“No is not never. Just keep trying.”

#Jamaica, November 15, 2023 – Those were the sentiments expressed by Sherry-Ann Pryce, one of the newest homeowners at the NHT’s Hummingbird Meadows (Phase 2) located in Clarendon.

The 33-year-old said it was her seventh time applying for one of the NHT’s units, but she had hope and confidence that the seventh time would be her breakthrough because, after all, ‘seven is God’s perfect number.’

The Senior Teacher at Jonathan Grant High School, St Catherine, admits that her faith kept her resilient and focused. She said that though she applied and was not selected on six different occasions, she had no intention of giving up.

“NHT will always be there. So, there will always be developments. There will always be land. When I didn’t get through, I said, perhaps I need more points, so I worked a little longer and continued to apply,” she said.

The Clarendon native said receiving the call that she was shortlisted for one of the one-bedroom units of the development’s 406 housing solutions brought such joy and excitement to her. When asked what she looked forward to doing the most now as a homeowner, she said,

“You know, I feel like I am in a dream. I haven’t processed it. I am the first person in my family to get a house as a single person. I did not apply with anyone else, I did not build with someone. This is my house.”

Her childhood experience of living in different communities, she said, has shaped the woman she is today. She noted that those experiences were an additional push in ensuring she had a place of her own, offering her a sense of security and stability. Sherry-Ann hopes her achievement will be an additional boost to her siblings in their own pursuits of homeownership.

Humming Bird Meadows is a two phase development which consists of five-hundred and fifty-six (556) housing solutions, with phase one accounting for the remaining 150 solutions. It was one of two schemes that the National Housing Trust (NHT) handed over on Friday (November 10).

The other development, Monymusk Country Estate, Phase 2 in Hayes, Clarendon consists of three hundred and fifty-one (351) housing solutions.  That housing scheme consists of one hundred and thirty-two (132) one bedroom units, eighty-eight (88) two bedroom units and one hundred and thirty-one (131) Serviced Lots.

 To those contributors who may feel dismayed, Sherry Ann had this to say,

“Your time is your time. There will always be other opportunities, whether it be land or house, there will always be opportunities. So, apply, apply, apply.”