RBTT Grenada’s Heart of our Community program is intended to accomplish just that, get deep into the heart of the community.
The launch of this year’s program on October 10th was much more than an official ceremony but represented the financial institution’s commitment to being deeply involved in different aspects of the country’s development.
Country Manager of RBTT, Ms. Cyrilla Gemon described Heart of the Community as RBTT’s social development initiative geared towards helping non-governmental and community-based organizations build sustainable programs in the communities.
The Country Manager revealed that in 2006, the inaugural year of the program several NGO’s and CBO’s participated and they are quite pleased with the overwhelming response received.
The scope of the Heart of our Community program is wide-reaching, involving a number of areas.
Ms Gemon said from training young women in candle and soap making to giving legal counsel to victims of domestic abuse the projects demonstrated the importance of partnerships of the corporate sector with the community and organizations with individuals.
She said the institution’s association with the Heart of our Community program affirms its commitment to the development of the tri- island state of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique saying that this goes all the way back to the 1997 launch of the bank here.
Like the long existing Young Leaders program she hopes that this program will have a far reaching and widespread effect on the lives of those it will touch.
Gemon is convinced that in order for a society to grow and flourish it requires a collective effort, each person, group or agency working toward the same goal.
The RBTT considers this program pivotal in defining the collective effort and in offering opportunities for sustainable enriching programs to reach the ones with the greatest needs in the society.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Community Development, Mrs. Gemma Bain-Thomas represented the Minister of Social Development, The Hon. Yolande Bain-Horsford at the launch of the program.
On behalf of the minister the P.S. commended RBTT on taking the initiative to implement the program in 2006.
She applauded the project on placing emphasis on community programs and the development of the social sector something that enhances and compliments the workings of the Ministry of Social development.
The minister’s message said RBTT’s gesture fits neatly into her ministry’s objective of promoting the well being of the population. The minister recognizes that there are complex social problems requiring urgent attention and said the ministry makes every effort to address those issues. However with limited financial human and other resources, any initiative in the social sector that will generate benefits to the people both today and tomorrow is welcomed.
The minister’s message calls on other corporate bodies and individuals to do like RBTT and invest in community initiatives.
One of the organizations that benefited from the 2006 program was the Legal Aid and Counseling Clinic and the Director of that organization, Mrs. Jacqueline Sealey-Burke was high in praise for RBTT for the difference that was made in the lives of several people.
The grant that was given to LACC was used to support the domestic violence work of the clinic.
Sealey-Burke said to RBTT “you have made a meaningful contribution not only to the lives of the women who directly benefited from our program but also to the broader struggle to end violence against women.
As a background, the director said that every year thousands of women in Grenada experience violence at the hands of an intimate partner and the LACC sees an average of almost 1000 clients per year and close to 50% of those cases are either directly or indirectly related to family violence with women and children being the primary victims of usually physical or sexual abuse.
She told RBTT that the decision to help fund the domestic violence programming of the legal Aid and Counseling Clinic was a clear acknowledgment of the gravity of this issue and a demonstrated commitment to effective position change.
Sealey-Burke said domestic violence is a phenomenon that requires very sophisticated responses including strong professional counseling services.
Through the heart of Our Community project the agency was able to strengthen its capacity to offer professional counseling services to victims and survivors of domestic violence.
The RBTT assistance permitted the implementation of a three-component Domestic Violence Counseling project involving the following areas: Legal Advice and Representation; Individual Counseling and Group Counseling through the survivors group entitled “CHANGES”
According to the director, for the one-year period of August 2006 to September 2007, 54 persons were beneficiaries of the first component of the program, 71 persons received the services of the second component.
The third component is a direction that the LACC wanted to pursue for quite sometime but the heart of Our Community initiative made it financially possible to do so.
Sealey-Burke said the LACC’s sense of gratitude to RBTT is shared by the over 120 women who directly benefited from the bank’s sponsorship of the program.
Other recipients of the 2006 program were the Creative Craft Association, Grenada National Organization for Women and Grenada National Organization for the Disabled.
RBTT has over the years been active in the community in several other ways, contributing through sports and culture and various donations made to several organizations.
The bank has won the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s Best Corporate Citizenship Award several times.