Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Jamaica on October 28, 2025, as a Category 5 storm, leaving families searching for loved ones, homes torn apart, and whole communities crying out for help. Many Jamaicans in Alberta have spent recent weeks glued to their phones, calling relatives through tears, and waiting for news. The emotional weight on Alberta’s 15,000-member Jamaican community remains heavy. Every video and every voice note has reinforced the ties that distance cannot break.
The National Black Coalition of Canada, Edmonton Chapter, has created Rise for Jamaica to channel grief, love, and urgency into concrete support. The initiative seeks to raise $100,000 and to build systems that help families on the island and here in Alberta recover with dignity.
Immediate Support and Upcoming Concert
Solidarity begins with a benefit concert that will be held on Sunday, November 23, 2025, at Union Hall in Edmonton. MelaFrique, Saint and The Full 100 Band, Skystar, Timothy Noel, Crystal Reid, and Mykal Read will perform comforting and uplifting music. The event aims to raise $30,000 that will go directly to Food for the Poor Jamaica to meet urgent needs for food, shelter, and basic supplies.
Emotional healing deserves equal attention. Many community members live with survivor’s guilt, fear for relatives still displaced, and the exhaustion of holding steady while they support family overseas. Rise for Jamaica offers free culturally informed therapy through ReiDefine Wellness, Stillness Therapy, and the Integrative PTSD Recovery Centre. Mental health professionals across Alberta are signing up to join a pro bono network that supports both local needs now and future on-the-ground work.
Two donated 40-foot shipping containers have been placed at the Garvey Centre warehouse to collect non-perishable food, hygiene essentials, children’s items, school supplies, farming tools, and household necessities. All donations follow ODPEM guidelines to ensure safe and effective distribution once shipments reach Jamaica. Every item donated represents someone in Alberta reaching across the ocean to hold another person up.
Planned Response and Direct Connections
Over the next six to twelve months, Rise for Jamaica will send crisis mental health teams to Jamaica in collaboration with the National Education Trust of Jamaica and the Jamaica Psychology Association. Those teams will provide direct care to people who have lost homes, stability, and family members.
Contributors in Alberta can register for the “Adopt a Family, Community, School, or Church” program that will link donors directly with recipients. Clear logistics and partnerships with the Jamaica High Commission will support the timely and transparent delivery of supplies and services.
Long-Term Recovery and Community Strength
The recovery phase is focused on sustained support and rebuilding. Adopted communities will receive ongoing assistance, and Jamaican youth in Alberta will gain access to leadership development programs that strengthen identity and civic participation. Annual Jamaica Heritage Month activities and new coordination systems will help maintain ties between Alberta and Jamaica for years to come.
You can support by purchasing concert tickets, donating supplies through the Rise for Jamaica registry, contributing financially, registering to adopt a family or volunteering as mental health professionals.
Rise for Jamaica is bringing the community together to repair what was broken, comfort those who grieve, and build a stronger future for Jamaica and the diaspora here in Alberta. Be a part of it.
