US citizen donates 43 homes to West Berbice families

Dec 01, 2016 News

A number of residents from the Hopetown community and environs were on hand on Tuesday to witness the inauguration of the New Hope Community Development Project, at Onderneeming, Wrest Coast Berbice- under

Joseph Roetheli, left, assisting a young resident, Akeisha Halley, at the cutting of the ribbon, with CEO Food for the Poor Guyana, Kent Vincent (right).

the theme, “As often as you did it for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it for me.”
The event marked the official handing over of 43 two-bedroom housing units to 43 families who have now taken up residence in the newly created village to be called New Hope.
New Hope, as each home owner has been made to realize a dream of owning a home through the charitable organization, Food for the Poor, Guyana Incorporated.
According to Mr. Joseph Roetheli, the donor, an American citizen, last June, he and his wife would have completed forty- three years of marriage, and it was as they discussed what they could do to mark the occasion that his wife suggested that he could brighten the lives of forty-three families in Guyana, and that was how it all started.
Mr. Roetheli has funded several similar villages in Guyana.
Also present for the ceremony was Florida-based Vice President of Food for the Poor Incorporated, Nathalie Carlisle; Chairman, Food for the Poor, Mr. Paul Chan-A-Sue; and Chief Executive Officer, Food for the Poor, Guyana, Mr. Kent Vincent.
Food for the Poor has constructed over 3,300 housing units free of cost to underprivileged families across Guyana. The houses are two-bedroom structures measuring twenty by sixteen feet. Of the 3,300 units constructed, more than 500 homes were constructed as part of twelve villages. Most of the villages are equipped with sanitation blocks, shower enclosures, community centers, schools and water projects, and such villages can be found in Regions One, Two, Three, and Five.
Most of the home owners have already taken up residence in New Hope community, a project that was completed in thirty-days. Works were scheduled to begin yesterday to lay pipelines within the village for potable water, while the authorities are hoping that Minister of Communities Mr. Ronald Bulkhan, makes good his promise to get electricity to the village within the time given.
The house lots were acquired at a reduced cost from the Hopetown Multipurpose Coop Society, and Food for the Poor have paid half the amount together with meeting the cost of each housing unit. The home owners, upon completing the payment for the house lots would be issued transport for their individual property.
Each family had to satisfy laid down criteria in order to be deemed eligible for a housing unit, and so even though recommended by local personnel, officers from the Georgetown office of Food for the Poor had to be satisfied before families were selected.
Food for the Poor is a charitable organization based in the United States of America, and the organization has been funding projects for the less fortunate in different countries around the world, through various donors, one of whom is Mr. Joseph Roetheli.

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