Giving new hope for the homeless
OLONGAPO CITY—For 24 very poor families who received new homes from the Philippine Solidarity Fund Foundation (PSFF), the event was a dream that came true.
The new homes were handed over to the beneficiaries in a ceremony dubbed “Jubilee Homes for the Poor” at the Jubilee Village, New Cabalan, here.
Antonio B. de los Reyes, PSFF executive vice president of PSFF, said the homeless needed help, citing Pope John Paul II’s message that the homeless were the “poorest of the poor.”
Despite the efforts of PSFF, not much has been done to reduce the number of the homeless people in the country. Both public- and commercial-housing programs demand either too little or too much from the homeless, virtually denying them of their dignity and depriving them of the basic human right to decent shelter, de los Reyes said.
In the Philippines alone 4.5 million families, or over one-fourth of the whole population, are either homeless or live in temporary and uninhabitable shelters.
The PSFF instituted the program whose vision is to enable the poorest Filipino families to be granted simple, decent and healthful homes through grants and donations.
On September 06, 2003, the ground for the first Jubilee Village was broken in New Cabalan, this city.
Within the year, the foundation for 54 Jubilee Homes had been laid, and 24 housing units completed.
The homes were built on a 3,000-square meter property donated by then-assemblywoman Amelia Gordon, mother of Mayor James Gordon Jr. of Olongapo City.
A Jubilee Home stands on a 50-square meter lot, with a footprint of 30 square meters. It is equipped with roofing, water pipes and electrical wiring, and has a bedroom, a living room and loft, a kitchen, and a toilet and bath.
Louie Castillo and wife, Tessa, one of the JHP volunteer couples who met with squatters and the homeless said they were reduced to tears when they saw how hopeless these people were as they lived in cardboard boxes and ramshackle huts.
Michelle Gotuaco-Yu, executive director, said the foundation believed the poor deserve the best. “These homes which cost P150,000 per unit, were donated by some companies and friend and built through the joint effort of volunteers and beneficiaries.
“Our concept is very simple, very similar to other housing projects but the difference there is that in our housing projects, we want to return the dignity of the poor. And the way to return it to them is not to give it to them free. We don’t dole outs,” Yu said.
What the foundation asks of them is an affordable P20 a day for the new home so that the money will be used to fund the building of other homes for the homeless.
“It’s not just the home, an outside thing that you see, which they are very happy with, but what the foundation want to do is to give them a new life. Volunteers will teach the families at the JHP value formation programs, environmental care, health and sanitation and cooperatives for livelihood projects until they can stand on their own,” the group said.
The JHP in Cabalan was a pilot project of the PSFF, a model of cooperation between those who have and those who do not have. Many people are saying that this is the talk of the town. In fact everybody that passes by outside cannot believe that this is housing for the poor Bai Gordon-Antonio, who rallied behind her husband’s devotion for the poor, said, “We’ve been persuading people all over the country. If we are able to see this project in the flesh, then other people will be inspired. If we are able to get donations from other parts of the country, then we are very willing to raise funds and pray to God to provide,” she said.
The city government is also working closely with the foundation on how to work out a P20 a day payment even for their employees.
Mayor James Gordon Jr., who graced the opening of the housing project, lauded the effort of the foundation.
“One of the government’s trusts is livelihood for the poor and low cost housing,” Gordon said. The mayor said the local government is also looking for a 70-hectare land and launch a similar housing project. - Malou Dungog, Central Luzon Bureau
The new homes were handed over to the beneficiaries in a ceremony dubbed “Jubilee Homes for the Poor” at the Jubilee Village, New Cabalan, here.
Antonio B. de los Reyes, PSFF executive vice president of PSFF, said the homeless needed help, citing Pope John Paul II’s message that the homeless were the “poorest of the poor.”
Despite the efforts of PSFF, not much has been done to reduce the number of the homeless people in the country. Both public- and commercial-housing programs demand either too little or too much from the homeless, virtually denying them of their dignity and depriving them of the basic human right to decent shelter, de los Reyes said.
In the Philippines alone 4.5 million families, or over one-fourth of the whole population, are either homeless or live in temporary and uninhabitable shelters.
The PSFF instituted the program whose vision is to enable the poorest Filipino families to be granted simple, decent and healthful homes through grants and donations.
On September 06, 2003, the ground for the first Jubilee Village was broken in New Cabalan, this city.
Within the year, the foundation for 54 Jubilee Homes had been laid, and 24 housing units completed.
The homes were built on a 3,000-square meter property donated by then-assemblywoman Amelia Gordon, mother of Mayor James Gordon Jr. of Olongapo City.
A Jubilee Home stands on a 50-square meter lot, with a footprint of 30 square meters. It is equipped with roofing, water pipes and electrical wiring, and has a bedroom, a living room and loft, a kitchen, and a toilet and bath.
Louie Castillo and wife, Tessa, one of the JHP volunteer couples who met with squatters and the homeless said they were reduced to tears when they saw how hopeless these people were as they lived in cardboard boxes and ramshackle huts.
Michelle Gotuaco-Yu, executive director, said the foundation believed the poor deserve the best. “These homes which cost P150,000 per unit, were donated by some companies and friend and built through the joint effort of volunteers and beneficiaries.
“Our concept is very simple, very similar to other housing projects but the difference there is that in our housing projects, we want to return the dignity of the poor. And the way to return it to them is not to give it to them free. We don’t dole outs,” Yu said.
What the foundation asks of them is an affordable P20 a day for the new home so that the money will be used to fund the building of other homes for the homeless.
“It’s not just the home, an outside thing that you see, which they are very happy with, but what the foundation want to do is to give them a new life. Volunteers will teach the families at the JHP value formation programs, environmental care, health and sanitation and cooperatives for livelihood projects until they can stand on their own,” the group said.
The JHP in Cabalan was a pilot project of the PSFF, a model of cooperation between those who have and those who do not have. Many people are saying that this is the talk of the town. In fact everybody that passes by outside cannot believe that this is housing for the poor Bai Gordon-Antonio, who rallied behind her husband’s devotion for the poor, said, “We’ve been persuading people all over the country. If we are able to see this project in the flesh, then other people will be inspired. If we are able to get donations from other parts of the country, then we are very willing to raise funds and pray to God to provide,” she said.
The city government is also working closely with the foundation on how to work out a P20 a day payment even for their employees.
Mayor James Gordon Jr., who graced the opening of the housing project, lauded the effort of the foundation.
“One of the government’s trusts is livelihood for the poor and low cost housing,” Gordon said. The mayor said the local government is also looking for a 70-hectare land and launch a similar housing project. - Malou Dungog, Central Luzon Bureau
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