"A friend indeed to those in need"
Marabella Family Crisis Centre
how it all began
The Marabella Family Crisis Centre began its operations on February 7th 1992, in response to a critical need for relief for persons living below the poverty line in the Marabella area. The simple objective of the movement at that time, was to provide a hot meal on a Sunday to families desperately in need or who would otherwise go hungry on a day when most families in Trinidad and Tobago enjoy a traditional Sunday lunch. The idea was dubbed “Meals on Wheels”.
The programme provided sixty lunches each Sunday, and distributed one hundred and seventy-five food hampers on a monthly basis, to the Pointe a Pierre, St. Margaret’s and Claxton Bay Communities.
However, it was soon recognized that providing a hot meal on a Sunday, was not the real answer to the problems facing the families selected under the programme; but the service created opportunities to interact with them and understand the nature of their issues, as many and as varied as they are.
Unemployment, surfaced as the major problem. The closure of the Union Park Turf Club and the subsequent halt to horse racing there, created a serious increase in the ranks of the unemployed. Persons directly employed with the club, as well as those who made a living from vending and other types of related activities, suffered as a consequence.
“Meals on Wheels” met with unprecedented success. The committee at the time, approached a few well to do families in the community who agreed to share their own lunch each Sunday. The lunches were then distributed to those whom the committee decided were most in need. In the early days, ten families benefited from this programme.
Encouraged by the response, the committee sought to widen its base and soon the programme spread to include families living in the area popularly known as the “lines”, a depressed, poverty stricken and crime infested area, which includes Bayshore, St. James Street and Union Park East.
Additionally, the oil company whose casual labour programmes provided employment for a number of people, found it necessary to restructure its operation and the volume of jobs available through this mechanism was drastically reduced, as contractual labour took its place.
The main source of employment was then the Unemployment Relief Programme (U.R.P.), which had its own setbacks and could not adequately fill the void. The results of this situation manifested themselves in the increase in crime, drug abuse, domestic violence, the general breakdown in family life and hopelessness. In short, the situation developed into a crisis.
Recognizing the complex task facing them, the committee of the Marabella Family Crisis Centre sought and acquired the use of a vandalized building owned by the Union Park Club. Extensive refurbishment was undertaken with the help of the National Commission for Self-Help who provided the materials; labour was provided by the young men in the area, who recognized the value of the programme and were intent on seeing the centre established.
Some two decades later, the Marabella Family Crisis Centre is a well-established and renowned institution in the Marabella Community with various persons seeking assistance for housing, clothing, food hampers, family counselling, drug counselling and other varied needs.
In 2010, a Home Work Centre was established with an average of 160 children ranging from ages 5-13 visiting the Home Work Centre on a weekly basis, on Mondays and Wednesdays, to seek assistance with their homework and school material that may pose a challenge to them.The Centre is also utilised as a facilitator for wide and varied training and empowerment programmes within the community, including a governmental initiative launched in August 2012, geared towards disadvantaged and at risk male youths between the ages of 16-25.
In closing, the Marabella Family Crisis Centre is certainly your friend indeed to those in need. We continue to provide quality service to our clients and to grow as the needs of our community dictate. As a premier service-provider, it is our goal to serve and also impart the knowledge necessary to our clientele to allow them to become self sufficient.