The One Eleuthera Foundation (OEF) has moved from one storm to another – Hurricane Dorian in September 2019 to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Both have created difficult economic times for The Bahamas and this NGO has been there to help elevate the burden. By June 2020, contributions and grants for the OEF Hurricane Dorian Relief (HDR) Program have amounted to $900,000 and were used for a variety of programs to help evacuees get a new start. The Foundation is preparing for a busy hurricane season with strong fundraising efforts while working through a new normal in their many partner organizations.

Reflecting on Hurricane Dorian, it was considered one of the strongest storms on the planet when it struck the northern Bahamas in September 2019 with a fierceness that is still fresh. Abaco evacuee Josette Albury-Gilbert who is a single mother was thankful for a new start in Eleuthera. She left a shelter in Nassau with her 3 of her 4 children ages 6, 12 and 14. Her eldest is 23 and is a student at the University of The Bahamas.

“When I received a call from Shawna McCartney of One Eleuthera, she told me about their program to help evacuees. I didn’t believe her at first. I thought it was a joke. People don’t call you to say they will relocate you, find you a job and help you with a place to live.”

It was reported that 14,000 people were displaced from the 2 northern Bahama Islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco and its cays. This superstorm hung around for almost 72 hours, causing loss of life with hundreds said to be missing and, it created the worst destruction The Bahamas has ever experienced.

Damages ran into billions of dollars with the country’s second economy of Abaco receiving the brunt. On a tour shortly after UN Secretary General, António Guterres said, “It's impossible not to be horrified with the destruction in Abaco after Hurricane Dorian. I have never seen such dramatic devastation. They say that this is a category five. I believe it is a hurricane category “hell.” But it was not powered by the devil. It was powered by climate change. It was powered by human action.” (Source: UN News 14/09/19).

One Eleuthera’s Hurricane Dorian Relief (HDR) Program Boosts Eleuthera’s Economy and Improves Hundreds Of Lives.

From September 2019 to June 2020, community donors and partnerships helped with aid and post-disaster relief. Generous contributions of cash, in-kind donations and grants exceeding $900,000 supported the OEF 7-month Hurricane Dorian Relief (HDR) Program. The economy in Eleuthera received a boost since most of the funds were spent on the Island with a smaller portion spent for relief supplies for Abaco. Eleuthera’s population grew by 5% from the 600 registered evacuees.

The OEF HDR program included a housing and utilities allowance, emergency relief supplies, educational grants, a school feeding program, job placement and training and trauma counseling. Funds also covered revitalization of commercial agriculture in south Eleuthera and employment and disaster preparedness.

The 600 newcomers represented 213 households were primarily from Abaco with a few from Grand Bahama. Undocumented migrants and others who did not need the long-term services were also supported. Over 4,000 hot meals were served out of the Tea Room at CTI (Centre for Training and Innovation), Ethel’s Cottages and Ingraham’s Beach Inn, with more taking place in Spanish Wells.

The housing and utility program in Spanish wells involved short term contracts due to the market constraints where 39 households and 1 business rental was supported. There was also 1 household on Harbour Island. On mainland Eleuthera, 173 households received long-term support totaling $330,000.

The education investment of $34,000 covered care, supplies, and salaries. Education grants for 2 evacuee teachers with special needs experience were hired and additionally literacy support for 5 students was provided. Supplies included textbooks, school supplies, 71 physical education kits, power tools and equipment and desks and chairs. Tuition for 8 students of single-mother homes was extended along with 2 private caregivers so that the mothers could work. The lunch and snack program for Samuel Guy Pinder All Age School in Spanish Wells included 560 snacks and meals for 40 evacuee students and teachers.

Eighty-four percent of registered evacuees on mainland Eleuthera used the SEEP (South Eleuthera Emergency Partners) distribution center in Tarpum Bay which supported 96 households and 33 walk-ins not previously registered with the HDR Program. The building housing the Cancer Society in Palmetto Point was also instrumental. Both distribution centers gave out clothing and dry goods.

Events providing emotional support were beneficial to the well-being of those who affected by Dorian. There was a memorial ceremony at the Methodist Habitat’s Camp Symonette in James Cistern that gave closure for many. A heartwarming community connection event on January 3, 2020 in Rock Sound was attended by 110 evacuees who came from the many settlements on Eleuthera.

