JUST before Hurricane Melissa struck in late October, Rickeyann Rodney, a 32-year-old mother of six, struggled to deal with the reality of having one of her children taken into state care after the child was deemed in need of care.

Days after the child, who is three years old, was taken by State operatives came Hurricane Melissa, tearing down trees, ripping roofs off houses, and in many cases, collapsing entire houses.

The house that Rodney lived in with her five other children in Wakefield, Trelawny, was not spared the wrath of Melissa. Now she not only yearns to be reunited with her daughter but she is also seeking help to rebuild her house.

“I would be grateful for assistance to build back my house. My children are 14 years old, 13 years old, one who is sick with his heart is eight years old, I have another one who is five years old, the little girl who is three in State care, and the baby who just turned five months old.

“The three-year-old, she used to stay with my grandmother. I was getting ready to go to work one morning and my grandma called me and said they heard police and soldiers shaking down the grille.

“The soldier told my daughter to go around the back and call who was there with her. My daughter went around there and called grandma and as she opened the grille, they just took the baby. They said she wasn’t being taken care of, but that’s not true. One of my sisters wants to help me with my daughter, but every time I call the people at the home where she is staying, they don’t answer. I tell myself that when I get a bus fare, I am going down there to talk to them,” Rodney told the Jamaica Observer.

While on a tour of some of the areas in western Jamaica that were hardest hit by Melissa recently, Luke Josephs, co-founder of the Crisis Support Charity, was touched by Rodney’s story. He said that, as a result, he decided that his organisation would do whatever it can to render sustainable assistance to Rodney and the children.

“This woman has six children. We decided to go to Trelawny and stumbled on a community called Wakefield where we saw a young lady in distress. She looked very hurt and in need of support. We went to her house and we realised that what were once bedrooms were now just a board structure and open sky. Her house was badly affected,” Josephs told the Observer.

“After asking her some questions as it relates to how she was coping and what life was like after Hurricane Melissa, she explained that she wasn’t really getting much food or anything like that. We stepped in and provided her with baby formula, diapers, wipes, etc. After she got the care package, she broke down in tears.

“When we asked her if she was okay, she told us that one of her children was taken by the State, prior to Hurricane Melissa. The last time she had contact with the child was sometime before the hurricane. She tried calling because it’s all the way in Montego Bay and she doesn’t have the money to go there,” added Josephs.

The Crisis Support Charity is continuing to provide what support it can to Rodney and her children but the needs remain great for the family.

Anyone wishing to make a contribution to help Rickeyann Rodney and her children can contact the Crisis Support Charity via its website https://crisissupportcharity.org.

Rickeyann Rodney, with her youngest child, as she receives a case of bottled water from a Crisis Support Charity volunteer.