Stashauna’s Story: Navigating Loss and Recovery After Hurricane Melissa
A community leader and resident of Middle Quarters, Jamaica, Stashauna worked alongside CORE last year following Hurricane Beryl. She joined the team to distribute food kits and other relief items, using her local network to ensure support reached the most vulnerable community members after the Category 4 storm. But this season, Stashauna reconnected with our team under different circumstances.
In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, which barreled through the island in late October, the Middle Quarters Community Development Committee President is navigating significant loss and damage to her own home. Since the storm, she’s been living in a shared, two-unit house with seven others, including her 103-year-old grandmother and her neighbor, whom she invited to stay after his home was destroyed entirely.
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Although the walls remain standing, most of her roof was torn away, and water flooded many of her belongings. She found old tarps to cover the exposed roof, but they couldn’t keep the heavy rains out of her home. And despite efforts to keep the space warm, her grandmother caught a cold from days of sleeping in a wet room.
CORE stepped in to re-tarp her home, giving her family a dry, safe space as they begin to recover. “I’m seeing a ray of hope because supplies have been coming in. Today, I really want to say thanks to CORE and the team for giving us relief,” Stashauna said.
In the first weeks after the storm, CORE delivered tons of food, clean water, and hygiene kits to the hardest hit communities, many of which were cut off from the eastern part of the country due to heavy debris or flooding. We also cleared debris to restore access. Now, we’re focused on tarping more homes on the island.
Reaching vulnerable communities like Middle Quarters, one of the hardest hit by the Category 5 storm, remains a central part of CORE’s response in Jamaica. Hurricane Melissa’s 180 mph winds and torrential rainfall changed the town’s landscape overnight.
“You literally stand under the building and you see everything just flying and you look around you, debris is all over. You can’t run next door because next door is the same. It’s frightening,” Stashauna recalled.
The devastation, Stashauna says, has left the entire community stunned: entire homes flattened, damaged cars and appliances strewn on the side of the roads, and countless businesses lost.
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Yet even while coping with her own loss and a physical injury, Stashauna’s selflessness shone through. She ventured into her beloved community to assess the needs around her and see how she could help. When she met a mother of six living in a home without a roof, Stashauna gave the family the first tarp she received and used her connections to secure them a container home days later.
“Those things warm my heart, irrespective of the fact that I am in this position. I am still out there trying to help those persons,” she shared.
For Stashuana, her community, and Jamaicans, the road to recovery will be long and challenging. At CORE, we’re working closely with local partners and community members like Stashuana to ensure our programs grow and adapt to the evolving needs on the ground. Learn more about our Hurricane Melissa relief efforts in Jamaica and Haiti.