For the past three years, Sherone Rankine Scarlett said that she and her four children have been left on the mercy of the world after fire destroyed their house, and her husband left them soon after.

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"On the 15th of December 2014, the fire started in the back room, and by the time we get the children out and try put out the fire, the whole seven compartment house burn down. The kitchen, veranda, and bathroom were concrete, however, the bedrooms and the living room were board, so everything burn down," she recalled.

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The 35-year-old, whose house was located in Meyler's Avenue, Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, said she has been trying relentlessly to secure assistance from political representatives, companies, businesses, and her church, but to no avail.

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"Up to yesterday evening, I was crying and saying, 'God, you can't send little help fi me? Because when mi did have things, me kind to people and me do things fi them'," she said.

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She added that she sent a request to Food for the Poor since 2014, but has not heard back from them.

She and her children currently stay with relatives, but whenever disputes arise, they have to leave and sleep on the cold floors of someone nearby.

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The children are David, three, Heaven, four, Alex, eight, and Samantha, 12.

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"This affect the pickney them real bad, and make the baby them very sick because them take up cold, fever, and pain. It put a pressure pon them because they are bright students and them drop back. Sometimes them cry and say them miss them life," Scarlett said, on the brink of tears.

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Now, with another year of back-to-school expenses looming over her head, Reid is making a desperate plea for help to school her children and re-establish her own home.

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"Me only have uniform for Samantha and Heaven. Me no have anything else. They would need bags, shoes, books, and the book list, and some khakis for Alex," she explained.

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David is attending basic school, while Heaven and Alex are at primary school, and Samantha will attend Frome Technical. However, she still has a $7,200 balance on her school fee.

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Scarlett said that with little to no support from her husband, she has been trying her best to clothe, feed and school her children.

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She admitted that she begs and does odd jobs to earn a living, as she does not have an education or skill.

She had landed a job as a security guard, but said she lost the position two weeks ago after she missed work a couple of days to attend to her son, who was hospitalised after falling and bursting a blood vessel in his eye.

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Now with few options, Scarlett is making a desperate plea for help.