Early the morning of Wednesday, December 2004 Bernard drove his wife to work, something horrible and unexpected happened. An intruder broke into their home and started a fire.

Bernard neighbors contacted the fire department. Unfortunately, it was too late. As the fire trucks approached the scene, the Bernard family watched their home quickly go up in flames. Soon after the fire department arrived, Red Cross emergency personnel were on the scene providing immediate comfort and assistance to the family.

The American Red Cross of the Virgin Island was able to provide food, temporary shelter, clothing and other vital services to help this family get back on their feet.

Several days later Bernard humbly thanked the Red Cross for their prompt assistance.

He expressed how the clothing and food vouchers provided by the Red Cross Disaster Relief Volunteers were so useful in re-building his family’s lives. He shared that when they felt they had lost so much it was so comforting to have the Red Cross by their side.

It is gratifying to see a family’s confidence restored after such a devastating tragedy. The importance of being prepared to help other during times of need is undeniable.

Darryl and his wife Stephanie along with their fifteen (15) year old daughter Kimberly were admitted into the Bethlehem House Shelter on July 2005. They were living in West Palm Beach Florida but decided to relocate because of the housing problems they were having due to the hurricanes that hit the state during the 2004 season. Stephanie was born and raised on St. Thomas and moved to the mainland after she finished school. When they came to St. Thomas the wife’s mother could not accommodate them because of the living space so they had to come to the shelter

The first priority was to enroll the child into school. They were referred to the Department of Education Curriculum Center to get the process rolling and days after the child was placed in the tenth grade at the Charlotte Amalie High School. The child was also assisted by the shelter in getting her school uniform and supplies. The next step was for the parents to begin seeking employment. They were referred to the Labor Department to begin their job search. After a week of job searching, the husband got a job at one of the local restaurant as a kitchen helper and his wife got a job with ABC Cleaning Services. The jobs called for odd work hours for both of them. Darryl worked during the day and Stephanie worked during the night. They both worked five days a Week and still found time to take care of their daughter’s needs and also help her with her school work.

After a month of saving their money they began seeking an affordable apartment within the distance of the child school and their place of employment. They soon were able to find an apartment in the downtown area that was very convenient for them. They vacated the shelter on September 2005 after spending two months in the shelter. Before they left they were informed that if they require any further assistance to give us a call at the shelter. The family praise the shelter for the work they are doing helping those in need. They said that they may need assistance with food and will come by and request some. The family left the shelter knowing that Bethlehem House will be following up on them even though they are not living at the shelter.

Jamal Harvey has a 4-5 amateur record and bright future as a professional boxer. With the support of 3-time world middleweight champion Julian Jackson, he has won two of his last three bouts. Jamal is a former Civil Air Patrol cadet who through the organization’s flight instructions program funded by United Way, earned his solo certification. He is now working toward his pilot’s license in order to fulfill his dream of a having a dual-career: boxer and pilot. In 2005, three female cadets earned their solo certification: Cadets Lawrence, Webster and George.

Dial A Ride driver Dean Thomas came up with an idea that supports the entire elderly and handicapped users of the DAR vehicles. He suggested that they go once a month to stock-up on groceries, cleaning supplies and other items that could be purchased in bulk in St. Thomas. The riders were not very enthusiastic. They said that the large quantity of products was too much for them. A shared system was then devised where a rider would put in an order for an item. Large quantities would be purchased on St. Thomas and then divided up when back on St. John. The rider would only pay for what was ordered, with a deduction in cost realized. Four seniors (the seniors change monthly) manage this program with Dean and the foundation’s Executive Director Carole DeSenne.

Dial-A-Ride purchased containers for this dividing and the participants bring their containers back each month. The participants are seeing savings through this program and are also working as a team to bring this service to the entire rider ship of Dial-A-Ride.

A call was received from a client, a wheelchair user, whose husband had been her only caregiver. She informed us than he had taken ill and she had to go to the hospital to visit him but did not have anyone to help her. Mrs. Merriss Nisbett, administrative assistant and Miss Coney Edinborough, driver, went to her home, rendered the assistance she so desperately needed, and accompanied her to the hospital. The lady was so thankful she called to commend the staff for helping her.

Her story goes on. she called the office weeping her husband passed after several months of receiving treatment for cancer. She stated: “Now I need more help than ever.” We assisted her in applying for his death certificate and transporting her to the funeral home, the church, gravesite and re-past. Again, she called the office and said that when she fells better she would have to call the radio stations and let the public know just how blessed she’s been to have received Dial-A-Ride St. Thomas services.

J. Antonio Jarvis School characters a Cub Scout Pack, Boy Scout Troup and Venture Crew. The crew is co-ed, with about 15 members, including youth officers. A 10th grader was elected Crew President, by the other members, and has been leading the crew for about 18 months. This new president is gaining invaluable experience learning to camp, cook, tie knots, plan outings and lead a co-ed group. She has traveled to St. Croix and the BVI for weekend outings. She is the daughter of a single mom and Scouting has provided her an opportunity to learn life skills, traditional values and grow into a solid citizen.

The volunteer component of Habitat's service activity is usually instrumental in uniting the community as can be seen at a family home in Contant where Habitat recently partnered with forty eight volunteers from Net Scout USA and the Contant community to build a wheelchair ramp for the residents. All this was accomplished in five hours on May 25, 2008 and is the first stage to the construction of a home for this family. By the project's end, many neighbors became new volunteers for Habitat for Humanity of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

GB, an elderly resident of Ebenezer Gardens had to be transported to the hospital every other day to have his skin ulcers treated. He also suffers from diabetics which has affected his vision. Because United Way funding provides for a nurse on-site for the independent but often frail residents, GB no longer has to make the tiring and frequent trips to the hospital. His legs are massaged and dressing changed by the nurse. She also checks and records his blood pressure, glucose and pulse and administers insulin as needed. Through the nurse’s vigilance and intervention, GB’s vision is kept in check, allowing him to remain independent and mobile

An 83 year old male with a history of diabetes, cataracts surgery with complications, diabetic ulcer and hypertension, is very non-compliant with his diet. Because of his inability to see, treatment is given at the clients' apartment. He is counseled weekly concerning diet and the need to take his medications as prescribed. It took almost one year to get his ulcer to heal. Though there is still the need to reinforce his need to comply with his diet and medication, presently, his ulcer has been healed for the past six months.

An elderly woman age 90 was brought to LSVI by her caretaker who functions locally as a caretaker for the elderly. A careful legal services attorney noticed in her request for a codicil that the caretaker had been quite diligent to have the elderly woman examined by a psychiatrist who opined that she was lucid and understood the nature of her property and estate. On further examination the attorney also noticed that a previous provision had been made in the elderly woman’s will leaving the caretaker a life estate in very valuable property. Now the caretaker attempted to have the elderly client change the will and give her the property outright. The attorney expected undue influence in light of the fact that the caretaker made disparaging remarks about the elderly woman’s children. The attorney later notified the children that they needed to insist on seeing their grandmother and getting an accounting of her assets. They found that several thousand dollars had been misappropriated by the caretaker and that she had prevented them from communicating with their grandmother and had subjected her to other abusive practices. We drafted another will giving the estate to the appropriate heirs.