Homeless Barbadians will soon have a warm place to rest their heads when the Barbados Vagrants and Homeless Society (BVHS) opens its 24-hour shelter during the first quarter.

BVHS chairman Kemar Saffrey told Barbados TODAY that the site for the Tudor Street, The City facility is currently being prepared and should be available by the end of next month.

The chairman confirmed that the shelter, which would accommodate both males and females, had already been evaluated by the Barbados Fire Service and health officials.

He urged corporate Barbados to come on board to assist with the project, which he described as a costly venture.

“If we get everything that we want donated it is going to save us a lot, but, if not, it is going to actually take us probably about $30,000 to start up and that is going to include getting beds and having the right security systems in place,” he said.

Saffrey said it would take at least $6,000 per month to maintain the shelter.

“This is a big undertaking for us and it is also going to be a task for us at BVHS. We are going to have to deal with more and more people coming in everyday to sleep.

“We are going to be getting random calls where people are telling us that they have been evicted and they need some way to stay,” the BVHS’ founder predicted.

He was speaking at the society’s Tudor Street office after accepting a donation of food items collected by organizers of the recently staged Barbados Music Awards.

Producer Ronnie Morris thanked the patrons who contributed to the effort.

He said a similar drive would be held during the upcoming Queens of Gospel Concert, which he is also producing.

Article by Barbados Today