By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS 

Tribune Staff Reporter 

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net 

HOMELESSNESS and evictions are on the rise across The Bahamas, according to Families of All Murdered Victims (FOAM) President Khandi Gibson, who said more people are struggling to survive as they have yet to recover from the impact of COVID-19.

Her comment comes after the Department of Social Services linked the rising need for shelter assistance to landlords suddenly raising rent on tenants who then struggle to pay.

Ms Gibson said she now receives an average of ten messages a day from people, both men and women, seeking help with food, shelter, and other basic needs. She said many of those reaching out are employed but still cannot afford rent or groceries.

Among the messages she received was one from a father of two who said he and his children have been living in a car for the past three months. He said he works full time earning $260 a week and had managed to save $500 toward a new home but needed $500 more to move in. 

“I don’t want to turn to the streets,” he wrote. “I turned to a church, I throw tithes in, I called my MP, nobody wants to assist and I do work and I’m trying my best. It's hard." 

Another message came from a mother of three who said she had sent her children to school without lunch, snacks, or money because she had no food left. “Please, anything can do,” she wrote. “I just don’t want them going to bed hungry.”

A 17-year-old single mother also reached out, explaining that she was staying in an Airbnb with her four-month-old baby, paying $70 a day. Another woman pleaded for help to pay for a room at Smith’s Hotel and to buy formula, diapers, and food for her children.

Ms Gibson said these stories have become far too common, adding: “People have not bounced back from COVID-19. Homelessness is on the rise; persons being evicted is on the rise. You have landlords with rent being high, and some places are not accepting children. Bahamians are very fertile. They have more than two children, and that’s another issue,” she said.

She added that the hardship affects both men and women. “We have fathers out there who want to do better, who don’t want to resort to a life of crime or go back to a life of crime, and they’re coming up in hardship as well," she said.

Ms Gibson said she often prioritises cases involving children. 

While some people have made poor financial decisions, Ms Gibson believes most simply do not earn enough to survive. “They are employed, but they just ain’t making enough,” she said. “At the end of the day, we are supposed to be our brother’s keeper, and we got to help out in each way because as you can see, suicide is on the rise. What I can take, you can’t take, and a lot of people don’t have family support.”

“This is not natural. This is not common and so I am begging all of us to try reach out or just help."