AREAS OF FOCUS

Older Persons

Organizations such as Feed the Poor Ministry, Soufriere Soup Kitchen and HelpAge Saint Lucia receive annual contributions from the NCF to provide food to the homeless and older persons in communities across the Island.

Persons over 60 years of age are categorized as Older Persons as follows:

  • Living in economically disadvantage circumstances, more often without support from the family net work

  • Needing social, medical and/or financial assistance to maintain an acceptable standard of well-being.

NCF collaborates with groups and organizations of and for Older Persons such as:

  • The National Council for Older persons
  • The Soufriere Soup Kitchen
  • Club 60’s
  • Feed the Poor Ministry, and
  • St Vincent De Paul Society
  • Cornerstone Humanitarian Society
  • The Marian Home
  • Comfort Bay Senior Citizens Home

Funds are donated to provide funding for initiatives such as feeding programmers’, provision of food hampers and the purchase of equipment and supplies needed to care for the elderly.

Youth At Risk

The NCF funds projects organized by community groups and various sporting clubs which are geared at modifying At Risk Behavior. These include: Summer Camps, purchasing of sporting gear, capacity building workshops, among others.

Persons with Disabilities

Funds are disbursed to Special Education Centre’s to ensure that children with disabilities have the opportunity to attend school and, in that way, feel integrated into the society. Small projects are also funded to help persons with disabilities improve their economic status.

Persons with Disabilities are categorized as individuals, regardless of age, with limited functioning and mobility including:

  • Physical mobility resulting from accidents or other circumstances that leaves a person bed or wheel chair bound;
  • Walking with the assistance of walkers, canes or other devices
  • Sensory impairments – hearing and vision
  • Mental retardation and/or mental illness
  • Cognitive impairments that limit an individual’s ability to function to his/her age-appropriate ability, such as dyslexia and other learning difficulties in reading, writing and speaking
  • Difficulties functioning in day-to-day living as the result of brain injury

The NCF continues to work with: the Dunnottar School, Lady Gordon School, Soufriere and Vieux Fort Special Education Centre, to ensure that children with disabilities are able to attend school regularly.

Education (Scholarships for Youth-at-Risk) 

During the academic year, this programme will continue to assist) secondary school students and tertiary level students, providing them with books, uniform, shoes, facility fees, meal and travel allowances.

Scholarships are awarded to select students who are successful at the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment exams but whose parents are financially and economically unable to cover the cost for students to attend and remain in Secondary School.

NCF sends applications forms to the Principals of primary schools during the third term. They make the selection of eligible students ensuring that only one student is recommended from each primary School. When applications are received, our Education Committee reviews all received applications and selects the successful candidates.

The Scholarships awards cover cost of school fees, school uniforms, shoes, books, meal allowances, examination fees and transportation and caution fees.

All applications must be submitted on the NCF official Scholarship Application form and applications must be signed by the student’s Primary School Principal, with the school stamp affixed in the allocated space.

Tertiary Education

The NCF provides Scholarship assistance to the two top performing students from its batch of Secondary School students to attend Sir Arthur Lewis Community College. This scholarship option is not opened to the general public.

Homeless

Small grants are provided to persons who have lost their homes as a result of man-made and natural disasters.

Homeless Persons are those rendered homeless by:

  • Natural disasters such as fire, floods, mudslides or hurricanes
  • Displacement due to loss of empowerment and/or income that results in the individual’s inability to cover housing or other living expense

A small grant is provided to the household head to assist with purchasing emergency items.

Health

NCF continues to provide funds to assist seriously ill individuals who cannot afford the high cost of medical treatment.

MEDICAL ASSISTANCE APPLICATION GUIDELINE

NCF provides financial assistance to nationals of St. Lucia, diagnosed with serious illness and who require major medical interventions that are costly and beyond the resources of the applicant and his/her family. Medical interventions may include, but are not limited to surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, spinal braces, and removal of tumors, skin grafts and BT shunts.

NCF will provide financial support to applicants requiring surgery or other treatments in a hospital in St Lucia primarily, in the region secondarily and then internationally if required. Financial support from the NCF may be used to cover the cost of tests, medical procedures and other medical treatment. Costs for transportation to and from the medical facility, if it is outside St Lucia, are not usually covered by these funds, but may be considered by the NCF in exceptional circumstances. NCF does not exclude any conditions except surgery that is recommended for cosmetics purposes only.

All applications must be submitted on the appropriate National Community Foundation Application for Medical Assistance Form which can be obtained from the NCF’s offices, or on the website and must be accompanied by the required documentation that is listed on the application form and all financial and medical information must be properly certified and documented.

NCF does not guarantee to pay the full medical costs for any one intervention. NCF will not pay for ongoing procedures. Additionally, NCF will not pay for procedures in the private sector that are available in the public sector.