Off-The-Grid Missions

Deaf communities are often left out of disaster recovery efforts and face additional barriers in accessing timely support. The aftermath of Hurricane Melissa impacted Jamaica’s Deaf community far beyond immediate relief needs. While our response began with distributing several tons of aid including food packages, hygiene care, solar lights, and other relief supplies - many homes that remained standing still suffered significant damage.

Our short-term efforts have evolved into longer-term recovery support - providing tarps to protect homes from rainfall while conducting contractor assessments to approve repair plans in partnership with contractors from Food For The Poor Jamaica. These photos show our Deaf-led team engaging with Deaf families and closing communication gaps during damage assessments, ensuring contractors have the information needed to accurately plan and carry out repairs.

🧩 IT’S NOT AID IF IT CAN’T GET THERE.

But how do we identify and collect the aid, package it, and transport it QUICKLY? How do we navigate inflation, borders, legalities, obstructed terrain and infrastructure? What about aid with expiration dates compounded by extreme temperature conditions affecting food and equipment? How do we ensure aid and supplies remain secure and out of harms way amidst a crisis every step of the way?

There is much more happening behind the scenes, but in our work, only the final result matters: when the aid arrives, if it doesn’t, if it already expired before it does, how many lives were saved.

A special thank you to , an OTG partner since 2019 ✈️