On January 31, 2023, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) office in Dominica gave a family of five in the village of Laplaine the keys to their new home.
After Hurricane Maria destroyed their home and hundreds of others in 2017, the Hypolate family lived in a temporary shelter on their property.
The category 5 hurricane killed a lot of people, destroyed roads and bridges, and made life hard for the people who lived there.
ADRA partners and the church have helped more than 37 families make repairs to their homes, said Pricilla Prevost, who is in charge of ADRA in Dominica.
She said, “This project is the first of four homes that will be built with money from ADRA UK and the East Caribbean Conference.” Prevost said that the Hypolite family was a unique case. ADRA Dominica was glad to help the family by paying for half of the cost of the existing building. “The Hypolite family built the house’s foundation and lower structure and paid for them. They also gave blocks for the house’s main structure.”
ADRA’s director for the Caribbean Union Conference, Dr. Alexander Isaacs, said, “It has been a very exciting time for ADRA in Dominica, especially since we have been able to make a big difference in people’s lives and help them become more resilient to natural disasters through this intervention.”
Dozens of supporters, family members, friends, volunteers, church leaders, leaders of the Laplaine Village Council, and the architect all came to the special ceremony.
Prevost says that ADRA Dominica is in charge of building a structure in the village of Portsmouth and that another house will be built in the village of Marigot. “The homes are built with a durable concrete roof, three bedrooms, and other amenities with an eye toward sustainability,” she said.
