ST. CATHERINE, JA (NICE STORY) : A house for former 31-year-old Latoya Williams homeless mom of four children....Now, she says she has much to give thanks for, primarily because Food For The Poor (FFP) Jamaica recently gave her a house.

Sunday, March 27, 2016    

Not long ago, 31-year-old Latoya Williams was facing the reality of being homeless and unemployed with four children, and local authorities threatening to take her children from her. Now, she says she has much to give thanks for, primarily because Food For The Poor (FFP) Jamaica recently gave her a house.

HOME AT LAST: Latoya Williams (centre), the formerly homeless
mother with four children, opens the house that Food For The Poor
Jamaica and Rainforest Seafoods Limited constructed for her
 last week. Sharing in the moment is Roger Lyn, Marketing
Manager of Rainforest Seafoods.

Williams, who now resides along St John’s Road in St Catherine, was evicted because she was unable to pay her rent. With nowhere to live, authorities told her they would take her children from her and place them in the care of the State. After being told this, Williams developed a plan to get a house.

“I used to buy and sell downtown with goods such as bag juice and cookies, but I haven’t been selling since the year began because things got hard on me. I would borrow to buy the goods, and when things don’t turn over with a good profit, I can’t repay,” Williams said in an interview.

“Then I couldn’t pay the rent or send the children to school, so I got evicted. With all of what was going on, I went to Food For The Poor with the hope of applying for a house and getting it. I was told I needed a letter from a Justice of the Peace and my grandmother who owns the land the house was built on, so I went and got those and submitted it, then they selected me for a house.”FFP Jamaica, along with Rainforest Seafoods Limited, built the house for Williams during Holy Week.

“I am so grateful. Mi did think mi did ina one gutter weh mi couldn’t come out of, but with the house Food For The Poor gave to me, is like I am coming out of the gutter. All I need to do now is start sell again, and I have another plan for that. I just need a freezer and go downtown and start buy the bag juice them in a big bulk and store them in the freezer,” Williams said.

Executive Director, FFP Jamaica, David Mair said that when the case for Williams was presented to his team, they could not resist assisting.

“When you saw her story, you would have been heartbroken. Immediately after she was evicted, she was literally on the street with her children. She came to us, presented her case and showed us the documents regarding her eviction and her case with the court and her children. We had to assist her, because without a house, she would have lost her children,” Mair said. more