Reuniting Homeless Mother with Children: A Happy Ending as Ministry Provides Job and Residence
September 1, 2023
Read the heartwarming story of homeless mother Danae Gibbons, who will be reunited with her children thanks to a job and temporary housing provided by the ministry.
It will be a happy ending for homeless mother Danae Gibbons, 29, who will be reunited with two of her children on Monday.
Gibbons’ plight rose to national attention this week after her children were made wards of the state.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Jehu Wiltshire, disclosed that Gibbons had been provided with a job as well as a temporary place of residence.
Gibbons confirmed that she saw her children yesterday, noting that it was “an emotional experience for her”.
“Once we saw the mother in a position where she can adequately provide care, housing, for her children, it is a situation in which the Child Care Board would allow those children to return to the mother,” said Colin St Hill, acting director of the Child Care Board.
“It was not a situation in which the mother was being accused of being abusive to the children or neglecting the children, it was just a situation in which the mother was on the road, with the children and even the same very day where there was rain falling quite heavily, I think we can all agree it was not an ideal situation for the children to be in.”
St Hill said as a result they provided temporary care for them, but they are also willing to work with families and would have done so if a family member had come forward.
Meanwhile head of the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness (BAEH), Kemar Saffrey, told Nation Online that the mother of two was starting work today at a chicken processing company. (CLM)
