Former security guard living in desperate situation

Since the death of his wife in 2021, Leroy Allen is struggling to find the money he needs to fund the repairs on his home.

Allen, who is a retired security guard, said that he has been trying to find employment but is constantly turned away because of his age.

"Security work me used to do fi 'bout 17 years on and off. Age start take me now so most of the places weh me go, is like them nah take me at my age. Cause me a 67, so is like dem wah some young likkle people," he said. "So me just have to be here on me own, so till me all a do some selling out a the gateway. Likkle jerk chicken neck and likkle jerk pork and jerk chicken."

Allen has been living at his Slipe Pen Road home in Kingston since the late 1980s. Though initially a brick structure, Allen said that years of weathering tropical storms and other natural disasters have left the property worse for wear.

"Is just chu (Hurricanes) Gilbert and Ivan and Emily, a it really liff it up and shake it up and dem something deh," he said. The brunt of the damage happened in 1988 during Gilbert, when the last of his brick structure crumbled.

"Gilbert did bruk off di whole a right here so already, enuh. It was brick, enuh, and Gilbert bruk off di whole a it nearly kill me wife and mi same daughter," he said. "Gilbert did shake off di zinc dem and a suh me put dem on back so till them get rust and 'shake shake'. Right now, we just living and hoping we don't get a heavy rain and breeze because maybe this yah time yah a di whole thing gone off."

Now the home is plagued with leaking ceilings, rusted, unsecured zinc, as well as rotting wood.

"Me nuh have a comfortable sleep. Even the floor, while you walking in there you will just feel it bruk dung wid you," he said.

The last repairs were done as a gift from a Good Samaritan nearly 10 years ago. This time, however, Allen said that he would much prefer help getting a job rather than materials to carry out repairs.

"If I get a whacker I woulda thankful weh me can do likkle work out there. If me get any assistance fi fix up the house me woulda say no. Mi woulda prefer the assistance fi get the whacker that me can do some work because is a tool that, enuh. So me know me will have something going. Me really need some help because it nuh pretty," he said.

Persons wishing to provide aid to Leroy Allen can contact him at (876) 431-0733.