St. George, Grenada, June 2nd, 2017 – CIBC FirstCaribbean team members, with paint and brushes in hand, arrived ready and willing to get to work. Hours later, they had given a facelift to the interior of Heritage House, St George’s, home to the Programme for Adolescent Mothers (PAM).

The goal of the programme is to give teenage girls the opportunity to continue their education after becoming mothers.  It also endorses and actively supports the expression that ‘education is a right and not a privilege,’ for all of the nation’s youth.

Administrative Assistant, Human Resources at CIBC FirstCaribbean and Team Leader for the day, Joanna Marryshow said her team was happy to take part in the renovations under the bank’s Adopt-A-Cause  Programme.

“The bank is happy to have developed an ongoing relationship with P.A.M over a number of years,” she said. She added that the team were especially pleased to volunteer for the project given the vital role P.A.M plays in offering “access to education, counselling and second chances for young women in our country”.

Situated in Mt Parnassus, St. George, the historic building includes two classrooms, a nursery, a conference/counselling room, a kitchen, two office rooms as well as separate rooms for the staff and ill students and a fully operational Information Technology lab.

The banks team undertook the task of painting the counselling room, bathroom and passageway. They also made a financial contribution toward the repair of the industrial stove used for food and nutrition classes and culinary skills.

Mrs. Alva Lawrence, manager for P.A.M, welcomed the volunteer work and financial donation. “P.A.M is making the difference in the lives of young women, with upward of 500 young mothers having been beneficiaries of the programme since its inception in 1995,” she said.

“Many of them have completed their secondary education and become gainfully employed, and a number have also completed tertiary education here in Grenada and even abroad. P.A.M can and does make a difference. The support of CIBC FirstCaribbean and other corporate entities is pivotal to the growth of the programme, which can accommodate up to 50 participants at any given time. There is also an outreach programme located in Pearls Community Centre,” she noted.

In September 2009, P.A.M. began the process of becoming an independent non-governmental organization (NGO). And in 2010, they received the National Youth Award from the Ministry of Youth Empowerment and Sports for ‘One of The Most Outstanding NGOs in Youth Development.’