Yohan Blake’s YB Afraid Foundation has collaborated with The Sandals Foundation to deliver new living accommodations for wards of the Mt. Olivet Boy’s Home in Walderston in Manchester.
The new facilities scheduled to be completed in November 2020, will include multi-purpose play areas and an artificial turf football field. Once completed it will become a critical tool in a thrust to raise the standard of care for wards of the state in Jamaica to unprecedented levels.
Blake, the 2011 100m world champion, started the YB Afraid Foundation in 2011 with a mandate to support organizations and develop programs that address the educational, physical and mental health and social needs of underprivileged youth, enabling them to develop into outstanding citizens and role models in society.
He told Sportsmax.TV that the project takes him closer to achieving his vision of providing safe spaces for the island’s underprivileged youth.
“I am very proud to be able to do this. It is a life-long dream and I really believe it is only the beginning,” said the 2012 double Olympic silver medallist.
“I have to thank my Richard Mille family and my Sandals family and everyone who has been so generous and has helped. Those people inspire me to be better and to do more. I can’t wait for it to be finished so I can go and spend some time with the boys.”
Executive Director of the Sandals Foundation Heidi Clarke said they were excited to be on board with the project that Jamaica so desperately needs. The foundation, she said, has been managing the execution of the project and helping the YB Afraid Foundation realize its vision.
She revealed that the project contained components that were important to the Sandals Foundation. These included the rehabilitation of the existing structures transforming them into a HEART-certified woodwork-training centre on the property and a halfway house that can accommodate wards that age out when they turn 17.
“We saw the need to create spaces that are inspirational, to uplift these young men coming from difficult situations. We feel strongly that if we provide them with an environment to develop holistically they can reach for the stars. The sky is the limit for them,” Clarke said.