About the House of Hope

Where in the world is the House of Hope?

The House of Hope is a community based project on the south east coast of the Caribbean Island of Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic). It is located between the Guadeloupe (to the north) and Martinique (to the south).

View Larger Map

To learn more about this beautiful island and discover its sights, head over to Paul Crask’s excellent website: Living Islands. He lives there with his wife and his love of the country shows in his writing…

What is the House of Hope project?

The House of Hope, in Délices Dominica, is a home that provides 24  hour care for persons with severe physical and mental disabilities.

The project was initiated by The Sacred Heart Conference of the Society of St Vincent de Paul. It is a world wide organization, founded in 1833. It gives help and assistance to the needy. This Society has functioned in Dominica since 1973 with membership in districts throughout the island.

The Délices Conference has been in existence since 2002.

In 2005 The Sacred Heart Conference with the assistance from Social Welfare department and Christian’s  Children Fund rented an apartment to provide a nurturing, safe and secure environment for some of Dominica’s most needy, and often neglected: namely those people in our community who are living with severe mental disabilities.

We currently have three residents, though we would love to be able to care for more. Lydia and Cristobel are sisters who are in their thirties. With no communication or social skills, they found themselves alone and without adequate care when their loving mother died. Darcy is the youngest resident. She has cerebral palsy and, as she has little control of her neck and back muscles, was sadly confined to a room with very little help, hope or mental stimulation.

Today, thanks to the hard work and help of loving carers and essential social interaction and self-help training, things are improving for the three girls. Cristobel likes to sing along with our caregivers, while her sister Lydia offers a delightful dance. As for Darcy, well she can now move her arms and fingers, and her smiles and giggles are guaranteed to bring a tear to the eyes of even the hardiest of visitors.

With your help, we hope to improve the facilities at the House of Hope and take our project to the next stage.

Not only do we want to continue to care for Cristobel, Lydia and Darcy, we also want to be able to welcome and look after others like them – the silent population of sufferers who have fallen through the safety net of family and community, and who now must look to others for love, hope and a new chance at life.

How is the project funded?

The Government of Dominica has provided us with a plot of land on which we have been constructing a building that will accommodate about twelve residents.

We receive at present $1,000 from the Government for the two adults and $350.00 from the Christian Children’s fund. Donations from members of the community and from friends living abroad help us pay salaries and utilities.

Help comes from groups in the form of groceries. meat , fish , ground vegetables and root crops. As all our residents need total care, pampers are a huge expense.

Some companies give annual donations. We have received funds from Dominica Social Investment Fund, The Government of Dominica, Jungle Bay and many groups who have contributed towards the House of Hope from its inception.

We need donations to help towards the maintenance of the Home.

Now that our new home is under construction and we have plans to expand and increase number of residents, we will be needing more funds for maintenance.

We would also like to provide training and education for workers and for members of the community.