God Answers Prayers – Says Grateful NSHP Recipient

Mary Gentles prayed diligently to God to provide her with a sturdy house that would offer her peace of mind and security.

Despite Ms. Gentles’ faith being tested, as it took some time before her prayers were finally answered, it was never broken.

The 82-year-old resident of Mike Town in Manchester North Western is now the recipient of a brand new one-bedroom concrete house. She was recently presented with the keys through the New Social Housing Programme (NSHP).

In a recent interview with the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), Ms. Gentles expressed appreciation for the new dwelling, noting that it will significantly improve her living conditions.

“I am so glad and I am so happy for that home. I did need it. I prayed, I cried… . I was struggling and I did need it so much… I wait long, but the answer is here now. I have received the house,” she shared.

She relayed that on several occasions she visited the office of the Member of Parliament Mikael Phillips to enquire about her request, noting that on some trips there were numerous others ahead of her with various requests.

“When you see the crowd… and I said, I am not going back to no office. I leave it in your hands God, and you have to take care of it because I know that you are a God that answers prayers,” the elderly woman said.

She said each year she would become anxious as the hurricane season approached and would pray for the nation to be spared from the effects of a storm, so that the wooden structure she called home would be out of danger.

“I can’t even explain because when I really hear of the material drop, I don’t even know where its coming from, but I know God answers prayers,” she stated.

“Thank you, Prime Minister; may God ever bless you. I thank you very much for what you have done for me. This is very great and a wonderful work, because my position was in a very bad state and you take me out of it, also God, and I thank you very much for what you have done. May God bless everyone involved,” she said.

The new unit, built at a cost of $2.8 million in Mike Town, was handed over by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness. The ceremony was attended by the MP, Mr. Phillips, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Audrey Sewell; community members and well-wishers.

Prime Minister Holness said the Government remains committed to ensuring that the country’s most vulnerable are cared for and protected.

“When we look at this picture here, look at where Ms. Mary lived before, there is no one that can argue that she is not deserving of some intervention,” he stated.

Mr. Holness said that initiatives such as the NSHP allow for the neediest in the society to access property and start the process of breaking the cycle of inter-generational poverty.

“The objective is to give the assurance to every Jamaican that even though you didn’t have the endowment passed to you by your family, that the country in which you live recognises that you should have a certain standard of shelter and housing,” he said.

“If we can achieve that in the next five to six years, we would have raised the standard of living of the average Jamaican in a significant way, and that is what we are committed to doing,” the Prime Minister noted.

Mr. Phillips said that Ms. Gentles is deserving of her new home.

“For me it feels like I am able to provide a dream for a constituent and one that is deserving of it,” he said.

Members of Parliament play an integral role in the process by identifying and submitting to the HOPE programme, the names of individuals who are in dire need of proper housing.

Ms. Gentles’ grandson, Ritchie Williams, said he is happy that his grandmother has been assisted. “I feel very pleased about what has been done for her. Before there was a dirt house and it lick down. I feel very happy,” he said.

The NSHP, which is a component of the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment programme, was developed to improve the housing condition of the country’s poor and disadvantaged population by providing quality affordable and sustainable housing.

The programme aims to construct five houses per constituency per annum, ranging from one-bedroom to three-bedroom structures.