It's funding comes from the United Kingdom, but the Liberty Foundation will do its work in the trenches of Belize's social milieu. Liberty Foundation will tomorrow open the doors to a new children's home in Ladyville. Liberty Children's Home will cater to as many as 40 children, from newborn to 5 years old. Director of the Home Joanne Rahn explains that there's a great need.
Joanna Rahn, Dir. Liberty Children's Home
"We saw some situations that we could help, especially in Ladyville, there seems to be quite a large population of teenage mothers that could use some assistance. And we also notice that some of the facilities, I believe there are 5 residential facilities throughout the country of Belize, there seems to be some overcrowding and so we thought that this would be a way that we could help.
We anticipate reaching full capacity. We don't anticipate reaching full capacity within the 6 months. We would like to make sure that the children have a smooth healthy transition into Liberty Home. We would like to take the time to make each child feel comfortable. We know there's a period of adjustment and we are not rushing it. We've been working very closely with the Director of Human Services and I think we are on the same page with that type of communication and so we're looking at each child very carefully; their background, whether their fit, how they'll feel living in Ladyville, and how they'll feel living around buildings. So we're trying to make good choices."
The home will be ready to accept children in the third week of July. Those children will be directed there from the Department of Human Services.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift
