Good Samaritan Inn to provide stopover lodging

Weeks after mayor of Kingston, Desmond McKenzie, announced a hitch in plans by the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation to construct a multimillion-dollar drop-in centre to house the more than 600 homeless people roaming the streets of the Corporate Area, the Seventh-day Adventist Church says it is in an advanced stage of providing a similar facility.

The church is refurbishing its Good Samaritan Inn - located in the former Stanley Motta Building at Giffrard Place, National Heroes Circle - to accommodate 30 beds so that street people can have a place to rest their heads overnight. This will include the expansion of the building's sanitary facilities.

"This facility is well needed, especially in times of natural disasters and other critical times," said Vermont Murray, project manager of the Inn. "It's not only for street people, but also persons who have suffered abuse and other major dislocations to assist them on a short-term basis. We are presently working out the management structure of it, so that its operations will be in line with required standards."

Bath and laundry facilities

Currently, the Inn feeds more than 600 people weekly. It also provides bath and laundry facilities daily for street people and others in need in the communities surrounding National Heroes Park.

The Inn, which celebrated its third anniversary on December 23, provides shoes and clothing to hundreds, along with regular back-to-school treats for children. In addition to the street people, students who cannot afford lunch from several basic and primary schools in the vicinity of the Inn are fed every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Counselling and clinic

"I am very happy that we are moving ahead with the plans for the drop-in facility," said Pastor Adrian Cotterell, president of the East Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. "The other area of our work that we have on the agenda is for the counselling and health-care clinic, and we hope all of these will be in place by the end of January 2011."

A facility for training in the areas of welding, baking, dressmaking and cosmetology is also planned.

"We need approximately $12 million to get it where we want it to be, and then we hope other funding for the day-to-day operations will become available," said Cotterell. "We are a faith-based organisation and so we go forward in faith with the confidence that God will provide for our needs by inspiring our members, other individuals and corporate Jamaica to assist."

The Inn accesses contributions from corporate and individual donors, including the Adventist Lay-persons Service and Industries.