KINGSTON, Jamaica — A major coalition of international and local organisations has been formed to accelerate Jamaica’s long-term recovery following the devastation caused by Category 5 Hurricane Melissa.

BridgePoint Foundation, the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), Operation Blessing, Ruka Storm Foundation, World Vision USA, and WhyNot International have officially partnered to restore heavily impacted communities and support families rebuilding their lives.

The alliance brings together extensive experience in disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, logistics, and community development. In a joint statement, the partners underscored their shared commitment.

“Together, we are building back hope one home, one family, one community at a time,” the statement said.

BridgePoint Foundation has provided food, water, and essential supplies to more than 300 families directly impacted in Black River.

As the coordinating entity for the national recovery initiative, BridgePoint Foundation is leading goal-setting, field alignment, and continuous communication among partners and community stakeholders. The foundation’s structured, on-the-ground approach is designed to maximise each organisation’s strengths to deliver sustained, results-driven support islandwide.

To date, BridgePoint Foundation has provided food, water, and essential supplies to more than 300 families directly impacted in Black River. It continues to coordinate logistics with NGOs and the JDF to reach priority communities including Black River, Accompong, Belmont, Montego Bay, and surrounding isolated areas.

The coalition has already begun broad relief efforts, including shelter support, home construction, and assistance for local businesses. Among the earliest major contributors is Operation Blessing, which has delivered large-scale aid across multiple parishes. Its efforts so far include: 90,000 hot meals, seven homes tarped, one school roof secured, 10,391 gallons of clean water, 2,000 solar lamps, 2,400 care packages, more than 40,000 bottles of water and five church-based water purification systems, each capable of producing up to 1,000 gallons per day.

Director of Operations and Strategic Relationships at BridgePoint Foundation, Laura Butler praised the collective effort of the partners, the JDF, and volunteers nationwide.

“It’s impossible to overstate the level of destruction our country has endured. It will take all of us—every effort, every partner, every hand—to rebuild our beautiful Jamaica. I have the privilege of working alongside these groups on the ground, and it is truly an honor to be part of this extended team that is doing wonders daily for our people,” said Butler.

Director of Operations and Strategic Relationships at BridgePoint Foundation, Laura Butler, pictured at third right with other members of her team, expressed admiration for the work being carried out by the partnering organisations.

Butler added that the dedication of Jamaicans themselves has been a powerful force in the recovery process, noting, “it’s also beautiful to see the Jamaicans working over time to help those affected by the hurricane. True solidarity when it’s needed the most.”

The United Cajun Navy has also played a significant role, shipping over 200,000 MREs and 50,000 liters of water to the island. The organisation deployed search and rescue personnel prior to Hurricane Melissa’s landfall and has provided an incident management team, medical resources, and a major distribution site in St Elizabeth.

Its ongoing contributions include: coordinated roof repairs and tarping of schools, clinics, churches, and homes, establishment of logistical staging areas and resource drops, farmland cleanup support in St Elizabeth, food and water distribution across mountain communities near Negril and in Westmoreland, assistance to the Maggoty church to clear damaged library materials and restore shelter space, provision of generators for schools and clinics, starlink units for emergency personnel, continuous delivery of hot meals and water to isolated households and expertise in fresh water acquisition.

Collectively, the partner organisations have now reached hundreds of families islandwide, focusing on the most heavily impacted and hard-to-reach communities. Their coordinated efforts are also supporting local vendors, strengthening community-led recovery initiatives, and expanding shelter and home-building projects.