All Hands on Deck: The ODJF’s Response to Hurricane Melissa

When Hurricane Melissa made her presence known across Jamaica, she arrived, as disasters do, and she left behind what disasters always leave behind -destruction, displacement, and the urgent, aching need for human beings to show up for one another.

The Open Door Jamaica Foundation (ODJF), like so many other entities, showed up.

Stronger Together

In the days that followed the storm, the ODJF team joined forces with three foundations already mobilising relief efforts across the island: the JWN Foundation, the Digicel Foundation, and the FLOW Foundation. Each of these organisations had activated their networks to serve communities across the affected parishes, and rather than duplicate efforts or stand on the sidelines, the ODJF made a simple, clear decision: it  will help however we can.

That help took the form of volunteering – rolling up sleeves, standing at tables, and packing boxes alongside teams who were working tirelessly to get supplies to the people who needed them most. Food. Hygiene essentials. Tarps for families whose roofs had been stripped away by the storm. And other basic necessities that most of us rarely think about until they are suddenly, desperately scarce.

It was, in every sense of the phrase, all hands on deck.

The People in the Room

Behind every relief effort are the people who choose to be present. For the ODJF, that presence was personal.

Dr. Terri-Karelle Reid, Founder and Executive Director, was there for every packing exercise — not as a figurehead, but as a member of the team, working alongside her colleagues with the same sense of purpose. Alex Sterling, Programme Manager, was equally present throughout the packing exercises, ensuring that the foundation’s contribution was organised, consistent, and effective. Naima-Kourtnae Reid, ODJF Youth Volunteer Coordinator, brought her energy and commitment to every session – a reminder that the spirit of service runs deep within this organisation and across generations.

K. Michelle Reid, Board Director, joined the team for the FLOW Foundation packing exercise, embodying what board-level commitment looks like when it moves beyond the boardroom and into the community. And Jermaine Duncan, Content Creation and Documentation Volunteer, was present at the Digicel Foundation packing – ensuring that this moment of collective service was captured, remembered, and shared.

Beyond the packing exercises, the Open Door Jamaica Foundation also participated in two distribution activities on the ground: one with the JWN Foundation in St. Elizabeth, and one with the Digicel Foundation in Trelawny – two of the parishes among the many that Hurricane Melissa touched hardest. Being present for distribution meant seeing firsthand the harsh realities and conditions, but also the  faces of the people receiving relief. It is one thing to pack a box. It is another to hand it to someone whose home is gone.

The National Pledge, Made Real

There is a line in Jamaica’s National Pledge that we recite from childhood, so often that it can begin to feel like ritual rather than conviction: ‘…in service of my fellow citizen.’

Hurricane Melissa brought that line back to life. In the relief centres, in the packing halls, in the communities where volunteers arrived with supplies and stayed to help – the Pledge was not being recited. It was being lived. And that is the difference between a value that is performed and a value that is held.

Two Things Can Be True

In the wake of Melissa, Jamaica revealed herself, as she always does in moments of crisis,  in all her complexity.

Two things can be true at the same time, and often are. We saw destruction and we saw development. We saw service and we saw selfishness. We saw hope and we saw helplessness. We saw communities pulling together and individuals retreating into isolation. Disaster has a way of doing that, of holding up a mirror to a nation and showing it both its fractures and its foundation.

What Hurricane Melissa reminded us, above all, is this: the real foundation of a country is not its buildings or its infrastructure. It is its people. Their unity. Their empathy. Their stubborn, irreducible will to rebuild – not just their own homes, but each other.

A Moment to Pray

In the midst of the doing, there must also be a moment of stillness.

Heavenly Father, thank You for being close when our hearts are heavy. In moments of pain and loss, remind us that Your presence surrounds us and Your comfort restores us. Lift up the broken, heal the wounded spirit, and let Your love bring peace where there is sorrow. Amen.

What You Can Do

Service is not the exclusive domain of foundations and corporations. It belongs to all of us.

If you are looking for a way to contribute to Jamaica’s recovery from Hurricane Melissa, seek out the organisations,  large and small, that are already doing the work and offer them your hands. Your time. Your presence. You do not need a title or a platform to make a difference. You need only the willingness to show up.

And if you have children in your life, bring them with you (provided safety protocols permit). One of the most enduring gifts we can give the next generation is not a lesson about service. It is the experience of it. Let them pack a box. Let them hand a meal to a neighbour. Let them feel what it means to be part of something larger than themselves. That feeling, once experienced, does not easily leave.

Jamaica will rebuild. She always does. And she will rebuild fastest when her people decide, together, that no one gets left behind.

The Open Door Jamaica Foundation is committed to serving the most vulnerable members of our communities, including persons with disabilities in times of crisis and beyond. To learn more or to get involved, visit opendoorjamaicafoundation.org or follow us on Instagram @opendoorjamaica.