The organisation helps transform homes for families in difficult circumstances.

But founder Tara Nielsen warns they are only scratching the surface.

“I am afraid there are hundreds of families living in unsafe conditions. There are people living without bathrooms, without proper rooves, without water or electricity. So many people are still living in homes that were damaged or flooded in Hurricane Ivan and have never been properly repaired.”

As a small charity, ARK has enough resources to do two or three projects each year. Nielsen says they prioritise the most desperate situations, but the waiting list is long. “If we were able to do this full time, there are enough homes that we would be working constantly.”

Once the Bodden household in George Town is finished, ARK will move on to a family of nine living in a tiny makeshift home in West Bay.

Other projects on the charity’s radar include a family with young children, living without a roof and running power from a neighbour’s supply.

In another case, ARK is attempting to assist a family that has lived without access to power or water for four years. At least a dozen other homes need functional bathrooms.

The worst impacted homes are those that were built before there was proper planning regulation in Cayman and passed on through generations.

“Some of them have been flooded and are covered in mould,” Nielsen says.
Government also provides some support through its Housing Repairs Assistance Programme. The Needs Assessment Unit provides small monthly stipends to families to enable them to rent in the private sector, though many landlords refuse to rent to NAU clients.

Nielsen adds that ARK will be working on one project next year which would seek to transform an old shipping container into a home for a family in West Bay.

She believes a larger scale temporary housing project could be developed, potentially using converted shipping containers, to provide safe housing at low cost in emergency cases.

“I think if there was somewhere where people could access safe, temporary housing, that would be a huge help.”

She says a development of this kind could also serve as a hub for government and non-profits to help rehabilitate struggling families and assist them in getting back to work and into a position where they are functioning independently of government support.

Nielsen acknowledges that some of the mothers the charity helps are responsible for their own situation. But she warns that if the community does not help them it will be their children who suffer.

“We try not to judge people but to work with them to break the cycle of poverty,” she said. “We want to be more than just a bandaid; our goal is to help find long-term solutions for families and especially for single mothers.