“The pandemic has certainly made things more challenging for ministries like ours”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Great Commission Ministries President Bishop Walter Hanchell said yesterday that demand for housing and food assistance continues to increase, underscoring the severity of the pandemic’s impact.
Hanchell told Eyewitness News: “The demand for assistance has increased a bit, particularly as it relates to the demand for housing. We provide housing also and a lot of people are homeless and we try to accommodate them as best we could.
“A lot of our shelters are full. We are trying to get more facilities and more beds. The crowd that comes for food every day is still increasing. A lot of people are hurting and we just need more resources.
“The pandemic has certainly made things more challenging, certainly for ministries like ours.”
Hanchell further noted that amid the pandemic, donations have decreased.
“Donations have decreased. I guess the government is doing what they could and I wish they could do more and really should make more resources available to organizations like Great Commission that is on the ground helping people every day,” he said.
According to Minister of the Public Service and National Insurance Brensil Rolle, the government has to date spent over $150 million on its unemployment assistance programme, which has been extended to the end of this month.
However, some Bahamians who qualify for NIB’s assistance programme have said those contributions are insufficient to support them.
