On Wednesday, November 11, our friend and brother Omari Jack survived the devastating building collapse at 1321 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. He was one of the lucky ones. But surviving came at an unimaginable cost: in a matter of seconds, he lost his home, everything he owned, and a lifetime's worth of memories and work.

By divine grace, Omari was at work that afternoon when the three-story residential building collapsed into the adjacent construction excavation. Five of his neighbours weren't as fortunate. Among those who lost their lives were his next-door neighbor and the family living in the apartment directly below his, including two young children.

We are profoundly grateful that Omari survived, but we cannot begin to imagine the weight of what he is facing now. While coming to terms with the tragic loss of life in his building, Omari is also facing the unimaginable reality of starting his own life over from absolutely nothing.

The Red Cross has stepped in to provide Omari with temporary accommodation, but that assistance is only in place until the end of November. After that, unless he can secure alternative housing, he faces the very real prospect of having nowhere to go. He has no immediate family who can take him in or provide financial support. His mother is elderly and herself living on limited means, leaving Omari with virtually no family safety net to fall back on. With no renters insurance, no home to return to and almost nothing left, he urgently needs help securing a permanent place to start over.

A Lifetime Built Through Hard Work and a Love of Music

Originally from St.Vincent & the Grenadines, Omari came to the United States at 18 years old with very little. Through decades of hard work, he built a life for himself, eventually becoming a proud U.S. citizen. He has worked for years as a school custodian, quietly and consistently doing the kind of work that keeps communities running.

Omari has never been someone motivated by material possessions. He lived modestly, in a small, bare-bones, run-down apartment in Flatbush. From his meagre salary he invested whatever money he could spare to the one thing that has brought him a lifetime of joy: reggae music.

Thirty Years of Collecting. A Lifetime of Music. Gone.

For nearly three decades, Omari dedicated himself to collecting reggae records. He wasn't simply buying music. He was hunting down rare pressings, discovering forgotten recordings, preserving musical history and building an extraordinary collection one record at a time.

His collection, accumulated over 30 years, was valued at well over $100,000. But its significance goes far beyond its monetary value.

These records represented a lifetime of passion, knowledge, dedication and sacrifice. They were also central to his livelihood as a DJ, allowing him to share the music he loved with audiences and communities week after week.

Anyone who knows Omari knows it's never been about the money. Whether he's DJing for an audience of one or a crowd of a thousand, he does it with the same enthusiasm and generosity. It's always been about the love of the music and the joy of sharing it with others.

For anyone who understands reggae culture, sound system history and the world of vinyl collecting, the loss is almost impossible to comprehend. Thirty years of collecting cannot simply be replaced with a shopping trip or an insurance cheque. Many of those records were rare, irreplaceable pieces of musical history.

And Omari lost all of them.

He had no renters insurance and no financial safety net to fall back on. His home, his belongings, his professional collection and a significant part of his livelihood are now gone, buried in a heap of rubble. But the loss goes far beyond the material value of what was destroyed. Thirty years of memories, passion, dedication and a lifetime built around music have vanished in an instant, leaving a profound and life-altering void in his life.

Let's Help Omari Get Back on His Feet

We are reaching out to friends, the Brooklyn community, the global reggae family, sound system operators, DJs and vinyl collectors everywhere.

If you've ever spent years searching for a record, treasured a particular pressing, or understood the feeling of finding a piece of music you've been chasing for decades, you understand what this loss means.

But this isn't just a fundraiser for a record collector. It's an opportunity to help a hardworking man who has spent decades building a modest, meaningful life and now has to start again through no fault of his own.

We are setting an initial fundraising goal of $24,000 to help Omari secure a new home and cover the immediate costs of rebuilding his life.

Records aside, right now, Omari needs something much more fundamental: a safe place to live, clothing, furniture, everyday necessities and some financial stability as he begins to rebuild his life from nothing. Every contribution, whatever the amount, will help Omari take another step forward.

Funds raised will go toward:

-Securing a new apartment, including first month's rent and security deposit.

-Replacing essential belongings, including clothing, shoes, furniture and everyday necessities.

-Providing financial stability while he navigates the enormous challenges ahead.

-Helping him begin rebuilding his life and, eventually, reconnecting with the music that has always been such an important part of it.

Omari would never be the person to ask for this kind of help himself. That's why we're asking on his behalf.

He survived something unimaginable. Now let's make sure he doesn't have to face what comes next alone.

May Omari rise again in the strength of Jah, with the love and support of the community behind him.