–now has capacity to house 120 persons, boasts improved facilities

THE public night shelter at East La Penitence, Georgetown, could now accommodate even more persons following the completion of significant infrastructural works on the facility.
A new wing was added to the facility at a cost of over $5 million, while the interior and exterior of the existing building were significantly enhanced.
The upgrades to the facility are the realisation of a commitment by Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, who had visited the facility soon after assuming office in August 2020, and was appalled by the conditions there, and wanted to see it restored to the sanctuary it was intended to be.
“I am happy to be here at the end of a process that started some time ago and this process took a little longer than I wanted it to take, but, nevertheless, I am happy to be here to officially open the additional wing of the night shelter,” Minister Persaud said during a simple commissioning ceremony on Friday.

The minister also said: “Since becoming the minister, I came here very early and this is one of the institutions that I was very passionate about ensuring that the conditions are improved, that the environment is conducive, and that the persons are living comfortably.”
According to Minister Persaud, the completed upgrades are not the only works budgeted for the facility, there is more in the pipeline including the establishment of a kitchen area.
The night shelter, which is run by the government through the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security (MoHSSS), is a safe haven for persons who are homeless. With the new wing that was added, the night shelter now has the capacity to house 120 persons, but it currently has 45 persons there.
One of the occupants, 58-year-old David Jones, a former drug addict, expressed how grateful he was for the services being provided by the facility.
“I’m so happy to be here at the night shelter and I’m thankful for what the government is doing for all of us here. I used to be sleeping on the road and now that I’m here I have a shelter over my head and I’m so glad,” Jones told the Guyana Chronicle.
He said he got addicted to drugs in his late 20s and was shunned by his family members. And it was only after a series of events that he later turned to religion and gave his life to Jesus Christ and worked on improving his circumstances.
Jones told this publication that he “cleaned up” his life, and when he needed a roof over his head, he was able to turn to the night shelter.
“I used to be smoking marijuana, cocaine, everything, you name it, but since I give my life to Christ I stop. Nobody introduced me to it [drugs], I started it on my own, so I said to myself anything I start I can finish, it’s not about nobody it’s about you.

“So, I always told myself the same way how I introduced myself I can stop and so I stopped and I’m so glad that I stopped,” Jones said.
He related that he’s now a drummer and also sings at his church, the night shelter and other locations.
Jones was one of many persons who expressed their gratitude to the government and management of the night shelter for the work executed on the facility.
In addition to the physical upgrades at the night shelter, measures were also put in place for the residents to have access to better medical care, while plans are in place to offer training programmes to the residents and to see the establishment of a shade house to grow vegetables that could then be used in the meals for residents.
“If they would like to learn something, they like to do something, or if they would like to be able to work, whatever it is they would like to do going forward, we would like for them to have that opportunity to do it,” Minister Persaud said.
She thanked the staff of the night shelter for working along with the ministry to ensure that the upgrades were completed efficiently and in a timely manner.
Administrator of the night shelter, Sheila Veersammy, said she was happy to see the upgrades to the facility as they were what she had envisaged for years.
“It is absolutely wonderful. I had come here in 2015 and this place was horrible. With the support of the ministry, we did a massive upgrading at the time, but then I resigned in 2017 and all the upgrading I had started completely stopped and nothing else was done.
“But then Minister Vindhya Persaud visited and she was appalled at the deteriorating conditions that existed here and she immediately put some plans in place,” Veersammy said.
She added: “We had an extensive meeting where she [Minister Persaud] outlined all the plans she had for the people who lived here. One of the first things we had done was to look at the food that they were getting, while the second thing we looked at was staffing, and the third thing we looked at was the new system where people living here were provided with medical care.”