ST. CROIX, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS, DECEMBER 29, 2022 – Nine years ago Project Promise Executive Director and Founder Resa O’Reilly saw a dilapidated building in downtown Christiansted—a building that had sat empty for 30 years—and had a vision. “One day,” she thought to herself, “this building is going to be a thriving community center and the home for an organization that will truly make a difference in the lives of at-risk youth here in the Virgin Islands.” With this vision in mind Resa launched Project Promise, operating out of borrowed space as she built an organization that now runs four on-going programs for area youth and completes numerous community service projects each year. The organization’s fifth program, Empowered Me is scheduled to begin next month.
Just 21 months ago, Resa received a call that she’ll never forget. It was an offer to provide the funding and volunteer labor necessary to start rehabilitating that uninhabitable building. The catch: Project Promise had just five weeks to raise $50,000 and get the roof replaced, so that the building would be safe for the volunteers to be in. The community response to the fundraising campaign was so strong that they were able to replace the roof and cover the electrical and other work that the building would require.
The ”raise the roof” fundraising campaign turned out to be the first of three building rehab fundraisers. The second phase of the fundraising campaign paid for the building’s exterior, while phase three enabled the completion of the building’s interior. All in all, over $300,000 in monetary and in-kind donations were made to complete the building’s rehabilitation.
“We did it!” Resa exclaims. “This was a true community effort! We got it done with the help of a lot of people, businesses and organizations who saw the value in what we’re doing and wanted to be a part of bringing this vision to fruition. A special thank you to the Chris ‘LOOPS’ Seikaly Foundation, MCN Build, The Home Depot Foundation, Humanitarian Experience for Youth and Haugland VI for each donating $25,000 or more towards our building rehab project.”
Needless to say, the students who are participating in Project Promise’s flagship Caterpillar Program, which provides youth with eight years of intensive after-school programming, are absolutely thrilled with the space. “I don’t want to leave here,” one of them shared. “I just love it!” Portable water has been installed, so Project Promise can now move into its new home. Project Promise will open its doors to participants and the public on January 17th.
ABOUT PROJECT PROMISE
Project Promise is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of at-risk youth on St. Croix by providing empowerment initiatives, cultural programs and family services. To learn more about Project Promise, please visit the website at www.projectpromisevi.com .
