Changing the Lives of At-Risk Youth in St. Croix

One of the many things that is most gratifying to me is seeing the enormous ripple effect that Project Promise is having on our community and our world. We’re not only impacting a small group of at-risk students participating in our holistic eight-year flagship program, the Caterpillar Project; we’re also impacting our entire community here on St. Croix, as well as other communities near and far. This past year alone, we have directly impacted the lives of over 1,000 children, adults, and families.

In 2018, our community service projects largely focused on assisting our community with the rebuilding process. We planted a grove of coconut trees to help with the post-hurricane revitalization process at a local beach.  We were instrumental in helping Howard University add St. Croix as an Alternative Spring Break destination, and worked alongside the group on three revitalization projects, all on the same day. Our projects not only focused on the physical needs of our community, but on the emotional needs as well.  Through our St. Croix Trauma Intervention & Relief Project, trauma intervention services were delivered to residents who were still reeling from the psychological and emotional trauma experienced from Hurricanes Irma and Maria. 

Through projects like our annual Toys for Tanzania and Educating South Africa Initiatives, we broadened our international impact. During a personal volunteer service trip to South Africa, I fell in love with the group of kindergarteners with whom I was working. After learning that these children all lived in crushing poverty, I returned home, and we began raising funds to assist these students. Project Promise staff and volunteers, alongside our Caterpillars, raised $9,100 to pay one year of tuition for the entire class of 30 South African school children.

In October, we launched our fourth project, the Ticket to Ride Buck Island Program. The Ticket to Ride (TTR) program provided public school 5^th graders the opportunity to visit the Buck Island Reef National Monument. Like our Every Kid in a Park Salt River Bay Program for 6^th graders, TTR Buck Island included two school visits by a Ranger and an exciting field trip to the park. Through our partnership with the National Park Service and other community members, we provided almost 700 students the opportunity to visit two of our National Parks, many of whom visited the parks for the first time.

Our Caterpillars continued to accomplish great things in 2018. We had three first time honor roll students, one of whom made the top ten student list and maintained her honor roll status the entire school year. Another Caterpillar increased his end of year grade point average 25 points from June 2016 to earn a 90% in June 2018! In addition to these amazing accomplishments, our very own Vianca Medina wrote a book, “Dream A Dream!” On December 1^st, we launched the book’s publication and began selling “Dream A Dream” locally and online. “Dream A Dream,” is an inspirational story about a shy little girl who learns to believe in herself and follow her dreams, which mirrors Vianca’s achievements.

In summary, we started the year with the entire island still recovering from the devastation brought by two hurricane. We are ending the year excited to be settling into our “new” space back on campus at the Lew Muckle Elementary School, and truly grateful for the many opportunities we have had to make a positive difference in the world. Our list of 2018 accomplishments help to illustrate our growing impact, which wouldn’t be possible without the ongoing support of our generous community.