An ambitious plan for a home for at-risk mothers and children is “rounding the last corner”, the charity leading the effort said yesterday.

Sheelagh Cooper, the chairwoman of Habitat for Humanity Bermuda said another $50,000 was needed for the finishing touches to the Transitional Living Centre and donations were welcomed.

The project, led by Habitat for Humanity with the Women’s Resource Centre, will provide services including counselling, education and training at the revamped former Pembroke Rest Home in Parson’s Road.

Ms Cooper, who said last November that the project was on track to be completed by January, said there had been a few “surprises” that had caused delays.

She said: “We had to dig a second septic pit and there were a few other surprises along the way, as you would expect with a renovation like this.

“Last month we passed both final electrical and plumbing inspections with flying colours.

“The electrical inspector was heard saying ‘Wow, when I first saw this, I thought it was a tear-down.’

“The bottom line, is that the building is now 90 per cent complete and rather than the original estimated $1.3 million-plus budget provided to us by our quantity surveyor, we have been able to complete the work to date for less than half of that because of the help of hundreds of volunteers and thousands of volunteer hours.

“Many of these volunteers came as a group from several Bermuda companies, each bringing as many as 80 employees to the site for a day or two.

“Along with volunteer help and charitable donations, we were overwhelmed with the generosity of local building and hardware suppliers.”

The project was given tiles from Eminence, windows from Island Glass, doors from Baptiste, cement from SAL, trenching from Island Construction, paint from Pembroke Paint, solar panels from Sunnyside Solar, lighting from ESC, fixtures from H&H Plumbing, bunk beds from Bates, the mother’s beds from Furniture Walk and bedding from the Irish Linen Shop.

A total of 43 island and international companies contributed cash donations’

Several individual donors also donated, many of them have given more than $50,000 each.

The Transformational Living Centre was the brainchild of a think-tank of 18 charities and government agencies in 2018.

The group identified the significant scale of homelessness among mothers with children and an urgent need to tackle the problem.

Donations can be made to Habitat for Humanity through HSBC a/c 006-053177-001

For more information on the Transformational Living Centre, visit https://www.habitat.bm/ and https://www.wrcbermuda.com/