| – says appeals to Social Services Ministry being ignoredBy Leon SuseranThe head of Transitional House in New Amsterdam is appealing to the government and its related agencies for more assistance. Transitional House, situated at Lot 31 Queenstown, Greater New Amsterdam, is a shelter for abuse victims as well as substance abuse victims. It was established a few years ago by recovering- addict, Mr. Eskar Adams.Representative from N/A Int’l, Avia Lindie presenting the much needed items to Adams.Adams stated that he has issued numerous calls to the Ministry of Social Services as well as the Minister herself but these have been falling on deaf ears. His comments came as he was receiving a quantity of items from the online organisation, New Amsterdamers International, a body which assists with various needs that may arise in the town.Efforts to obtain a comment from Minister Webster proved futile.Adams expressed his gratitude for the group’s timely donation and for doing “what the Ministry (of Human Services and Social Security) has failed to do”.“We made many requests to the Ministries pertaining to our abuse victims…one of the thing is, we have individuals coming and an influx of persons who suffered from domestic abuse and we don’t have the place to put them and they are sleeping on mats on the ground and with their children and so forth.”Adams stated that the Ministry claimed that “there is nothing they could have done… That was last year [2011] so we kept on…The stakeholders in our community were a little reluctant.”Today, he noted, Transitional House has assisted 42 victims of domestic abuse.The donation of three bunk beds by the New Amsterdamers International will add to the three the House already has. With the television donated, the House intends to show relevant programmes and move away from the computer screen which they were forced to use in the interim.“I am really proud of N/A International, a community-service group with people who live abroad and who really bind together and actually made this project work.”One of the things he is indeed proud of is the collaboration with Ms. Batson and Mr. Veal and the rest of the N/A Int’l group.“We as a community stand strong to take back N/A and take this community to a different height.”Transitional House was first started at Essex Street in the town in 2009. The House started off with drug rehabilitation and re-integration of addicts into the society “through the collaboration with Help and Shelter, with the In-School,Cheap Jerseys, Out- School and the domestic violence counseling. We started to get an influx of persons that seek to transition or breakaway from the abuse and my thing is, and I am really directing this to our Minister, we need more action and sustainability.”Adams added that the programme being offered at the facility is bridging the gap for individuals and he stressed that the environment is a safe one for abused victims.“The abuser cannot come inside these gates. We are very well protected and we take care of them and help them to get jobs and their children go to school and we feed them; it is a living programme.”He stated that he spoke to Minister Jennifer Webster “personally” and “she has called me on one of the cases that were referred to us through Pandit Suresh Sugrim and she asked me to bring my files (to her office) and sit down and make an appointment with her Secretary. I did so on numerous occasions, even showed up at her office but could not reach with her.”“When she comes to Berbice, we would like tangible support. Talking is one thing, supporting the individuals is where it is at.”At present, there is a dire need for food items at the institution. “We have to feed these individuals. We are not funded by anyone or organization.”Avia Lindie, local representative of N/A Int’l made the simple donation of the three bunk beds, a flat- screen TV, a laptop computer as well as a multi-media projector.She said that Adams made a request due to constraints he was experiencing at the House, “and he doesn’t have much support from the government…so we thought it would be good to support him”. A clothing drive is also being pursued by the group. |
