Albion Social Services Fair A Success

Scores of residents from Albion, Norwood and neighbouring communities descended on the grounds of the Albion playfield in St. James to access services from several government agencies at a social services fair on Saturday, April 16.

The event, the second of a series to be hosted in the parish, was spearheaded by the Ministries of National Security and Education and Youth in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, HEART/NSTA Trust, Peace Management Initiative (PMI), the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC) among other agencies.

The fair was aimed at bringing the most desirable services from state-run agencies such as the Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA), Registrar General’s Department (RGD) and the Social Development Commission, directly to vulnerable communities.

Private Sector entities were also on-site recruiting individuals to fill available positions.

Children were not left out of the festivity, as they were engaged in fun-filled activities, such as face-painting, merry-go-round, and other entertainment.

On hand was a team from the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) who engaged parents and offered guidance on how to help their children make positive life decisions.

NCDA’s Regional Manager, Clifton Morris told JIS News that the agency was happy to participate in the event, in order help build a stronger relationship with marginalised communities.

“We are happy to be here as a functional partner and to provide services to the community members. We were particularly interested in having conversations with our adults and our parents and to engage them in terms of how their youngsters are growing up and the decisions that they are making and in terms of how they are making their life decisions,” he said.

Woman Corporal Shantel Watson, who is attached to the Community Safety and Security Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force in St James said, the fair provided an opportunity for the police to meet residents in a more relaxed environment.

“A fair like this is very important because it takes us to the community, it takes us to individuals on their downtime,” Corporal Watson said.

“We are capitalizing on the opportunity… reaching out to persons, having them come to us and if they are afraid to come to us, we go to them [to show] that we are not just about detecting crime, but we are also about preventing it. By preventing it we mean reaching out by using our youth clubs, neighbourhood watches, citizen associations to bridge the gap with us and the community,” she added.

She noted that residents were reminded that they play a critical role in the fight against crime and violence and were encouraged to forge a partnership with police to achieve crime reduction.

The role of restorative justice in conflict resolution was also highlighted at the fair with attendees seeking information from the Restorative Justice Unit booth erected at the event.

Restorative Justice Officer for St. James, Cheryl Bebbington, told JIS News that the unit, encouraged residents to use restorative justice as their first option in resolving disputes.

“Some people haven’t heard of us and when they learned about what it is that we do, they are actually excited because they are having challenges resolving different kind of conflicts be it land problems, family problems, problems with employers, different types of relationship issues. So, when they heard of us, they say but wait we need to come and visit you, even more when we tell them our services are free of charge,” she explains.

For her part, 18-year-old Lathorna Ricketts from Hendon, Norwood, had high praises for the organizers of the social services fair.

She shared with JIS News that she was able to secure documents from PICA and RGD for her brothers in a seamless manner.

“I wanted to help my mommy to look about my brothers’ documentation, their passport and birth certificate. I also went to the JCF and the HEART Trust [booths] and the one on drug abuse. It [the fair] was very helpful because I learned more about drug abuse to give more information to my brothers. For the documentation for my brothers, we understood what we needed to do in order to get it done here today,” she shared.

Patricia Bardowell, also of Hendon, Norwood was elated to have attended the fair, noting that she benefited from the services of PICA, as well as the entertainment provided.