A penniless 66-year-old is struggling to make her way forward here after decades spent living in Jamaica.Jacqueline Perinchief insists her decision to return to Bermuda two years ago was “the worst mistake” of her life.The dual national claims she wasn’t prepared for the Island’s cost of living and as she’s been unable to find work, is now dependent on Government for food and shelter.“Right now I can’t even call my mother, Evelyn Simpson, back in Jamaica,” she told The Royal Gazette. “I can’t even afford a postage stamp.”The pension-age woman blames her return to the Island on bad advice.She moved to Bermuda from Hanover, near Montego Bay, with about $5,000 from her family business there.“I had a friend here who said, ‘You must get out of criminal Jamaica and come up here before something happens to you,’” Ms Perinchief recalled.“What I should have done was come up and have a look around. Had I known it was going to be this difficult up here, I would have hauled back to Jamaica with the rest of my money.”A former occupant of Government’s Gulfstream emergency housing at St David’s, Ms Perinchief said she is eligible for $1,800 a month for rent and $150 for electricity, courtesy of Financial Assistance.At the moment she is housed for free at the Herb Garden Seniors Residence in Southampton.“Since I started at the home for the elderly, Financial Assistance pulled my $130 a month. I used to get a MarketPlace card [that entitled me groceries valued at] $320 a month. Because I’m getting breakfast, lunch and dinner at this place, they say I don’t need it now, so at the moment I’m not getting anything.”Ms Perinchief said she moved out of the Gulfstream complex about a year ago, but could not find reliable rental accommodation.Government referred her to the seniors’ group Age Concern. They found her a place at the Southampton home where she has lived for about two months.However, she said, having to share a room, plus the noise at the home and the set hours were not to her liking.“I’m suffering from sleep deprivation, and I’d really like to get out of this place,” she said. “I can get rent from Financial Assistance, but they won’t pay the deposit, so that’s what I’m trying to arrange now.”Without Financial Assistance, she would also be unable to pay for her medical expenses, such as her asthma inhaler and pain relievers for her back.The longtime smoker admitted that being unable to afford cigarettes “doesn’t float my boat” but said her most pressing requirement was obtaining better food than she got at the home.And she said her circumstances require her to keep a close track of the food voucher schedules for the Island’s different charities.“I rely on them,” she said.“Right now the heat is killing me, so it’s a little difficult, but I get around by bus as I have a special pass. St Theresa’s Church gives out food vouchers. Rev [Nicholas] Dill’s St John’s Church gives out vouchers once a month. Some of the churches give out meals and I can drop in at the Salvation Army for juice, coffee or tea.”According to Ms Perinchief, she is financially paralysed. Although she has property shares in Jamaica, she cannot sell her interests in the property.Having lived outside of Bermuda for decades, she said she found the rent and general expense “unbelievable” when she got back here.“I can’t get a job in this Country,” she said.In Jamaica she helped with site inspections and claims as part of her father’s business, Harold Simpson Associates (Architects) Limited of Jamaica.Ms Perinchief said she had been reduced to seeking part-time work as a supermarket bag packer, but had no success.She has also sought employment as a shop assistant.She added: “I don’t qualify for a pension here, because they say I was off the Island for too long. I got a lump sum of just over $2,000 and that was it.”With no assets to speak of in Bermuda, Ms Perinchief said: “I loathe being here. But I don’t have any way to get back.”