Lutheran World Relief 11d ago

Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica on October 28, 2025 — making it the first Category 5 hurricane to ever hit the island. The Planning Institute of Jamaica estimates the losses at $12.2 billion USD, or more than 50% of Jamaica’s annual GDP. Over 90,000 households (279,000 people) were displaced and 45 were killed. More than six months later, thousands of families are still living under tarps, struggling to find work and are food insecure. Communities in southern and western Jamaica also continue to face public health challenges. Damage to health centers, reduced mobility/poor roads, and loss of livelihoods have left thousands of Jamaicans without reliable access to essential health care and medications, especially those living with non-communicable diseases and chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and asthma. According to Lutheran World Relief’s local partner, the JN Foundation, 105 health facilities were still not fully functional as of February 2026. Working through local partners, our response seeks to strengthen community health access through the deployment of two mobile medical units (MMUs) conducting weekly visits to communities in the hard-hit parishes of St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Trelawny, and St. James — especially those that have large populations of elderly people. In partnership with the JN Foundation, St. John Ambulance Jamaica and Cari-Med, these mobile medical units provide health checkups, medication, referrals, food distribution, and Lutheran World Relief Quilts & Kits. More than 700 patients have been seen as of June 2026, and missions will continue through August 2026. More about our mobile clinic approaches: Blog: Mobile clinic update in Ukraine (https://lwr.org/clinictour) Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaQcBhB351g&t=3s Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sprbgPYe4II Blog: A visit to the Russian border (https://lwr.org/blog/2023/no-matter-how-far-visit-russian-border) Blog: Three ways you’re reaching the unreachable: https://lwr.org/blog/2023/three-ways-youre-reaching-unreachable More information about Lutheran World Relief’s humanitarian assistance work: Overview: https://lwr.org/humanitarian-assistance Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePnDdoTuRc4 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyi1heHisoI&pp=0gcJCUELAYcqIYzv Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1MMz85FtaI Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46eRE2-1iC8 Follow Lutheran World Relief on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LuthWorldRelief Follow Lutheran World Relief on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luthworldrelief/ Learn more about Lutheran World Relief: https://lwr.org Subscribe to the Lutheran World Relief email list: https://lwr.org/sign-our-emails Give where needed most: https://lwr.org/give