To help ease the trauma for the hurricane evacuees, One Eleuthera engaged the services of a counselling team led by Emma Basset and Stephen Thompson; the counselling services covered all of Eleuthera. Utilizing the services were 272 evacuees – 203 under the age of 18 and 69 adults - with the addition of 38 new applicants at the end of January. More funding is needed to support this initiative and a survey showed that 60% of adults and 100% of children under 18 requested additional counseling.

School principal Shardell Gibson of Samuel Guy Pinder All Age School had reported to One Eleuthera that prior to counseling, “Everyone was just falling apart. Everyone was crying, and some (children) just didn’t want to come to school. We had so many tummy aches, nightmares, parents crying. And now these children, if you didn’t know their story, you wouldn’t know what they’ve been through. They’ve come such a long way...I’m seeing quite an improvement in the parents, because the children are doing well. Even academically, the children are doing so well, many of them are on the Honor Roll.” (Source: OEF HDR Report).

Direct employment and temporary positions were realized when OEF and CTI hired 14 evacuees and 4 HDR coordinators to develop capacity of its profit centers. Some of those positions included a chief operations officer, a sustainability officer, farm manager, 1 farm grower, junior architect, social media strategist and a chef. There were 4 relief coordinators from September to January, an HDR Program coordinator, a relief coordinator in Spanish Wells which has now shifted to a volunteer position. Expenditure up to January 31,2020 was $97,000.

Two Abaco Evacuees Share Their Stores

Hurricane Dorian did not discriminate – persons from all socio-economic backgrounds were affected. The stories here are to offer insight, hope, encouragement and strength.

“When it rains and it’s stormy, at night, my children pile into the bed with me and my little one would still tremble,” said Josette Albury-Gilbert. She and her 3 children survived by swimming to a neighbour’s house after the roof of their house was blown off. That neighbour soon had to leave. “All of us kept moving from one place to the next. We were swimming. We were scared. We didn’t know what was happening. I just wanted to make sure we were safe and trying to get to safety.

I lost a co-worker in the storm and a few people in the community because the water was really high and a lot of people can’t swim. I thought a demon was in the storm. You could hear screams and things. It was worse than a nightmare.” Albury-Gilbert said that before Hurricane Dorian, she was content with life - she had a nice house and a full pantry.

In New Providence, her daughter’s small apartment could not accommodate 10 people so she moved to a shelter. Eventually, a request to relocate is how she met Shawna McCartney of One Eleuthera. McCartney had worked for the local government for 20 years and had used her vacation time to volunteer with SEEP, a partner organization of OEF. “I needed to do something to help my countrymen and it became one of the most amazing and gratifying months of my life.

I didn’t think that Josette would come.” The One Eleuthera team left Rock Sound before midnight to make the two-hour journey for the Three Island Dock in North Eleuthera to pick up a group of 34 men, women and children who were arriving by a mailboat.

“The buses were waiting to take them from North Eleuthera to the CTI Hotel,” said McCartney. “We fed them chicken souse and they had a nice place to stay at the hotel. The children were shell shocked. I had a cry with them because despite the fact that I didn't go through what they went through, I tried to empathize and consider how I would like to be treated if I were in the same position.”

McCartney would eventually be hired by CTI in the finance department and Albury-Gilbert as a cook at One Eleuthera’s Centre For Training and Innovation (CTI).

Appreciation of the Foundation, of their Community Outreach Coordinator Maisie Thompson and the donors was paramount for Josette Albury-Gilbert. “One Eleuthera didn’t desert me. Maisie goes all the way out. She’s like a big sister to me. She calls to make sure that we’re okay. I do believe in angels. People have to live it to understand the concept of it. The children are almost back to normal. It’s not our house but it’s a good comfortable space. And, everyone needs to know that the donors and partners may not realize how much they change people’s lives.”

Two weeks after he arrived, Chief Operating Officer of One Eleuthera, Jim Richard applied for and secured his role. “Being offered the position has been an amazing experience. I was fortunate that it was available as I have 2 children in university. Losing my house and job in Abaco was a very humbling and discouraging time. To be offered employment so quickly and be part of the team has been a blessing. It is especially rewarding to be working with an organization that has done so much for Hurricane Dorian evacuees.”

Richard further elaborates, “My personal experience with Dorian along with my connections in Abaco have helped me in my role. I know first-hand the needs and have experienced the loss along with my fellow evacuees.”

