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Beharry and Habitat for Humanity renew “Beharry Build” partnership
Under the theme, “A dollar makes a difference,” the “Beharry Build” partnership between Habitat for Humanity Inc. and Edward B. Beharry Company Limited, was yesterday renewed for a period of three months.
Anjelie Beharry-Strand signing the partnership agreement with Habitat’s National Director, Raul Small. Also in photo are beneficiaries Imran Khan and Sherry Bacchus.
A simple signing ceremony to mark the renewal was held at the Edward B. Beharry Training facility.
The project began in 2012 in an effort to provide low income families who would not be able to secure a commercial mortgage. The partnership between the non-profit and for profit organizations is the only one in Guyana which mobilizes funds from the general public to help support a social cause.
To facilitate its contribution, Edward B. Beharry Company Ltd. takes $1 off of every purchase made and donates it to the Habitat for Humanity. Since the project’s commencement, over $19M has been raised.
This money has contributed to the building of seven houses and was also used to facilitate repairs on two houses occupied by families in need. Three more houses are slated to be built for the second phase of the partnership.
Beharry’s Director, Anjelie Beharry-Strand, stressed the difference between Edward B. Beharry and the Habitat for Humanity.
In Habitat one could go in for a loan to build their home, “Ours is free and that’s why I’m trying to encourage people to buy the products because, $1 is taken off of every purchase made and given to Habitat to build these houses. There is no loan, no interest, everything is free,” she explained.
Strand also revealed the enacting of a new clause in the agreement between the beneficiaries of the homes and the two entities. The homes, she claims will be for the children in the family, so if something were to happen to their caretakers they would not be forced to leave as they would be the legal owners.
“We will ensure that the homes built go to the children, they won’t go to an aunt, an uncle or cousin. No one can take it away from them and this clause will be included in all the future builds we do,” she added.
When asked who makes a suitable candidate, National Director for the Habitat for Humanity, Raul Small, explained that there are certain factors that are taken into consideration when selecting persons to be recipients of the project.
Small said, “We look for families who are considered to be living in acute poverty and have no means of accessing housing finance through the traditional methods. We first look to ensure that there is an actual family as we would not build a house for just one person, then we’d look at the means of income by the family to cover basic needs and also their living situation, because if one can pay $60,000 per month on rent then that person can afford to pay a mortgage.”
“The most important thing we do however is ensure that the prospective beneficiary has the land in their name as they cannot build a new house on land not belonging to the beneficiary.”
Amongst the recipients of the new homes was common law couple, Imran Khan and Sherry Bacchus, whose home was destroyed late last year by a fire. In addition to a new home they were promised some furnishings by Habitat for Humanity Inc.
Maude White, a grandmother of four, will also be receiving a house and so will Althea Buelow. Repairs are slated to be carried out on Daphne Standford’s house.
The Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate poverty through increased accessibility to decent living conditions, especially for low income-earners and poverty-stricken families. It’s partnership with Edward B. Beharry, which is one of the largest food manufacturing and distribution companies in the Caribbean, has made them more readily equipped to provide help for those in need. (Akola Thompson)
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