Designer Roni-Kaye McLaren helps us understand the reality of tenement yards, densely populated urban spaces where generations of Jamaicans have lived with limited infrastructure, shared and overcrowded facilities, and often without secure tenure. These yards reflect a deep part of our urban history, but they have also represented cycles of hardship, poor sanitation, and vulnerability. Today, through the New Social Housing Programme, the Government of Jamaica is directly confronting these long-standing conditions by transforming how our people live. This project replaces a deteriorating tenement yard with a modern, thoughtfully designed housing development that includes four studio units, one two-bedroom unit, and two three-bedroom units. It’s more than construction, it’s about restoring dignity, improving quality of life, and creating safer, healthier spaces where families can thrive. As Roni-Kaye points out, our goal is not just to provide shelter, but to build communities, places with room to breathe, relax, and rebuild lives.