Help bring St. John residents home.

With the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season is upon us, returning vulnerable residents to stable and safe homes is more important than ever. There are dozens and dozens of residents on St. John alone who are still living under blue tarp roofs.

Our Resilient Housing Initiative (RHI) was designed to fill this gap; all of the homes that we are rebuilding are the primary residences of permanent St. John residents who are all seniors, families with small children, or persons with a disability or nonemergency medical need. In most cases these are total rebuilds from the ground up, and the residents have been deemed ineligible for other federal and local assistance programs.

With your help, we are pleased to announce that we have completed 27 homes since September 2018, which is an additional 5 homes since our last report in August of this year!

For RHI, Love City Strong pays 3 licensed, St. John-based construction companies for the builds, and multiple St. John businesses are utilized for deliveries of building materials, painting, plumbing, electrician work, and more. We have always believed that it is important to utilize the professional talent and skills of St. John residents for all of our projects, rather than outsourcing to individuals or companies from outside of the territory. Our clients for this program are selected and vetted by the St. John Community Foundation's Disaster Case Managers, all St. John residents with longstanding ties to the community, who work hard every day to identify vulnerable residents in need. When you donate to our RHI program, you are not only helping individuals in need--You are supporting the St. John economy.

Please consider a donation to the RHI program today. Our goal is to complete 40 homes by the end of 2019, and thanks to your support we are closer than ever before!

With the high cost of building materials, shipping and logistics expenses, and contruction in the Territory, building 40 homes that have been fully or completely destroyed by Hurricanes Irma and Maria is quite the task.

Love City Strong and our partners at the St. John Community FOundation and Love for Love City created the Resilient Housing Iniaitive to help those who could not afford the cost of rebuilding; the most vulnerable among us, including seniors and families. The average cost of an RHI home is between $100,000 and $175,000.

Fortunately, our donors and partners have helped make this financial a little easier. Thanks to your generosity, we are halfway to our GlobalGiving goal!

When a home is rebuilt by RHI, not only is it made whole again--We build it stronger and more storm-resistant than before. Crucial safety features are added for seniors and individuals with a disability. The homes receive completely updated plumbing and electrical work. The foundations are assesed and redone if necessary. Roofs are built back with integrated hurricane straps and stronger materials.

Our GlobalGiving fundraising goal of $100,000 will allow us to rebuild one more home above our total goal of 40. There are so many individuals in need on St. John, and we want to be able to assist as many as we can. Your donations really do make a difference to both our clients and our construction crews. Without your help, none of what we have accomplished in RHI would be possible. 

Please consider a donation today, and help spread the word about the RHI program. Your support is so appreciated!