Returned Volunteer leads response efforts for Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica

Twenty-five years after my service as a Water and Sanitation Volunteer in St. Leonards, Westmoreland, community members still recognized me when I came with my team to deliver relief goods.

Flying into the eye of the storm

When it was forecast that Category 5 Hurricane Melissa would hit Jamaica, I immediately brought together a team to support the response. I’d been in my position as executive director of Friends of Haiti Air Ambulance (HAA) only three weeks, but I knew we had to help. We called together a group of partners led by HAA with Medic Corps, LIFT Nonprofit Logistics, and Development Impact Global Group to get on the ground and begin helping as quickly as possible.

The relationships I’ve cultivated with Jamaican government and other officials was foundational for the success of our team. In past years I’ve supported the planning for exercises of U.S. Southern Command’s Tradewinds, which helps enhance disaster preparedness throughout the Caribbean. Working together with the Jamaican Defense Force in the exercise, and building relationships with officials involved in disaster preparedness, meant that we could quickly integrate into response efforts.

The strength of our partnerships and the team’s relationships in Jamaica meant that we were able to fly in the day after the storm and deliver lifesaving aid. I was proud to be one of the first on the ground, ready to help communities I care about recover from the devastation of the storm.

Delivering hope through connectivity

The World Bank estimates that in the immediate aftermath of the storm, 77% of the island had no power or internet access and only 35% of mobile phone sites were functioning. This meant that communities were cut off from access to the outside world—a problem compounded by flooding, landslides, and damage to roads.

One of the first things the partners did was to set up Starlinks powered by solar generators. Setting these up allowed communities to begin communicating their needs and other information to the outside world. Due to the damage to the roads, we flew helicopters to the affected areas, landing in fields, basketball courts, or anywhere big enough.

Landing in St. Leonards to place the Starlink was a very emotional moment for me. My Peace Corps community took a direct hit from the eye wall of the storm. I immediately sought out the village leader, Ms. G, who instantly recognized me. Helping her set up the Starlink meant that she could communicate the needs of her community outwards so that humanitarian actors could begin delivering the help and hope my community needed to start their road to recovery.

A lifelong commitment to service

I served in the Peace Corps in Jamaica from 1998 to 2000 after graduating from Houghton College with a B.A. in political science and sociology. Serving in the Peace Corps gave me the confidence to go on to law school at the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law, but it also sparked in me a lifelong commitment to humanitarian and development work.

As a young lawyer at WilmerHale, I made time to continue working on projects abroad. As a volunteer for World Hope International, I worked to help develop a microfinance project and contributed to the building of a primary school in St. Leonards as well as the redevelopment of the Caribbean Wesleyan College in Savanna-la-Mar, Jamaica.

I left my law practice and joined World Hope International in 2013 as the Chief Executive Officer and worked on my first emergency response the same year, the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa. I also returned to Jamaica in 2024 in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl to provide medical training with My Medic, Inc.

My Peace Corps service had a deep impact on my life and my career path. It’s fostered in me a lifelong commitment to working with communities in need. While I would always hope to return to my Peace Corps community in normal times, 25 years later it was an honor to return and help in the response and recovery to one of their darkest moments.