Twenty-five years ago, Dr Beverley Scott, executive director of the Family and Parenting Centre, walked through the streets of Montego Bay with nothing but a pen-written flyer in hand and a heart burning with purpose. “Are you suicidal? Are you depressed? Do you have a problem with your children or spouse?” the flyer asked.

It was a spontaneous but urgent call to action, inviting people in crisis to meet her at a borrowed church space on October 9, 2000. That day, people came, and the Family and Parenting Centre was born. But the seeds of this life’s work were planted long before.

“I grew up in Johnson, a small rural community in St James, and as a child, I watched a young boy being beaten constantly by his grandmother,” Scott recalled. “He’d run into the dark hills of Cockpit Country, and I’d lie awake worrying. Even then, I knew I wanted to help stop the abuse of children.”

Her path to social advocacy began in teaching and then led to a career as a probation officer starting in 1979. She later completed her social work degree at the University of the West Indies and worked as a psychiatric social worker at Cornwall Regional Hospital. During that time, she also wrote a parenting column for The Western Mirror newspaper based in Montego Bay.

Readers found her articles helpful, but colleagues pointed out that those who needed the information most were not reading the newspaper; some couldn’t even read.

This realisation, combined with encouragement and seed funding from psychiatrist Professor Wendel Abel, led Dr Scott to step out in faith and establish the centre. “Dr Abel gave me J$10,000 to start an account and suggested I change the name from ‘Parenting and the Family’ to ‘Family and Parenting’—because ‘family’ was the buzzword,” she recalled.

Though the centre would face early challenges, including a failed partnership that forced her to start over, Scott’s determination never wavered. She gave up everything she had invested in that earlier venture and rebuilt, this time firmly under her vision.

 “My natural inclination to help people and my spirit of giving drive everything I do,” she said. “I’ve never had an abundance, but I’ve never lacked either.”

Over the years, the Family and Parenting Centre has become a sanctuary for many. Personally, she has taken numerous children into her home, some fleeing abuse, others abandoned or at risk. One of the most poignant stories involves a boy who told her son he was planning to kill his abusive stepfather. Her son brought him home, and he stayed with Dr Scott to finish school. Soon after, his two brothers joined him, allowing their mother to migrate and build a new life abroad.

“The youngest was just two years old when I took him,” she said. “He eventually went to Spot Valley High, got 10 subjects with all one’s then straight to university, and now he’s in the Jamaica Constabulary Force.” The oldest brother is also a member of the US police force. 

Other children followed. A girl from Mount Alvernia High, orphaned at birth and neglected by a drug-addicted father, was taken in and later migrated to Canada. Two children were placed in her care when their mother, an American tourist, battled mental illness and could not care for them. Dr Scott kept them safe until their mother was well enough to return home.

Professionally, Scott’s proudest achievement is her leadership of the Multi-Agency Child Protection Project (2008–2013), a transformative national initiative funded with J$40 million from the British High Commission. The project trained child protection officers, including 40 police officers, to UK standards and linked agencies like the Child Development Agency, the Office of the Children’s Advocate, and the Office of the Children’s Registry through a shared database.

“The results were powerful,” she said. “Fewer children were re-victimised in the justice system. More received help faster. The government saved millions by eliminating duplication. Children were diverted from the police lockup to fit persons. And we even equipped the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse in Jamaica with a modern video evidence suite.”

Her work earned her multiple awards: the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce’s Individual Community Service Award (2011), CIBC First Caribbean’s Unsung Hero Award (2012), and the Montego Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Service to Humanity Award (2013). But the most meaningful recognition came from one of the very boys she raised.

“He came back from the US and presented me with the “Virtue Faithful, and Dedicated Service Award,” she said, her voice breaking. “He said the Family and Parenting Centre didn’t start in 2000; it started the day I took him and his brothers into my home in 1993.”

Despite personal heartbreak, losing her husband in 2017 and her only daughter to pancreatic cancer in 2019, Dr Scott continues her work with fierce devotion. Her daughter’s children are now pursuing careers in medicine, honouring their mother’s memory and their grandmother’s values. Her older son is a clinical psychology professor at Viterbo University in Wisconsin and her younger son works in the tourist industry in Jamaica.

Today, the Family and Parenting Centre not only counsels families but also conducts youth enhancement programmes, entrepreneurial skills training and seed funding for marginalised women and psychosocial training for community development committees. The centre also serves as a training ground for university students and professionals.

Scott, a university lecturer and part-time instructor at Montego Bay Community College, mentors young social workers and helps them gain certification to practice independently.

She credits her faith in God, empathy, resilience, and understanding of others’ pain as the values that guide her work. “I believe that I shouldn’t leave this earth with one drop of knowledge. I want to leave a firm legacy.”

As the centre celebrates its 25th anniversary, Dr Scott’s advice to future leaders is simple: “Follow your passion. Don’t be deterred by failure. Learn from it and try again.”