Four disabled residents who lived in the Cheshire Home on Dolphin Drive are being forced to leave the facility after the board of directors running the home decided to shut it down.
But they reportedly refused to move on Wednesday.
Officials turned off the electricity and disconnected the water supply and the telephone service, signaling an end to the residents´ painful battle to remain at Cheshire Home.
When The Bahama Journal arrived on the scene, there were men removing the logo, and putting up storm shutters while the disabled residents were still inside.
A teary-eyed Jerome Thompson, a blind resident at the home, better known as JT, said he had nowhere else to go.
“I have not been able to move out of Cheshire Home to go anywhere else because practically speaking I have no other alternative,” he said in a distraught tone. “Why can´t the people understand that?”
JT, who often calls talk shows to express opinions on a variety of issues, said, “I tried several times to relocate out of here. I have never wanted to stay in Cheshire Home as long as I have for 15 years. I only live off $200 per month.”
Similarly, Jervaisian Stuart, another disabled resident of the home, also expressed sadness.
“This is the only home that we have in the country for disabled adults and they are closing it down,” he said. “They are being very unfair and very inhumane, and I don´t appreciate it.”
Karen Jones, who is confined to a wheelchair, was at the home on Wednesday supporting the cause of the disabled residents of Cheshire Home.
“I think it is really wrong because we as disabled growing up, we do not have any place to live,” said Ms. Jones, who said she moved out of the home a while back.
“The way it is going now, we do not know what is going to happen to people out there who are disabled. We are trying our best to at least keep one home that can support us in the long run. All that I can say is that I hope things become better and we can keep the home because there is no other place out there for us.”
Sheila Culmer, president the Bahamas National Council for Disabled Persons, said that the eviction notice was sent a short time ago and not enough time was given for the residents to relocate.
“The authorities have give notice that the residents ought to move, but oh my God, the letter came out on the second of May. Today is the first of June,” Mrs. Culmer said.
“All of us are aware that it is very difficult to find a home even if you are able-bodied; you need time. These young men, they all have a disability. Two [are] in wheelchairs, one is blind, and the other, deaf. You just cannot put them in any house. My God, have a heart.”
Minister of Social Services and Community Development Melanie Griffin told The Bahama Journal that residents of Cheshire Home knew of the pending eviction for almost two years.
She further indicated that the government has already approved the acquisition of the home to be used as a facility for disabled children.
“We already have one place that we are certain they can relocate to, but there is another one we want to check out as well so that we can give them an option,” Minister Griffin said. “We believe that within the next week they will be regularized; they will be normalized in a long term situation.
“In the ministry´s plan, the home will definitely be utilized as a place for the disabled. We intend to renovate it and use it as a daycare centre for children with disabilities as well as a residential centre for the children with disabilities who are currently boarders at the hospital and as a respite centre for caregivers who require some relief.”
The residents said they submitted a proposal to the board to purchase the home, but it was rejected.
The first phase would have released the current management from all financial and legal responsibilities, and the second phase would have provided for the outright purchase of the facility, they claimed.
Minister Griffin said late Wednesday that an official of her ministry went to the home to assist the residents with relocation, but she said they refused to move.
Perez Clarke, The Bahama Journal
