• The Jamaica Respect Foundation (JRF) is a humanitarian initiative in formation dedicated to restoring relief, learning, and livelihoods through Respect, Connectivity, and Digital Dignity — the belief that every Jamaican deserves to be connected, recognized, and included in the digital world.

  Following Hurricane Melissa, Western Jamaica faces the most severe humanitarian crisis in its modern history. There are major issues: widespread homelessness, shortages of food and clean water, extended power outages, degradation of security, and a near-total collapse of communications across the Western “Parishes” (similar to U.S. states) of St. Elizabeth, St. James,

  Hanover and Westmoreland. The rural citizens deep in the hills are often the hardest hit, and the most easily overlooked.

  In Jamaica, small “board houses” and concrete block homes provide shelter for the day laborers and small farmers who comprise the majority of rural Jamaicans. Most are illiterate and they typically do not have electricity or running water. Nor do they have their own transportation, and they walkor pay “bike men” on small moped motorcycles to get to work. For those who can still find work  after the hurricane, their wages of $4,000-5,000 Jamaican dollars per day (US $25-31) for hard labor are barely sufficient to provide food for themselves and their families, let alone pay for building materials to repair their homes.

  As the first part of a 3-phase “Dignity through Respect” plan, the Jamaica Respect Foundation is working together with local hardware stores to provide free vouchers for building materials to those in need. These vouchers will provide some immediate, critical assistance to these rural Jamaicans for whom even a few pieces of zinc sheathing for their roof, 2x4s, plywood and a hammer and nails can make the difference between being exposed to the elements or having shelter from

  sun and rain. We are also affiliated with a US-based 501(c)3 charity to enable the donations to have tax deductible status for US donors.

  The Jamaica Respect Foundation (JRF) builds on an earlier Respect Foundation pilot program which was started in 2023 when co-founders Grace Marr and Scott Cathcart worked in collaboration with the Blix Salz and the Chief of Trelawny-Flagstaff Maroons, an indigenous tribe, to connect Vaughansfield Primary School to the World and teenage tutors at Deerfield Academy, via Starlink (see pilot site: https://www.the-respect-foundation.org/). Vaughansfield is in a rural, impover The pilot project demonstrated how connectivity can help build dignity through connectivity and access to information — improving education, strengthening community ties, and expanding opportunity for young, underprivileged schoolchildren. Following the hurricane, we have listened to the desperate needs of rural Jamaicans in need — right now they need building materials to help repair and

  rebuild their rooves and homes. Schools and police stations have been damaged as well, including Vaughansfield Primary.

  To help individual families, and in select cases to help expedite emergency repairs to schools and police stations, we are introducing the new Respect Relief Voucher, a fast, transparent method that allows recipients the dignity of selecting the building materials they actually need, fulfilled through trusted local hardware partners, and they can be in control of their

  own repairs.

  Meanwhile, another need is clear: communities cannot recover in isolation. Schools, parents, and local leaders emphasize that access to communication, information, and digital tools is now essential to daily life — for education, for economic opportunity, and for safety during future crises. Connectivity is also no longer a luxury; it is a modern necessity. So, on a parallel path to launching the voucher program, we will continue the mission to expand our Starlink deployments.

  In short, the Jamaica Respect Foundation is focused on providing rural Jamaicans with a comprehensive “respect-based dignity platform”

   

  PHYSICAL DIGNITY → DIGITAL DIGNITY → DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY

  Please contact me with any questions, and thank you in advance for your support!

   

   

Jamaica Respect Foundation | Respect, Connectivity & Digital Dignity for Jamaica as We Rebuild