THE BAHAMAS HURRICANE RELIEF UPDATE OCTOBER 2021
Little Darlings Academy, Abaco TOTAL PROGRAM IMPACT
2,467 715
LIVES IMPACTED VOLUNTEERS
13,674
VOLUNTEER DAYS
239
JOBS COMPLETED
Current Activities It’s a wrap! Little Darlings Academy is all done! The team completed work on this project in September and the official handover will take place at a later date. This school will directly impact over 170 students and staff who have been out of school and work since Dorian devastated the island in 2019. The school’s completion comes at the peak of hurricane season, and we’re pleased to have built a school that can be used as a hurricane shelter for central Abaco. This is an amazing asset to the community. The final roof in our work queue is done! The team is always excited to get to know homeowners and work closely with the community. Sixteen roofs have been restored with metal sheathing. Some of these families have been separated and living on different islands for the last two years. With a secure roof, they can now return to the island and continue to rebuild their lives. GREAT NEWS! We have received a grant that has allowed us to extend our program in The Bahamas for three months. This support will allow us to touch more families and we will be focusing on home interiors. Our assessment team is already in place and we can’t wait to get started!
Playground at LDA
Thank you to everyone who has supported the work at LDA and the resilient roof repair program. Each school that is repaired and each home that is habitable has a huge ripple effect within the community.
Community Stories
Teachers assembling furniture
allhandsandhearts.org
Tannah Newbold - LDA teacher Little Darlings is a place of normalcy and refuge for many. Most people are living in unfinished homes, and some are still living in tents. Going to LDA assures, that for some portion of their day, they will be in a space that is clean, organized, beautiful and complete. They are so excited to have a whole new campus with new furniture, books, school supplies and playground. Newbold shared that she could not say ‘thank you’ enough. As she walked through the school, she went into a minute of thank you’s while her eyes filled with tears and her voice cracked. She offered thanks to all who helped to restore homes, their school and ultimately, their spirits.
Disaster Profile In September 2019, Hurricane Dorian made landfall as a Category 5 storm in The Bahamas with wind speeds in excess of 185 mph, lashing the Bahamian islands of Abaco (pop. ~17,200) and Grand Bahama (pop. ~51,000). Dorian’s traveling speed slowed to 1 mph over Grand Bahama, prolonging the island’s exposure to a life-threatening storm surge of 18-23 feet above normal tide levels. Over 76,000 people were affected, and 10,000 children were displaced from schools. Dorian is the strongest hurricane on record for The Bahamas and tied a record for the strongest Atlantic hurricane to make landfall.
Our Work During the first six months, our focus was on response activities in some of the hardest-hit areas. After a six-month suspension of our volunteer operations due to COVID-19, our long-term recovery program targets reconstruction of eight schools and other community infrastructure, including our resilient roof repair program. With immense support from our local and global partners, we are committed to continuing work in The Bahamas through to Spring 2022.
Our sixteen completed roofs
About All Hands and Hearts We effectively and efficiently address the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters. We communicate directly with local leaders and community members and then deploy our unique model of engaging volunteers to enable direct impact, helping to build safer, more resilient schools, homes and infrastructure.
Our Partners in The Bahamas
We have earned a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator for the seventh year in a row. This year only seven percent of rated nonprofits received this distinction for financial and operational efficiency.
info@allhandsandhearts.org