Helping Hands for the Poor, Inc.

Kingston, Jamaica

Msgr. Richard Albert, who passed away in 2015, arrived in Kingston, Jamaica in 1976 and spent 40 years there establishing a network of organizations to provide people with services and skills that transform their lives. As a result of his efforts, many more people in Jamaica now have access to education, food assistance, health care and job skills training.

When he arrived in Jamaica, Msgr. Richard established St. Patrick's, which began as a soup kitchen and eventually grew into St. Patrick's Foundation, offering everything from food assistance programs and health care to skills training in woodwork, dressmaking, welding and computer technology.

Msgr. Richard founded six community centers that provide a broad range of services to lepers, HIV/AIDS patients, elderly and young people. He established schools, skills training centers, libraries, soup kitchens and counseling services in teenage pregnancy and drug abuse. His commitment to the people of Jamaica is demonstrated in the principles of his foundations: self-reliance, education, empowerment and liberation.