Build Hope - Jamaica

The Need

Local Team In Action

Background

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica (see maps below), at category 5 strength .  It was the largest hurricane in recorded history ever to hit the island.  Some sections of the island the east escaped significant damage.  However, the destruction in the Western section of the Island has been described as catastrophic.  

Ways to Help

What is A Mile with You doing to help?

You can help via one of the groups that we have vetted below.  Build Hope JA is facilitated by me, Norman Kim-Senior, in collaboration with a local team on the ground in Jamaica.  This document explains the strategy that is guiding our efforts to empower the residents during this recovery process.

Goal

• The goal of this fundraiser is to provide assistance to communities and individuals in Jamaica that have been impacted my hurricane Melissa, and help university student complete her college studies so that she can take her place as one of the long-term local helpers.  We are particularly interested in the places that may be harder to reach for larger organizations that we are backing - The Presbyterian Disaster Assistance & CARE. We are especially sensitive to those communities that might not have the technological means to attract attention to their suffering, and we aim to give help to the children, elderly and low income families as priority groups. 

Qualifications:

• This response team on the ground is 100% Jamaican.  They are supported by an international coalition of fundraisers, planners and researchers.  The group consists of women and men, young adults and senior citizens, a retired teacher, a professor of social entrepreneurship, an adjunct professor, mothers, daughters and sons. So we have a diverse set of perspectives in our combined group with a clear mission to find the most effective ways to help the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time. Each member in the group has spent at least five years volunteering in different capacities, and the most senior adults have spent over 50 years serving their community.  As such, this is a group that brings an established network that is rooted in Jamaica but also reaches beyond Jamaica's borders.

• KaGra Foundation - Donate - Already active in the country with members located in Jamaica and in the US. Makes annual trips to Jamaica for a relief effort every December.

• Presbyterian Disaster Assistance - Connected to churches on the ground. Only goes into the country after receiving a request for help from a local group.

• CARE - Long track record of helping with  the aftermath of major disasters.  Currently raising funds for first aid, emergency food rations, water treatment kits, and other shelter supplies.

Map of Jamaica