Amid rising public anxiety over unhoused populations gathering in Justice Square and other downtown Kingston corridors, the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) has moved forward with a coordinated, multi-stakeholder plan to address the crisis. The action comes after weeks of growing community complaints about encampments and unserved needs in high-foot-traffic areas including Parade and central Justice Square.
Donna-Gaye Brady, acting inspector for KSAMC’s Poor Relief Department, outlined that the new initiative balances two core goals: upgrading living conditions in public spaces currently impacted by homelessness, and connecting unhoused residents directly to critical support services they have long lacked access to. As a public body, KSAMC carries a legal and ethical mandate to support vulnerable unhoused communities across the region, prompting the push for urgent, solution-focused action after sustained public outreach.
The framework for the intervention was developed during a recent strategic workshop themed “From Street to Stability: A Coordinated Multi-Agency Approach to Homelessness”, which convened more than 35 cross-sector stakeholders. Participants included senior representatives from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, public and private medical institutions, regional mental health service agencies, and local community organizations that already work closely with unhoused populations. Unlike previous conversations that focused only on documenting the scope of the crisis, Brady emphasized that this workshop centered on designing actionable, implementable solutions to street homelessness.
Brady hailed the collaborative workshop as a clear success, noting that input from across sectors has already shaped clear next steps for the municipality. Data and insights gathered during the event will guide all future programming, with KSAMC projecting that tangible, visible improvements for both unhoused residents and local communities will emerge by 2025. The cross-agency model is designed to eliminate fragmented, uncoordinated support, leveraging specialized expertise from each partner to deliver more holistic care to people living on the streets of Kingston and St Andrew.