used to pain mi heart and as her mother, mi couldn't really help her the way I want to," Sandra said with her eyes filled with tears.

Last November, Francis received the call from the office of her MP, a phone call that she had been yearning for.

"When I got the call and tell my son that we were getting the house, him just run and hug mi up and say 'Yes mommy!' Dem start build shortly after," she said. Francis said she and her son are looking forward to moving in this weekend, perfect timing as heavy rains are forecast.

For the fiscal year 2021-2022, the Government has budgeted $500 million to ensure completion and delivery of homes to beneficiaries.