Jamaicans in Miami Turn out for Community Outreach

Jamaican nationals in Lauderhill, Florida and surrounding areas, turned out for the community outreach staged by the Miami Consulate on Tuesday
(March 8), where they were able to submit applications for the processing of passports, while benefitting from other services.
A total of 60 completed applications were submitted for processing at the one-day event, held on the grounds of the Lauderhill City Commission.
Persons also received information on services such as birth, death and marriage certificates and immigration issues; and made queries about land titles, property taxes, trade and investment issues, matters relating to returning residents, and the Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN).
A team of resource persons from partnering agencies was on hand to provide relevant information. These included Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB); the Jamaica Information Service (JIS); Air Jamaica Limited; Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) and Jamaica National Overseas, Inc.; Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS); Grace Kennedy Remittance Services/Western Union; Lauderhill Regional Chamber of Commerce; and the Unites Stated Census Bureau.
Most of the patrons found the day to be quite useful and suggested repeat sessions.
Uriah Ford, who was the first client of the day, had journeyed some 120 miles from the City of Port St. Lucie to submit his application. He expressed his gratitude, noting that the outreach had saved him an all-day drive to the Consulate’s downtown Miami location.
Marc Jackson, who submitted an application for passport renewal, stated that: “the service was great, and programmes like these should be continued.”
Jerlene Satchell, who has taken time from work to hand in an application, said that she found the event useful as she was also able to make inquiries from VMBS.
The session in Lauderhill was part of a series of quarterly outreach events started by Consul General, Mrs. Sandra Grant Griffiths over a year ago to improve cooperation between the partnering agencies and the Jamaican community and provide Jamaican nationals with pertinent and relevant information.
Sessions have been held in West Palm Beach, Orlando, and Lauderdale Lakes in Florida, and other southern states such as Atlanta, Georgia and Houston, Texas.
Mrs. Grant Griffiths said that she is pleased with the sessions so far, especially with the level of participation from nationals, who turn out to utilise the services.
Similar events are being planned for other cities across the Southern United States, as well as the Cayman Islands.