In Abaco, Richard was the principal of Forest Heights Academy. When Dorian arrived, “I was the leader of the group and everyone made decisions to survive. When buildings collapsed, we kept moving – at least 7 times to several locations during the hurricane. There were 5 of us in my house and as the walls fell in, we eventually moved to the laundry room where we sat under a mattress for 6 hours. We had 2 persons from Colorado who were planning to ride out the storm at their oceanfront Airbnb. They were with us through the entire ordeal - Sunday to Monday night - two full days. It was so traumatic.”

Richard and his group ended up in a church hall where they spent 11 hours of the storm that Sunday night.

The shelter was occupied by persons from all socio-economic backgrounds. “Everyone was trying to stay alive and to keep the doors closed. When parts of the roof peeled off the Latterrain Church, we moved in the darkness to the new government clinic down the road. There was a lack of supplies and sanitation. Blood was everywhere on the ground and toilets didn’t flush and clearly they were unprepared for the situation at hand with the influx of persons who showed up.”

Richard feels that more attention should be given to the criteria used for shelter selection and not simply rely on churches and schools. “We tried to leave via the airport on Thursday, but that was chaos. We wanted to get out of Abaco for safety reasons too. There was looting and too many weapons. We heard that HeadKnowles was arranging flights out of Marsh Harbour on Thursday and when we made it to the airport with hundreds of others, it was disorganized.

We waited 8 hours in the airport but they were prioritizing the injured, elderly, and orphaned children and I had no idea when we could get out. We left and I drove to Sandy Point in South Abaco.” The one-hour drive took longer than usual due to water and destruction. “That was another ordeal. We were hot and dehydrated. We finally got granola bars and water that had come in on some of the flights. No one had umbrellas or sunscreen. We stood in the sun for 5 hours and finally our chartered plane arrived.”

Richard had a friend in Rock Sound who sent a chartered plane to pick up his group that included another with babies and children. “We landed in North Eleuthera airport late Thursday night. It was the first organized structure we saw.”

Entire communities were wiped out and this survivor reminds us not to store information on phones which many did and was lost in Hurricane Dorian. Important documents should be stored in the cloud including your children’s immunizations records. Many post-secondary education institutions outside of The Bahamas required proof of vaccines and without those records, there were students who needed to be reimmunized again.

Eleuthera native, Katiusia Johnson works as a chef at CTI and helped with the meal program for the evacuees. She was part of a team who prepared 3 meals a day from the Tea Room for around 50 persons while also operating the restaurant. Food is the comfort that satisfies appetites and binds souls. Breakfast was an important meal for the many persons who left CTI to spend the day finding a job or getting their housing organized or children in school.

Johnson has been cooking for groups since she was 17 years old and could handle the responsibility and a staff of 3 others. She graduated from the Culinary Arts program at the University of The Bahamas and apprenticed for 3 years at the Lyford Cay Club. “Serving people who just came out of the storm was new for me,” she said. “Cooking for groups was not a problem. But I wasn’t prepared to deal with the emotional part. There were many persons in their 20’s to 40’s. Although a lot of persons left after breakfast to find work or housing, there were many who stayed behind to share their stories.”

Evacuees working with Johnson included Peaches who became a prep cook, Daniel a dishwasher who later went on to work in the Tea Room and Bradbury who started as a dishwasher and later joined the Farm at CTI after the restaurant closed due to the pandemic.

Johnson leaves this message for us. “It’s heartwarming to be able to help those in need. You have to be open-minded to a new adventure. It might be me in the same situation the very next time, needing someone’s help.” Bahamians are a resilient people and rebuilding is part of their history, They know that hurricanes affect the island chains differently where some are more damaged than others. When devastation happens, everyone comes together to help.

Many residents of Eleuthera, especially those in the north remember the damage of hurricane Andrew which made landfall on August 23, 1992 as a category 5 hurricane with winds exceeding 160 mph. There was loss of life and great destruction to Spanish Wells, the Current and parts of North Eleuthera. The Abaco community was the first to arrive with supplies and their generosity is always remembered.

When Hurricane Dorian hit in September 2019, One Eleuthera was there, working hand in hand with the communities and NGOs who were the first responders, bringing the displaced from Abaco by boat. They helped to settle 300 people in Spanish Wells and another 300 on mainland Eleuthera.

