Best birthday gift ever
Woman gets $4.2m two-bedroom home under HOPE programme
Published:Wednesday | March 23, 2022 | 12:11 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
On December 24 last year, Andrea Riley of Rural Retreat, Claremont, posted on Facebook: “Three things that await me next year: 1. A new house. 2. A happy family. 3. More blessings.”
Last Friday, March 18, on her 42nd birthday, all three things came true – just like that.
The two-bedroom house was built under the Government’s Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) programme, through efforts by St Ann South East Member of Parliament (MP) Lisa Hanna.
Riley, whose plight The Gleaner had featured on February 21, received the keys from Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
“It’s a blessing, I call it a blessing,” Riley said in her response after the handover of the house, built at a cost of $4.2 million.
“It’s really an honour to stand here today and be the recipient of this beautiful house on my special day, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Today I can say you have renewed and restored hope,” Riley said to Holness.
She also had praise for MP Hanna, who she said made her “the proudest woman in the world”.
The house consists of two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, dining area, and veranda.
Holness had said that although the house was a gift to her, it was not free.
He urged Riley to be a model citizen and to help break intergenerational poverty that affects many families.
“It would be a real loss if you benefited from this major investment and somehow your children got involved in gangs and guns and all things that are creating problems. So we ask you to be a leader, to be a model, and to be a beacon of hope and transformation in the community,” the prime minister said.
Riley later said in a Gleaner interview that she already considered herself a model citizen and believes that status played a part in her selection.
“I always participate in different groups, different community activities; I was always involved in volunteerism, helping other citizens,” she said.
Riley was selected after a rigorous vetting process that identified and investigated her social circumstances.
The house was the first of five that Hanna applied for under the HOPE programme, with officials at the handover promising that other applications are being processed.
The MP had applied for assistance after seeing how the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic had further deteriorated the living conditions of vulnerable women.
Hanna pointed out that two months after the coronavirus pandemic, 59 per cent of low-income families lost income, with women being the hardest hit, with 53 per cent losing jobs.
Several residents from the community joined the family in celebrating Riley’s good fortune.
Her sister Veneica and mother Veronica were ecstatic.
“I am glad that she earned this house with the help of God, from the MP Lisa Hanna. I am very proud and I feel good about it,” her mom had said earlier.