ST. PATRICK’S
FOUNDATION
- CHANGING THE FACE OF
THE INNER-CITY
BELOW: The culinary art programme has received a major boost with a refurbished
kitchen and new equipment to facilitate cake-baking and decorating.
ABOVE: A fully equipped cosmetology department now serves the over 20 students
enrolled in the programme.
Since 1994 St. Patrick’s Foundation has provided training and empowerment for the residents
in some of the most volatile and depressed communities in Jamaica. One of those communities is
Seaview Gardens where fifty percent of the population is under 30 years old and a large number
unemployed. Through partnership with and investment from Digicel Foundation they were able to fully
equip the Cosmetology Lab and upgrade their Cake Baking and Decorating Departments.
With the aim of improving programme delivery and increasing enrolment, Digicel Foundation approved a
small grant of J$3M and the results have been extraordinary. With fully equipped facilities students have
been pouring in to get the hands on, technical training needed to propel their professional endeavors.
Shanque Clark, a beneficiary of the programme, shared, “I could not afford the cost of going to a regular
cosmetology school for training. When I heard about St. Patrick’s and how affordable it was and the quality
of the training, I got excited. I had tried everything and was about to give up but now I would finally be able
to get certified, open my own nail shop and earn money to help my family.”
“We serve in a number of inner city communities and we find that it is very difficult to inspire youth to excel
if they can’t see examples of excellence. That’s why we needed state-of-the-art facilities,” explains Chairman
of the St. Patrick’s Foundation, Mrs. Hermine Metcalf.
Social Enterprise and Special Projects Manager at Digicel Foundation, Mrs. Patrice Smith-Sterling
emphasized, “[w]hen we invest in community projects we look for the impact on the community. We ask for
enterprises to demonstrate how they will positively impact the life of those around them. It is about more
than generating profit for an individual or group of individuals. It is about building communities.”
Since inception in 2004, Digicel Foundation has supported 177 community development projects impacting
over 200,000 Jamaicans.