Housing Solutions 2017… 67 year-old granny wins house lot after applying 17 years ago

Jun 01, 2017 News

Georgia French-Edwards relating her story yesterday

After 17 years of wanting a place to call her own, 67 year old Georgia French-Edwards was the lucky winner of a special house lot giveaway drawing done by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) on Sunday.
Speaking with the media yesterday, Edwards said that she is thankful to God for not only providing a house lot, but one at no cost. The drawing was held at the Housing Solutions 2017 and Beyond Expo at Perseverance Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara.
Presently, Edwards lives at 219 Market Street, East Ruimveldt, in a house owned by the father of her children. She said that no rent is paid, but the home is not in the best state.
Edwards said that the last time she visited the CH&PA’s office on Brickdam she did not get through with a house lot, which brought tears to her eyes. She said that one Mr Nelson told her “don’t give up, keep praying, keep praying, and don’t give up. And every time doubts come into my mind I always remember those words keep ringing in my ears, and I keep praying.”
According to the woman, now that she has the land, the next step is to build a house. “I alone can’t do it, but I have my grandchildren who are with me, and they are going to assist me to build the house as fast as possible.”
Asked to describe her feeling after hearing her name being called as the winner, Edwards said that when it was first announced that the winner is from East Ruimveldt, “My heart stopped. Then it start back beating fast fast fast. I was on the edge of the seat you know. So when she (Minister Patterson) said Georgia French, oh my, all I could do was jump up and say thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus!”
Edwards said that she is extremely happy for the house lot, since she needs a home of her own. She explained that it was her intention to visit the Expo on Saturday, but her grandson could not make it and the visit was postponed to the following day.
“So the Sunday night he came for me and we went up there. We were walking through all the houses and I was telling him which one I liked and I just tell myself that something will happen. So when they talked about the raffle I decided to sign up, and I always walk with my documents.”
Upon checking her bag, Edwards said that she could not find her National Identification Card. However, this did not deter her. She called home to get the ID number. “When I called home they can’t find the card where I tell them it was and I said ‘well look in the wardrobe, get the passport and they give me the passport number’ and I write it and I carried it in.”
After completing the procedure, she told her grandson, Rondell, that they are not leaving until the drawing is over. “I sit down and wait, because like something within me was telling me that something was going to happen tonight (Sunday), something good is going to happen.”
Before winning the house lot, Edwards said that she fell in love with the single flat duplex and the single unit home for $8M. Edwards said that she initially applied for a house lot in 2000 while employed at the Georgetown courts.
Edwards has 12 grandchildren. As a source of income, she normally travels to and from Barbados where she buys and sells goods. She also sells at the Bourda Market and occasionally irons clothes for different homes.

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