Rebuilding St. Thomas, USVI

Do you remember our elderly client from our March update? Well, today we’re happy to announce that she, along with members of three other households, were able to watch us hammer in the Final Nail and connect the final fittings to complete their personal recovery plans! STRT’s staff, local volunteers, and national volunteers from all over the continental United States came together to make several St. Thomian families whole again. 

Our Construction Teams replaced and repaired roofs, installed new windows and hurricane-proof shutters, and brought several damaged bathrooms back into working order, with running hot water that clients always mention specifically in their letters and calls to the office. Besides these larger projects, smaller undertakings were also wrapped up: residential gardens, smaller quality-of-life repairs, and the occasional mattress delivery all helped make this project cycle one that we’re very happy to report on. 

As we enter the “Tourist Season” in the Virgin Islands, two years after Irma and Maria, one can easily overlook the needs of those that are still recovering from these disasters and the prodigious amount of work still ahead of us, as a people. We are eternally grateful for our Volunteer Partners: United Methodists Volunteers in Mission (UMVM) and Reformed Churches of America (RCA), Family Resource Center, Salvation Army VI, Catholic Charities of the VI, and the University of the Virgin Islands, to name just a few, for their commitment to supporting St. Thomas through her journey back to full recovery.  

STRT has some other wins to celebrate since our last update:

• Establishment of a partnership between the Virgin Islands Police Department, Salvation Army, and the VI Good Food Coalition to install and support community gardens in low income neighborhoods
• Partnership with the VI Department of Sports, Parks, and Recreation to plant community gardens in various parks, playgrounds, and public green (and not-so-green-YET) spaces
• Continued collaboration with federal Community Planning and Capacity Building agents on the Community Response Plan as it continues to grow and find space for our invaluable nonprofit and community partners who keep the island going during clear skies
• Establishment of and admittance into the Virgin Islands Voluntary Agency Active in Disaster (VI-VOAD): a vehicle through which the Virgin Islands will be able to communicate and collaborate with national nonprofit partners even more effectively both through this IrMaria recovery and for future preparedness and disaster response initiatives. 
• Continued territorial collaboration with our brothers and sisters across the sea in St. John and St. Croix as we unceasingly pursue improved quality of life and a full physical, spiritual, and economic recovery for every Virgin Islander. 

Thank you for all of your support. Your donations keep this organization going and are directly impacting the lives of those who need it the most. On behalf of all Virgin Islanders, we thank you for your commitment to our mission!

Links:

• Check out our website.