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News : Bahamas Information Services Updates Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM


Social Services Ministry to Establish Grand Bahama Unit for Senior Citizens and Persons with Disabilities
By Simon Lewis, BIS
Oct 7, 2014 - 5:55:31 PM

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Social Services and Community Development Minister the Hon. Melanie Griffin as she addressed a gathering on Grand Bahama in celebration of Older Persons Month and the 50th Anniversary celebration of the founding of the Department of Social Services. (BIS Photo/Vandyke Hepburn)

FREEPORT, The Bahamas Social Services Minister the Hon. Melanie S. Griffin announced Friday, the establishment of a unit for senior citizens and persons with disabilities on the island of Grand Bahama.

The Minister was in Grand Bahama attending a church service marking the start of “Older Persons Month,” which is being observed on the island throughout the month of October.

Under the theme “Leaving No One Behind: Promoting a Society for All,” the Church Service was held at the Pro-Cathedral of Christ the King and was well attended by persons from throughout Grand Bahama.

The service also marked celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Department of Social Services.

The United Nation’s International Day of Older Persons is observed on October 1st each year as a special day for older persons worldwide, with 2014 marking its 24th observance. For the past seventeen years, the Department of Social Services and the Ministry of Social Services and Community Development, in conjunction with the National Council for Older Persons, has organized a schedule of activities during the month to highlight issues facing older persons and their contributions to the development of The Bahamas.

Addressing Friday’s gathering Mrs. Griffin said she was delighted to be in Grand Bahama “to pay tribute to those persons in our country on whose shoulders we stand.”

She went on to commend social workers on the island for the celebration of fifty years of state-operated welfare services in The Bahamas: “We do know that we don’t know what we would do without Social Services and Social Services doesn’t know what it will do without its staff, because again, all the work is done through them and we wish to commend them on this occasion,” she said.

She pointed out that, while her Ministry has provided the services and expanded the Department on Grand Bahama, they lacked two units – one for senior citizens and one for persons with disabilities.

“I wish to announce that very shortly we will be placing those two units, opening those two units. I think it is fitting in Older Persons Month to be able to announce that we will be having a unit for senior citizens right here in Grand Bahama.

“We will also be having a unit for persons with disabilities. So Grand Bahama will be having their own dedicated social workers dealing specifically with older persons and dealing specifically with disability affairs.

“We have already identified the office space and as soon as we get that sorted out it will be open to you. We think that Grand Bahama deserves to have its own unit for older persons and persons with disabilities so that we can really focus of programmes for them,” she stated.

The Minister said that we are aware that in The Bahamas as globally we have an aging society and that persons because of better medical care are living longer and some are retiring earlier: “We know that we cannot and must not leave our older persons behind because we must be about creating a society for all.

She reminded all that the senior citizens are the foundation of this country and “we want you to know that we appreciated the work that you have done to make this Bahamas what it is today. Without you there would be no us! It is really on your shoulders that we stand and we want you to know that we thank you for it,” she said.

The Minister also pointed out that very often our older persons are neglected, abused and sometimes families members abuse their Old Age Pension and the assistance they get from Social Services.

“We want to put a stop to that. That is why you getting your own unit, so when you ready, you call right there and you tell Ms. Quant Forbes [Social Workers] look here these children abusing me, come, deal with them,” she said.

The Minister then encouraged the audience to join her in singing the song, “ God Never Fails.”


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