The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

AT-RISK children are bringing other vulnerable children to seek help, as demand for support services surges, Lend A Hand Bahamas says.

Shelagh Farrington, the organisation’s co-founder, said the group has seen a “great increase” in children in need, with many referred through word of mouth and brought in by other children already in its programmes.

“Our kids recruit for us,” she said on Friday. “We don't advertise or market the services we have. Our kids bring the kids to us, and they'll come, especially during times when the kids are out of school.”

She said some adolescents have brought others to the programme out of fear for their safety.

“Like for last year, we had some of our adolescents bring adolescence and say, ‘I know you might be full, but you know my friend so and so, or my cousin so and so, please allow them to enter the programme because I'm not so sure, by the end of next week, or in two weeks time, they're still going to be alive.”

Ms Farrington described the conditions facing some families, including mothers sleeping in cars while trying to care for young children.

“We have to be very flexible. We have mothers that come in sometimes just to put their heads down and sleep because they're in a car at night and they're parked outside one of the wash houses, and they're watching over their children, and they got a young baby, but they're awake,” she said.

“So in the daytime, trying to work, or they got to try and catch a little bit of sleep. But where do you take Where do you take the children if they're under five. The need is growing all around,” she said.

She also pointed to the broader impact on families, including rising stress, anger and mental health challenges linked to housing instability, citing the case of a 14-year-old athlete who lived in a car with his mother and siblings for more than a year.

Ms Farrington said the issue demands attention ahead of the upcoming general election.

“There's some huge challenges we're not really talking about in this country because once you start talking about them you have to address them,” she said. “You have to know what is the plan. So my question is, we got an upcoming election. What is the plan for the little people that live in these communities, whether it's the grandmothers, the mothers, the aunties, the fathers, because they have nowhere to live.”

She spoke on the sidelines of the organisation’s soft pre-launch event for its Culinary Centre on Hay Street, a project aimed at expanding opportunities for vulnerable families.

The facility, developed over three and a half years in a donated building, has received about $100,000 in funding from corporate and private donors and is expected to open in June for a summer camp programme.

The centre will house the organisation’s first operational kitchen to support its culinary arts programme, complementing existing services at its Lewis Street site, which include STEM, electrical and literacy programmes.

The project has also received support from US-based education company Edmentum, which contributed $30,000 and sent about 60 employees to assist with construction and setup.

Edmentum CEO Jamie Candee said the initiative reflects a commitment to giving back.

“Like many companies in the United States, we fly around the world. We go to these beautiful properties, like sandals and all the other properties that you have here on the island. We have margaritas. We enjoy the beautiful food here,” she said.

“But most US companies don't do what this team did today. They enjoy your land, your food, your drinks, and then they leave and they go back to the United States, not Edmentum. What this team, these high performers, who could have chosen to spend all of the days on the beach, they chose to come here and give back to this community.”

The Sandals Foundation has also supported the organisation’s work, including a $95,000 investment in a hydroponics programme and a further $50,000 toward community development.

US Ambassador Herschel Walker highlighted the importance of collaboration in addressing social challenges.

“The reason I say that is because I stand before you and tell you that it takes a village,” he said. “Edmentum is doing a village. You're bringing people together that can solve the problems we need solved.”