Hurricane Melissa Jamaica Response

HEART 9/11 deployed to Jamaica on November 1st in response to Hurricane Melissa. Our teams are making significant progress as they address the aftermath of the hurricane. Communities requesting assistance include Mandeville, St. Elizabeth, Black River, Bethel Town, Westmoreland, Old Harbour, and Burnt Savannah. We are actively assessing and remediating critical damage in these areas including opening roadways.

 We are collaborating with the New Testament Church of God in Kingston, and the Jamaica Fire Brigade and Jamaica Constabulary Force in Mandeville, using strategies proven effective in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian. With police escorts, our teams are reaching severely affected areas that have not yet received volunteers or government aid. We are addressing this urgent need, as access to these communities remains difficult.

What we are seeing on the ground is dire. Families have lost their homes, their belongings, their livelihoods — and they have no plan forward. These communities are without supplies, without support, and without a safety net.

We hope you will consider contributing to support this urgent relief effort and help provide hope and recovery for those in desperate need.

Reverend Markel Wright of McDonald Lane New Testament Church of God in Kingston expresses the community’s gratitude for HEART 9/11’s prompt and compassionate response.