Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica, leaving widespread damage and families desperate for help.
Here in Southwest Florida, members of St. James Episcopal Church in Port Charlotte are leaning on faith, and each other, as they pray for loved ones back home.
For Merona Gray, the storm’s devastation is deeply personal. Her family in Linstead, Jamaica, depends on farming and livestock to survive, all of which were wiped out in the hurricane.
“He has a little shop and the top blow off, and some of his chicken are lost and all of the trees blown down,” Gray said. “I am so sad because I wish I can help right now.”
Gray says she’s lived through hurricanes in Florida, but recovery looks very different in the hills of Jamaica.
“We can get back the light here fast, and we get food come around. But you know what, they are in the hills.”
Enid, another Port Charlotte resident, has family in Westmoreland, Jamaica, where her 96-year-old sister’s home lost its roof and many neighbors’ homes were destroyed.
“She lost the roof of her house, and there are a lot of other neighbors that I personally know that their house is completely demolished,” Enid said.
Communication remains difficult for her husband, who still hasn’t been able to reach his relatives.
“When you can’t hear and you don’t know, it just makes you feel horrible,” she said.
Despite the distance, Enid says faith and community are what keep her family strong.
“Everybody help each other, and what you have you share with your neighbors, what your neighbors have, they share with you. That’s just how Jamaicans live.”
Now, that same spirit of giving is being mirrored right here in Port Charlotte. St. James Episcopal Church is collecting donations to help send relief supplies and financial support to communities still recovering in Jamaica.
“They are telling us to donate what we can to the Episcopalian Church, and they will send whatever they have to send to The Episcopalian Church in Jamaica,” Enid said.
Even from hundreds of miles away, members of St. Charles say compassion and community can make all the difference.
Church leaders encourage anyone who wants to help to give through the official Episcopal Relief and Development website.