CARIMAC Times 2016: The JREAM Edition Journalists Reviving Awareness of what Matters | Page 151

last performance report as well as supporting
documents.
Clifton Wright, 39, was diagnosed during
childhood with intellectual disability. He lives
in a household with his aunt, Brenda Lewis,
who assists him with his daily activities. He
is also registered with the JCPD and his aunt
has submitted an application for an economic
grant on his behalf. She will be helping him
with his small business venture, should he
receive the grant.
She, however, has expressed frustration as they
have not yet received any payment.
“I applied for a grant of $40,000 [ Jamaican
dollars] to purchase 200 chickens and 20 bags
of chicken feed. That was since 2014 and we still
haven’t received any money. Clifton does odd
jobs in the community but the little money he
gets - and what I make - can just barely sustain
us, so I applied for the grant. But every day is
something different,” Lewis said.
In her explanation, she said she was asked to
provide an invoice for the items she would
need. And she further claimed a social worker
has visited to assess their capacity for poultry
farming.
“She [the social worker] came to see if we had
the chicken coop in place, as well as a freezer
to store the meat for sale. All of that was in
place and she later called to say the grant was
approved but we haven’t received it. I have
given up calling her. I have told myself and
Clifton, that it’s government business so it’s
not guaranteed,” she told Carimac Times.

The economic empowerment grant is intended
to assist in improving the standard of living
and increase the income earning capacity of
PWDs or their caregivers. The expectation is
that they will eventually become self-sufficient.
The grant is made available to PWDs, and in
cases where they are unable to access the
grant on their own, a parent/guardian would
be allowed to assist. A group of PWDs may also
access grants with the minimum being $20,000
[ Jamaican dollars] and the maximum, $150,000.
There are challenges
Hendricks, in addressing the issue of why the
process for receiving grants is such a lengthy
one in some cases, pointed out that applicants
should be patient and ensure that they have
everything in place for the approval of the
grant, as a number of factors could contribute
to the delay.
“One of them is the fact that the application
form is not properly completed and the number
that they [applicants] gave, no longer works and
... nobody calls us to say this is my new number
or I have moved ... We also do not have social
workers in every parish, and even where we
have [them], one social worker is dealing with
more than one parish,” she stated.
She further pointed out that the availability of
funding is also a factor and, as such, approval
for grants of a larger sum requires a longer
processing time than that for smaller grants.
“Yes, it is provided but the reality is that the
money is not always available. I understand
the frustration but they can’t just give up. If
it is that it has not gone to the committee, it

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