$5M for new Cyril Ross facility

The announcement was made yesterday at the Flamingo Room of the Hilton Trinidad, Port-of-Spain, by patron of the home and chairperson of The Hibiscus Foundation (THF), Wendy Fitzwilliam. She was at the time making presentations of two $20,000 cheques to the nursery and Servol.

Clive Belgrave of the St Vincent de Paul Society, which runs the nursery, said the current facility in Tunapuna was no longer adequate. He said there were 36 occupants, the youngest was six months and the oldest 19 years.

He said the nursery was originally designed for children with HIV/AIDS who had no where to go in their last days.

However, Belgrave said that there was no longer the need to bury a child every six months, and the needs of the nursery had changed dramatically. He said there have been no deaths at the home in the last two years. He said some of the children were attending private and secondary schools and needed to be prepared with life skills and for the world of work. Belgrave also pointed out that the nursery was now operating an out-patient clinic for HIV/AIDS patients on Saturdays, where an average of 150 persons attended. He also said that on any given day, persons living with HIV/AIDS visit the nursery for counselling and advice.

Fitzwilliam explained that the designs and plans for construction of the new facility came about through the assistance of corporate citizens.

She said architect Alvin Dorsett had designed a two-storey main building with 12 self-contained bedrooms accommodating two or more persons depending on their ages. Construction of that building will begin in April. The second phase will involve the construction of another two-storey ancillary building for young adults with ten rooms. Fitzwilliam said Government will be approached to lend assistance, and expressed confidence that "we will meet the target in building the new facility."

She said persons at the facility were receiving "exceptional care and treatment" which was the basis for its success. "It has evolved into a home for happy industrious persons living with HIV/AIDS."

In accepting the cheque on behalf of Servol, Fr Gerard Pantin said his institutions continued to assist young persons to avoid lives of crime and violence. He said its adolescents programme had offered many youths "ladders to climb from the pit of poverty to careers."

He said he witnessed miracles and human transformation in every cycle of the three-month programme. He said a number of the persons were from violent and abusive homes and appealed to the Ministry of Education to start helping children with social problems before teaching them how to read and write.