Athaliah Reynolds, Staff Reporter

Trevor Edmondson … A nuff tings Joy Town do for me. - Kyle Macpherson/Freelance Photographer

What started out as a prayer meeting to restore peace and calm to a volatile community has developed into an institution, aimed at transforming the lives and guiding the destiny of hundreds of inner-city youths.

The Joy Town Community Development Foundation has officially been an active part of the Trench Town community and its surrounding areas since 2001.

The foundation was formed through the Covenant Community Church, which has been operating in the south St Andrew community for close to 15 years.

Transformed by foundation

Trevor 'Gummy Bear' Edmondson, a man with a 'chequered' past, admits to having been transformed by the efforts of the foundation.

Standing outside his restaurant which sells Jamaican foods, Edmondson confessed, however, that the work was still in progress.

The restaurant project was started recently with the assistance of Edmondson's family and the foundation through its entrepreneurial training and support initiative.

He explains that the foundation has helped him to start his own business and to turn from a life of crime. "A nuff tings Joy Town do for me and ... nuff people," he says.

Edmondson explains that the foundation, along with the Peace Management Initiative, is at the centre of a yearlong peace treaty signed by members of warring fractions in the area.

The community has been grappling with the problem of crime and violence for many years. This, coupled with the crippling social plagues of unemployment, teenage pregnancy and illiteracy, has caused many residents to adopt a sense of hopelessness.

Church had to reach out

Major Richard Cooke, president of the foundation, told The Gleaner that after the establishment of the Covenant Community Church, it was soon realised that it would take more than just church services to change the community and effectively impact the lives of the residents.

"We needed to do more," he said. "The church had to reach out."

Therefore, in 1994, the foundation formed the Joy Town Learning Centre, which houses a basic school that provides education for close to 200 children living in and around the community. The learning centre is also home to a centre, which provides remedial education for adults.

The foundation, through donations from both local and overseas charitable organisations, also provides breakfast and lunch for the children.

athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com