Hi my name is Virginia.

My family home in St Elizabeth, Jamaica was severely damaged by category 5 hurricane - Melissa - on 28th of October 2025.

The entire roof was ripped off the house (and two other buildings), and there was structural damage to several walls - a section of one wall broke off and there are large cracks in at least two other walls. All the houses in my community with a zinc roof lost part or all of their roof.

My elderly brother and niece live in the family home and are now sheltering under a makeshift structure which leaks when it rains. We are seeking your assistance as we are unable to cover the full cost to replace the roof.

A concrete slab roof would be ideal because it can withstand hurricane winds. A zinc roof costs less however it could be destroyed by the very next tropical storm or hurricane.

The money will be used to buy materials - lumber, cement, steel, sand, gravel, plyboards - to strengthen the structure of the house: replace/fix walls, add columns, beams and pour a concrete slab (or if zinc roof - the relevant material for the zinc roof).

I am appealing for your kind assistance to help with replacing the roof on our home. Any assistance received above what we need will be donated to my neighbours to assist with their rebuild. We will keep paying it forward by helping as many as we can during this rebuilding process.

Thanks in advance for your help.