Rebuilding I Can home
hits snag, placed on hold
~ Ownership of land still an issue ~
PHILIPSBURG--The rebuilding of I Can Foundation’s children’s home is currently on hold.
The foundation is awaiting its building permit before it can proceed with the rebuilding of the home, Director Cassandra Gibbs told The Daily Herald recently.
However, the ownership of the land is still being questioned and Social Affairs Commissioner Louie Laveist told reporters Wednesday the foundation which had been established to aid with the rebuilding of the home had been dissolved.
Laveist told Wednesday’s Executive Council press briefing that I Can Foundation would have to sort out its land issue.
In a telephone interview earlier this week, Gibbs said the building permit had been requested on October 3, but she hadn’t yet received word on it. She said a deadline hadn’t been set for the start of construction of the home, which was gutted by fire on Wednesday, August 1, displacing more than 20 children.
“We didn’t set a deadline for the construction because I anticipated that it would be stalled. It was just a feeling. The handwriting was on the wall when the land issue came up,” she said.
Gibbs maintains that the ownership of the land is beyond question.
She couldn’t say how much it would cost to construct the new home, but said it could be US $300,000 to $350,000.
She said the foundation had raised some $10,000 during its recent fundraising event and had about US $40,000 in its accounts. However, she said, “This is just a drop in the bucket.” The home is also banking on the money allocated for the upgrading of the two main children’s homes on the island to aid with its rebuilding.
She is confident that once the rebuilding starts, the community will back the initiative and to see it through to the end.
Twenty-five children are currently being provided for by I Can Foundation.
