( L - R ) Clair, Smith

The harsh economic realities that have been melting down the financial world have also been wreaking havoc with people's lives, and there seems to be no end to the dire financial straits in which we have found ourselves. The stories of failures, collapses and challenges are chilling, and you wonder when they are going to unfold at your door, knocking you off your feet.

But even before the world came under the economic siege, four people who have been featured by His Story - Peter McCalla, Wayne Saunders, Coy Hall, and more recently Ricardo Smith - have been having their own personal maelstroms. They are from different backgrounds, and their circumstances are not similar, yet their plights - lack of family and financial support - are the same.

Seventeen-year-old Ricardo Smith (he's 18 next month), the aspiring artist and 'singjay' from Payne Land, St Andrew, is at his wits' end because he cannot find employment so that he can help his brother and his mother, who is not well.

Delves into art

The fact that she has recently had an operation is not helping. The young man is under severe stress and has to be delving into his artwork to forget some of the emotional pain he's bearing. His father told His Story that he really could not help them as things were rough with him too.

Coy Hall, in his early 20s, suffers with sickle-cell disease, and has spent his life in and out of the hospital and jobs. He's working for the minimum wage, a good portion of which goes to his medical bills. The problem that Coy is currently facing is one that many young men in this country have been going through, lack of suitable living accommodations.

For the last three weeks, Coy has been in a predicament. Because of certain familial issues, he has no steady residence and cannot find anywhere affordable to rent. This is a young, ambitious man who is very focused and wants to go back to school. He has CXC subjects, but is not satisfied with such achievements. Yet, a certain frustration has him cornered and confused and, as it stands right now, there is no letting up. This is in addition to his excruciating pain from the disease.

Wayne 'Selassie' Saunders. Remember him? The man who jumped from KPH? He's still in hospital after a year. He's paralysed and a wound in his back has still not been properly healed. Wayne has nowhere to go and is now basically trapped on his ward. From his hospital bed, he has been reaching out for help, but it has not yet come.

Peter McCalla, the man who 'mothers' his children, has not been having it easy himself. 'Mothering' takes much effort and money. This dedicated father has been putting his children through school, and the little money he gets now and then cannot stretch. He's the picture of a struggling man who himself cannot recede any further. What is this man to do so that he can provide for his children? Yes, he works.

An outreach effort

Jermaine Clair has had serious personal and legal challenges, but has overcome such. He's now a minister of religion with the Mount Ivory Ministries (MIM) at Seaview Gardens New Testament Church of God. Every year for the last three years MIM has been staging City Gospel Open Air Concert. This year's show will be on the 29th of this month, at 6:30 p.m.

There will also be a fun day for children in the community of Seaview Gardens, starting at 10 a.m. This venture is one of the dynamics that Clair has been using to turn his life around, after a childhood fraught with his trying to find himself. Apart from being a concert, it is also an outreach effort.

paul.williams@gleanerjm.com

Feedback

Speaking of outreach, today we share with you two email responses to two His Story articles.

Excellent piece

Hey Paul, your article today (Monday, March 16) in His Story is an EXCELLENT piece of work. It is refreshing to see someone in the media continue to highlight the positives of people from the so-called inner city, and Jamaica on the whole. I really enjoyed reading this article and I will eagerly look forward to reading similar pieces from you in the near future. Keep up your good work.

Deen

Royal Palm Beach

Florida

Interesting story

Hey Paul, I enjoyed the article you wrote about Abdel Wright: 'The Abdel Wright Story - Part 2' (Wednesday, May 20). Most of my childhood years I spent with Abdel around. I was nine years old when I met him, he saw me playing with my 'half-dead keyboard' outside and approached me. It was then that our friendship began. He became a family friend and someone I looked up to like a big brother; he often introduced me as his little sister.

He is the reason for the passion I have for music and the talent I possess today. Sadly, I lost track of him his second (prison) time around. I'm in college abroad now and I've always wondered if he was still in prison or not. But now I know. I hope to see him again someday when I get home. This article has set my mind at ease. Thank you for being interested in his story, because it is indeed an interesting story.

A True Friend

of Abdel