The Belize City Resource Center for the homeless and mentally ill on Vernon Street is finally up and running. But, the center's important work goes largely overlooked. And that's why they had an Open House today – we visited and found out more:…
Joyce Ellis - Administrator, Belize City Resource Center
"What we want the public to know about the center is that yes it is up and running, we cater for the mentally ill, the homeless and the elderly. We also have them interact on a daily basis - what we do here is that they get a hot meal and they also get to take a shower and involved in certain therapeutic activities that will help them better cope with their situation. At present we have a total of 120 participants registered to the center but we aim to do a 150. On a daily basis we feed an average of 42 participants for the day, the center is a drop-in center meaning that you can only come and have a hot meal, a change of clothes and stay here for a couple hours a day and then you have to leave; we don't have a residential facility. As much as you see them on the street like that, they are functional - they can read, they can reason and if given the right opportunity they can bounce back and be productive in our society."
Currently, the center is only supported by fundraising.
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