Anyone walking in to the Hope Homes facility on Brunswick Street can see at first glance that something is needed.

But what? It does not appear to be motivation from the staff at Hope Homes ? founder Ellen Douglas and her husband Ivan are ?24-hour? workers, devoting their time around the clock to the home for more than two decades.

It does not appear to be love, either. Mr. and Mrs. Douglas are known as ?Momma? and ?Papa? to the 14 residents, most of whom they have watched grow up.

The focus of the entire facility is ?family?, and to that end the fact that all 14 residents have been displaced to a two-storey house in Dockyard until renovations can be made to the condemned Brunswick Street building is clearly distressing to the Douglases.

?I know these people, I know the clients, I?ve been to the music festivals, the Christmas dinners,? special projects officer Ben Nunn agreed. ?I?ve watched these people grow up and develop as part of the family.?

Hope Homes also does not appear to be lacking in occupation for its residents. An ambitious plan to open a gift shop where the property borders on to Cedar Avenue is in the works, and a room at Brunswick Street is already filled to the bursting with inventory crafted by the residents: pincushions, brooches, decorated jars of sand for tourists and doorstops, among other things.

A website is already set up allowing those overseas to purchase goods over the Internet (www.hopehomes.info).

Residents Earlston Williams and Milo Iris demonstrated how they can take sisal plant and extract the fibres from it to create decorative artefacts, while residents inside showed how they create scrapbooks and other trinkets from shells and sand.

A long green shed at the side of the courtyard stores their materials, all of which they gather themselves, often from the beach or elsewhere.

?All the gifts are occupational products,? Mrs. Douglas said. ?It?s teaching them to use their hands, teaching them shapes, sizes, relationships and usefulness ... We make sure each person gets a compensation at the end of each week. That positive reinforcement is motivating.?

Some residents are employed at places like Lindo?s and the Marketplace stores, while those Hope Homes are unable to get to Brunswick Street from Dockyard are expected to be kept occupied at Dockyard, Mrs. Douglas said, cleaning and helping with the occupational chores at that facility. So if it is not motivation, love, or occupation, what is it that is missing from Hope Homes?

The answer appears to be money: money to refurbish the residence at Brunswick Street, to open the gift shop, to transfer clients to and fro when needed, and to hire certified professionals to care for the clients. ?The expenses of the facility and the needs of the clients are such that we make a loss every year,? Mr. Nunn said.

Volunteers are also lacking, as is support from the private sector. ?No volunteers have stepped forward to help with Dockyard or here recently other than the Pembroke Rotary Club and the Cedar Bridge junior committee,? Mr. Nunn said. And while companies such as Pembroke Paint have been generous in donations to help fix up the facility, elsewhere the funds have run dry. ?Maybe it?s the economy?? Mr. Nunn shrugged. ?I don?t know.?

With a new Board of Directors this year and a renewed determination, however, Hope Homes believes they can pull through. In the meantime, ?everybody is healthy, happy and enjoying doing their activities,? Mrs. Douglas said. ?But yes ? we are looking forward to getting back to normal.?