A few months ago, Jose Rodriguez and his family were living in a Hyundai i20 parked by the beach.
Their entire world was packed into the little car: clothes, food, a few school books and even their pet dog.
In the mornings, Jose’s wife Maria ironed the children’s uniforms in the public bathrooms, smoothing out every crease so they could walk into class looking just like everyone else.
Through it all, the children never missed a day. They kept 100% attendance, won maths and reading prizes, and even brought home trophies for sports. To their parents, that was proof enough they were doing something right.
“Even though things were hard, we wanted their future to be brilliant,” Maria said. “We still want their dreams to come true.”
Now, as they begin a new school term, the Rodriguez family – whose names have been changed in this article to protect their privacy – are starting from a place of hope and optimism.
They are among the first beneficiaries of a new bridge housing project pioneered by the charity Acts of Random Kindness (ARK) and its donors. The non-profit organisation has secured four apartments in a new condo complex in West Bay as well as a 1.1-acre plot of land, which they hope to use to build more homes for those in need.
The aim is to give struggling families a secure place to stay until they can get back on their feet.
A few doors down, 18-year-old Leah Ebanks (also a pseudonym to protect her and her child’s privacy) is settling into her apartment with her three-month-old baby.
After bouncing between relatives, she risked having to give up her child to foster care because she didn’t have a roof over her head.
“I was kicked out of my house and I was all over the place but thank God for my social worker and thank God for ARK, I have a safe place for me to stay. This is one less stress because we can be together,” she said.
Eventually she hopes to be able to join her baby’s father in the UK where there is likely to be stronger government and family support.
Her experience is very different from the Rodriguez family’s, but both highlight the widespread and unmet need for temporary shelter in Cayman, said ARK’s Tara Nielsen.
“No matter what the situation of the parents, our goal has always been to keep families together and to ensure that we break the cycle for the next generation,” she said.
Living in a car
For the Rodriguez family, who arrived in Cayman from Cuba and have refugee status, the assistance from ARK has been a godsend.
They fell into financial difficulties after Jose was injured at work and lost his job. He has been unable to find employment since, and government support stopped after he declined an offer of housing in North Side, too far from the children’s school in West Bay.
Maria’s work as a helper was enough to pay for food and necessities but never enough for rent.
Jose said, “We were sleeping in the car by the beach. The children slept in the front and we slept in the back.
“Sometimes they had so many mosquito bites, but we always made sure they could go to school every day.”
Every evening, the family would take the children to Scholars Park to do their homework in the shade of the cabanas.
The Rodriguez family had been living rough for 64 days when ARK was alerted to their situation.
“As a mum with kids, I was so impressed with how they were able to prioritise their children,” said Hany Ramgeet, who works for ARK. “We started working to find them somewhere to stay.”
After a few weeks in a hotel, the family became the first to move into one of ARK’s bridge housing units.
Now the children go to school with a warm shower and a good breakfast, and they come home to a clean, modern apartment where their academic trophies are proudly displayed on the mantel.
“This has been the light at the end of the tunnel,” Jose said.
The charity is helping them learn English and to get work, with the hope that they will soon be able to pay rent on the apartment, which can go towards helping others. Eventually they hope to be able to move on and allow ARK to use the space to help another family.
Bridge housing brings new hope
The Rodriguez case is far from unique, said Nielsen, founder of ARK. Hundreds of families in Cayman live in unsafe and unfit accommodation.
A smaller but still significant number are homeless. The problem may not be as visible as in other countries. Few people are sleeping in doorways or on the streets. But there are families living in cars, cramming into spare rooms in friends’ apartments or sometimes in tents.
“It is an issue that is invisible for a lot of people,” said Nielsen, “but it is becoming less so.”
ARK has worked with families in distress for decades, helping to renovate homes, pay rent or build new properties.
The opening of new bridge housing is the fulfilment of a dream for the charity.
The project started with a $1 million donation from the May Family Charitable Trust. Lisa and Nigel May have been regular contributors to the non-profit with a passion for easing Cayman’s housing challenges.
The donation was matched by the developer of Arza, Gurvinder Singh. This enabled ARK to invest in a 1.1-acre piece of land as well as the apartments.
Nielsen added, “These donors have the same feeling as me that just because someone is down on their luck, that doesn’t mean they have to be housed in a ‘poor projects-style’ housing estate. They deserve a chance to get back on their feet and to live in a pleasant environment while they rebuild their lives.”
Having the properties will save ARK money in paying hotel nights for families in desperate straits. The intent is to use them as places where families can stay temporarily and get assistance to deal with the financial and social challenges that led to them becoming homeless.
Some of the properties could be used over a longer period with rent covered by the Department of Financial Assistance – easing a challenge around private landlords being unwilling to rent to families on social services.
The charity is also hoping to get new funding to help develop the land and build up to 32 additional homes that can be used for those receiving financial support from government and people in desperate need.
Nielsen said this kind of facility was badly needed in Cayman and something ARK had been working towards for 20 years.
“This is really a eureka moment for us and thanks to these donors, we can begin to build a sustainable safety net for families in crisis.”
