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One Year After Hurricane Melissa: Food For The Poor Helps Jamaican Families Rebuild Homes and Livelihoods
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Oct. 28, 2026) — One year after Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, Food For The Poor (FFTP) and its partners continue helping families rebuild their homes, restore essential services and regain their livelihoods.
The storm affected approximately 1.6 million people, left more than 146,000 buildings with major damage and disrupted hundreds of schools when it struck Oct. 28, 2025.
Since then, FFTP has shipped 237 ocean containers and 21 air shipments of food, medical supplies, hygiene items and other essentials to Jamaica, with approximately 90 percent of those supplies distributed.
On the ground, FFTP-Jamaica and its local partners coordinated emergency distributions to families in need. In the first eight weeks following the hurricane, they distributed 54,035 food packages across 11 parishes, reaching an estimated 167,000 people.
Beyond the immediate relief effort, FFTP and its partners have helped families move toward more permanent recovery by building new homes, repairing hurricane-damaged roofs and restoring essential community infrastructure.
FFTP-Canada and other donors have also contributed to Jamaica’s recovery, supporting additional rebuilding and community assistance efforts.
“A hurricane can destroy a family’s home and livelihood in a matter of hours, but rebuilding both takes much longer,” said FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine. “One year later, we’re seeing families return to their homes, children regain access to classrooms and people get back to earning a living. That’s real progress, but there’s still a great deal of work ahead.”
From Devastation to a New Beginning
For Ricardo Bennett, a fisherman in Parottee Beach, St. Elizabeth, Hurricane Melissa destroyed more than his home. It also left the engine of his fishing boat beyond repair, taking away the livelihood that sustained him since childhood.
Unable to return to sea, Bennett took construction jobs to survive while searching for a way to replace his engine. With help from FFTP, he received a replacement engine that allowed him to resume fishing and begin earning an income again.
“Today, because of the support I received, I have hope again. I can return to the sea, earn a living, and continue rebuilding my life,” Bennett said.
His story reflects a wider effort to help families regain financial independence. Thanks to the charity’s generous donors, fishing boats have been repaired, beekeepers have received replacement colonies and equipment, and small businesses have been helped to reopen.
In St. Elizabeth, beekeeper Ann-Marie Peters received replacement hive boxes and bee colonies after the hurricane destroyed much of her apiary. Income from her honey business helps support her six grandchildren.
Rebuilding Homes, Schools and Essential Services
Across hurricane-affected communities, FFTP has helped families repair damaged roofs, including homes in Chester Castle in Hanover and along Cornwall Street in Trelawny. U.S. donors have supported 154 completed roof repairs, with additional work continuing.
U.S. donors have also helped provide new homes for families facing displacement, including households affected by Hurricane Melissa and families still recovering from Hurricane Beryl in 2024. Additional housing assistance has been supported by Canadian and other donors.
In Big Woods, St. Elizabeth, Sandra Buchanan, a single mother of five, recently received a new home from Food For The Poor after losing her previous home. For months, she and her children lived in temporary accommodations before moving into a rented house.
With three children still attending high school and limited income from occasional work, owning a home again seemed beyond her reach. She described the new home as “a miracle.”
At Beecher Town Primary and Infant School in St. Ann, construction is underway on a new four-classroom building after the hurricane tore away roughly a third of the roof of an existing structure used for classroom space.
“The moment construction of the new classrooms began, it felt as though a thousand-pound weight had been lifted from my shoulders,” said Principal Harlene Bailey.
Water access is another priority. At Bluefields Basic School in Westmoreland, new water tanks now provide a more dependable supply for students and staff. With donor support, other schools and communities have also benefited from improvements to water access.
Food security efforts have helped restore school greenhouses and supported food distributions to families still struggling with the storm’s effects.
Across Jamaica, recovery projects supported by FFTP and its partners have reached an estimated 24,435 people to date through efforts to restore housing, schools, water access and livelihoods.
Why Recovery Will Take More Time
Despite the progress, recovery from a disaster of Melissa’s magnitude is expected to continue well beyond the first anniversary. The widespread destruction has increased demand for qualified contractors and construction materials across Jamaica. Weather delays, site preparation and updated government building requirements have also affected the pace of some projects.
At the same time, families continue to need food and other humanitarian assistance while permanent rebuilding moves forward. FFTP’s Jamaica team has strengthened project management, field reporting and coordination to help address these challenges, monitor construction and keep recovery projects moving.
“A year is an important milestone, but it is not the finish line,” Raine said. “Our donors and partners have helped families make meaningful progress, and we have a responsibility to see this work through. The goal isn’t simply to replace what was lost. It’s to help families and communities rebuild the stability they need for the future.”
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the United States, is committed to facilitating paths out of poverty and transforming lives. As an interdenominational Christian ministry, we help families across Latin America and the Caribbean. Our efforts span urgent humanitarian relief and long-term development – from emergency aid and hunger alleviation to education, housing, and economic empowerment. We follow a distinctive approach that integrates faith, multi-sector strategies, and trusted partnerships. Whenever possible, we strive to work at the community level, partnering with local leaders and residents to co-create sustainable solutions that address the multi-dimensional nature of poverty. For more information, please visit foodforthepoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Communications
954-471-0928
[email protected]