The Hurricane Dorian Relief Program was led by OEF CEO, Shaun Ingraham who is a certified disaster relief responder with 22 years of experience. Both the Bahamas Foundation and US Foundation of One Eleuthera are familiar with disaster recovery. “Our 7-month Hurricane Dorian Relief Program was rewarding and is a successful model that we are sharing with our counterparts and The Bahamas. We were happy to welcome the new residents to come and help us build Eleuthera, ” said Ingraham.

The One Eleuthera Foundation is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2012 to identify, invest in and strengthen projects that improve the island of Eleuthera and further its economic, environmental and social development. Additionally, they support projects on other islands like New Providence and in the wider Bahamas. One Eleuthera operates a foundation in The Bahamas and one in the USA and is a successful NGO. More information is available on www.oneeleuthera.org.

The Centre for Training and Innovation (CTI) is the first and only postsecondary, non-profit, training and business enterprise institution on Eleuthera. They encourage growth and development for learners to become better citizens and to contribute to building a vibrant economy for the island of Eleuthera and The Bahamas. More information is available on www.oneeleuthera.org/projects/CTI.

TO FOLLOW: Part II: Reflections – Strong Communities Helped Dorian Evacuees Get Through Personal Storm

A storyboard outlines the overview of the One Eleuthera Foundation’s Hurricane Dorian Relief (HDR) Program (September 2019 to January 2020). The HDR assisted 600 evacuees primarily from Abaco and included some from Grand Bahama. The HDR Program ran for 6 months ending on March 20, 2020. From September 2019 to June 2020, community donors and partnerships helped with aid and post-disaster relief. Generous contributions of cash and in-kind donations and grants exceeding $900,000 would support a variety of programs all beneficial in helping intergrade the newcomers and strengthening the economy of Eleuthera.

In October 2019, Abaco evacuee Josette Albury-Gilbert, a single mother of 4 was left homeless by Hurricane Dorian. She took a chance and left a shelter in New Providence with 3 of her younger children, for a new start in Eleuthera, assisted by the One Eleuthera Foundation. Her eldest daughter lives in New Providence and is a student at the University of The Bahamas. In the spirit of the Christmas season and celebrating "life" after Hurricane Dorian, Josette and her family wore t-shirts with the lyrics of "Jingle Bells" separated on each shirt. She comes from a tight knit family of 12 and tells others to treasure family and friends. Shown from left to right in the photo are Josette, Ashley, Samara, Teron and Andraya. Photo supplied by Josette

Maisie Thompson (middle) is the Community Outreach Coordinator with the One Eleuthera Foundation (OEF) who took the lead with the Hurricane Dorian Relief Program working with the evacuees, community and organizations. She was assisted by contracted worker, Marsha Carey (left). James “Jim” Richard, an Abaco evacuee and COO of OEF dropped by to assist at the distribution center at SEEP (South Eleuthera Emergency Partners). Located in Tarpum Bay, SEEP was also the administrative office for registration and assistance. Photo supplied by OEF.

Shawna McCartney of One Eleuthera (left) accepted donations from Marjie Findlay and family. The children’s clothing and stuffed animals were greatly appreciated by the evacuees of Hurricane Dorian. “Everyone needs to know that the donors and partners may not realize how much they change people’s lives,” said a recipient. Photo provided by OEF.

We love what we do! Helping others, learning and teaching along the way. Katiusia Johnson, a chef at the One Eleuthera Centre For Training and Innovation in Rock Sound and her colleagues cooked 3 meals a day for approximately 50 Hurricane Dorian evacuees when they arrived to get settled into a new life. “It’s heartwarming to be able to help those in need. You have to be open-minded to a new adventure. It might be me in the same situation the very next time, needing someone’s help,” she said. In the photo Katiusia (right) who is a chef at CTI also teaches the basics of culinary arts. She is shown with students at the CTI – Harbour Island Training School, instructing how to make bread. The students are Nayda Pierre (left) and Nicoya Cleare (middle). Photo provided by Katiusia. Tags: #oneeleuthera #oneeleutherafoundation #seep #cti #hurricanedorian #Abacoevacuees #eleuthera #spanishwells #bahamas #volunteer #causes #charity #donate #philantrophy #climatechange #socialgood #socialenterprise #covid19 

Written by: Azaleta Ishmael-Newry