The St. Thomas Recovery Team (STRT), formed in response to two category 5 hurricanes (Irma and Maria) that made landfall in the USVI in September 2017, held it’s first public Community Visioning Meeting on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2018 at the Charlotte Amalie High School Auditorium from 6:30pm-8:30pm. The meeting presented priorities in regards to long-term recovery planning goals and gathered community input on a variety of areas broken down into sub-committees.
Sub-Committee Community Input Boards – Live Walking Video
The STRT is a coalition of diverse community stakeholders that are cooperatively coordinating St. Thomas’ long-term recovery response, resource management, resiliency planning, and training in response to hurricanes Irma and Maria. More information is available on their website.
Chaired by VI-EPSCoR’s community engagement specialist Imani Daniel, the STRT has participation from several members of the University of the Virgin Islands community as well as Virgin Islanders and others who have made the USVI their home.
The flyer: https://strtvi.org/…/25/may-2nd-community-visioning-meeting/
The site: https://strtvi.org/
On Facebook join/follow: St. Thomas Recovery Team
SUBCOMMITTEES
From the official bi-laws, the following are sub-committees of the St. Thomas Recovery Team (chairperson names to be added):
1. Donations Management Committee: (Donations and Fundraising) – Works to secure grants, donations and other resources for St. Thomas Recovery Team and coordinates with other entities (e.g., manufacturers, suppliers, etc.) to secure donations and funding.
2. Feeding Committee: Coordinates “feeding” operations between the various member organizations that are continuing to provide food resources well beyond the “immediate relief/response” phase.
3. Construction Management Committee: Oversees the coordination and scheduling of all rebuilding projects for cases approved by the St. Thomas Recovery Team process – a project manager function.
4. Volunteer Management Committee: Coordinates volunteers, both affiliated and spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers in order to fully utilize available volunteers resources.
5. Disaster Case Management Committee: Reviews cases for submission to the Unmet Needs Committee. Coordinates Disaster Case Management activities between participating Disaster Case Management Member Organizations. Develops a “resource guide” in order to assist other Member Organizations with referral options.
6. Unmet Needs Committee: Receives and acts on referrals from Case Management Committee. Consists of members and non-members bringing money (cash financial support), materials (donations, equipment, supplies furniture, appliances, etc.), or muscle (volunteer labor crews and expertise) to meet the needs of individuals who have been served by the case management process.
7. Health & Well-being Committee: Encompasses Emotional, Spiritual, Physical and Mental care. This committee consists of members of the faith based community, doctors, therapists and social workers in order to address the emotional and physical aftermath of the storm. This committee also provides and/or marshals professionals to provide counseling to address emotional and spiritual needs of clients.
8. Communications Committee: Coordinates external outreach and messaging on behalf of the STRT. The committee is responsible for coordinating unified “talking points” for members of the STRT.
9. Sustainability & Resiliency Committee: Responsible for research and due diligence into matters relating to sustainability & environmental issues related to recovery and will help enhance the island’s mission toward creating a resilient community (socially, economically, environmentally, infrastructure, and governmental) in order to mitigate future damages.
