Rehabilitation, social reintegration for the homeless

DPI, GUYANA, Monday, January 22, 2018

A local pastor and his wife are collaborating with the Ministry of Social Protection (MoSP) to help rehabilitate and reintegrate Georgetown’s homeless people.

On January 17, Pastor Timothy King and his wife, Deborah King accompanied Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally, and Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes, to the Hugo Chavez Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration.

Deborah King told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the visit was part of a scoping mission to determine areas she and her husband can offer services to the homeless. “We want to get these people into the facility and see what training, education or counselling we can offer so that they can be reintegrated into society.”

While the both Timothy and his wife are in talks with Minister Ally to achieve this goal, Mrs King explained that the initiative stemmed from a humanitarian activity that the couple undertook in collaboration with Minister Broomes.

Between the Kings and Minister Broomes, persons were rallied and together they fed, clothed and groomed the homeless along Regent Street on Christmas day. Mrs King explained that she “saw the need to do something” after observing how the homeless were living.

“Our aim is to clean the streets of Georgetown,” Mrs King said. A teacher and etiquette and customer service trainer, Mrs King said her family would like to continue with the holiday initiative but wanted to do more for Georgetown’s homeless people.

The Kings will be working to have the homeless admitted to the Hugo Chavez Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration and work with the Ministry to eventually have them reintegrated into society. “The Minister (Ally) has is very excited about it and has been very supportive,” Mrs King said.

Pastor King noted that he was impressed with the management and functioning of the Hugo Chavez facility. “At some point, I felt actually overwhelmed. It’s life for me discovering treasure and I know that this place has potential I hear the passion of the Minister when she talks about expansion.”

Minister Broomes said she is very proud of the work that Minister Ally has been doing and will continue to foster collaboration between the government and persons who advocate for the less fortunate.

 

By: Tiffny Rhodius

 

For more photos, click on the link to the DPI’s Flickr Page

https://www.flickr.com/photos/142936155@N03/