…And for Adults at the Welcome Resource Centre
Over at the welcome resource center in Belize City, a party for underprivileged adults was in full swing. We found them dancing and having an enjoyable time. Our intern Frank Hower also got into the spirit of Christmas.
Frank Hower, Reporting
This afternoon, the Welcome Resource Centre was filled with amped up residents, participating in a dance contest at their second annual Christmas party. A variety of games and other contests were also taking place, challenging one another to fun and exciting activities.
Joyce Ellis, Administrator, Welcome Resource Center
Joyce Ellis
“Today we are having our annual Christmas party to show appreciation for our participants because over the years they come here and we have seen the changes that they have made and we want them to feel as comfortable as possible and as good as we feel during the Christmas time. For a fact we know that some of them don’t really have families to spend the Christmas season with so we try and make it as much as near to them as possible and we reach out to them in terms of preparing food, games, gifts….everyone will walk away with a little gift and that’s about it.”
The center caters to adults from various walks of life…those that have been disenfranchised, those that suffer from various mental disorders and even the homeless. According to Administrator, Joyce Ellis, the center currently works with four hundred and eighty-three persons registered to the center.
Joyce Ellis
“On a daily basis, we only have between forty-five and fifty coming. Now we don’t turn back any individual; even if they are not registered on our list, we call them our new participants and they are always welcomed. We get our funding from, I must say, the Ministry of Health because they cater for my salary and sometimes we do ask for donation and they always come through for us. We also get through the Mental Health Association, we get through the banks and we also get through the different law firms and we also get from the Mennonite community.”
The event is to break the stigma that the center caters only to mental patients.
Joyce Ellis
“The importance of the event is for socializing and two to show that there are people out there who really care for them regardless of their shortcomings.”
Frank Hower
“What do you guys offer here in terms of treatment and healthcare?”
Joyce Ellis
“We are not a treatment center, we are not a hospital. We only offer what we call the social aspect…where they can come and socialize and have a meal and a change of clothes and they also recreate by playing games and so on. With that in mind I am asking the general public, if you have any games at all that your children have outgrown, please feel free to bring it to the center. We can utilize it, we can adapt it to make it fun for our participants.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Frank Hower.
