Winifred, her disabled son and her two grandchildren lost their livestock and the roof of their house to Hurricane Melissa.
Natural disaster. Famine. Drought. Regional instability. These and other circumstances cause families around the world to cry out for relief and support.
Thankfully, help is available. Cross Catholic Outreach is ready to send urgently needed aid to trusted ministry partners working to lift children, families and their communities out of crisis and help them build back stronger. Gifts to our Most Urgent Needs fund enable our partners to act decisively and quickly in times of need.
Join us today and bring relief to those who need it most. Your support will empower priests, sisters and lay ministries to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, shelter the homeless and provide medical care for the sick. Together, we can share God’s love and compassion with the world.
Hurricane Melissa was the strongest hurricane to ever hit Jamaica. Making landfall on Oct. 28, 2025, the Category 5 storm brought massive flooding and destruction. With support from international responders, relief efforts have come a long way. Even so, the hardest-hit areas continue to face serious challenges, including widespread power outages, ruined homes, devastated crops and schools reduced to rubble. Many children and families are still displaced, living in shelters.
Cross Catholic Outreach is working with trusted ministry partners in Jamaica to help those in urgent need. With support from compassionate Catholics in the U.S., we are committed to helping poor families in Jamaica rebuild and recover from this disaster.
Work is underway in the Diocese of Mandeville to repair homes that were destroyed in the hurricane and its aftermath. Cross Catholic Outreach is sending financial aid, metal roofing materials and food assistance to support this vital effort. With your help, families living in shelters will be able to return to their homes, make necessary repairs and resume a normal life.
The St. Theresa Kindergarten in Jamaica is a lifeline for poor families, educating and caring for small children who otherwise might not learn to read, write or prepare for further education. Tragically, this school was reduced to rubble during the hurricane. Cross Catholic Outreach is proud to help rebuild this essential community resource.
One of the most devastating impacts of natural disasters is the disruption of local businesses and farms. Without work, families cannot earn an income to purchase food, clothing, medical supplies and other necessities. Your support will help small-scale farmers and business owners recover their livelihoods and boost the local economy through microenterprise programs.
Hope has worked for the Diocese of Mandeville for more than 20 years and oversees efforts to help people in need, including food distributions each weekday, housing repairs and a microenterprise program. “Miss Hope,” as she is affectionately known, is committed to serving the needs of the people. “It’s living the Gospel,” she said.
A native of the island, Hope shared that Hurricane Melissa was the most devastating storm she had ever seen. Her home survived, but families in the path of the storm were not as fortunate.
“People lost everything. In a couple of hours, they lost all that they had. Everything they had worked for was wiped out. It was like a bomb dropped. It was all gone,” she said.
To make matters worse, electricity was not restored to many areas for months, and some parts still don’t have electricity.
“There’s no level of normalcy. You’re living in the dark,” Hope explained. However, despite the destruction, she remains optimistic and enthusiastic, saying the diocese received an outpouring of love and support from many organizations, including Cross Catholic Outreach.
“Cross Catholic [Outreach] has provided a level of support bigger than our expectations,” she expressed. “We can’t express how grateful we are that our people are the recipients of this kind of generosity. We will build back better and even stronger. This is not a made-up idea. It’s going to become a reality.”
When disasters strike, Cross Catholic Outreach stands ready to help those in need, like Winifred in Jamaica, who lost her home and small business to Hurricane Melissa.
Bishop John Persaud is the friendly, approachable leader of the Diocese of Mandeville and also the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Montego Bay. He has been bishop since 2021. His motto is “Justice and Love.”
When asked about the hurricane, Bishop Persaud was blunt. “This one came with the force of 10 devils on her back,” he said. He explained that while some homes, especially those made of concrete blocks, survived intact, many lost roofs, doors or windows and sustained damage to the walls.
Homes built of scrap wood and other found materials were often entirely demolished. “The poor suffer the most,” the bishop said. “They are living in shacks, really.”
In addition, widespread power outages took weeks and even months to repair. Some families are still without power to this day because they don’t have the money to repair their homes and reconnect to the power grid.
Still, Bishop Persaud believes that the suffering we experience can also teach us valuable lessons about solidarity, love and community.
“Melissa left a path of destruction, but she also left us many lessons,” he said, explaining that while many charities stepped in to provide aid, so did Jamaicans themselves. Those who had supplies traveled to the hardest-hit areas to share what they could.
“Somehow, in the darkness, we could see the light,” the bishop said. And in reaching out, he added, they experienced the grace of solidarity and the presence of God.
“When we suffer the pain of loss, we discover faith, hope and reliance on God,” he shared. “We find the deep, abiding presence of God.”
You can be a light in the darkness for those suffering through natural disasters, famine, drought and regional instability. Please give today to help bring relief to those who need it most.
Kerry Ann and her four children live in a small, makeshift home with two rooms — a kitchen with a stone floor and a bedroom with tile.
When Hurricane Melissa struck, Kerry Ann tried to secure the metal roof, but the winds were too strong. She was forced to gather her children and flee to a neighbor living on higher ground. By the time the storm was over, even that house was flooded.
When Cross Catholic Outreach provided Kerry Ann with building materials to repair her home, she became emotional.
“I have suffered a lot,” she wept. “Thank you so much. May your food basket never run dry. One day, my young daughter is going to say, ‘How did you get this roof?’ I’m going to tell her that the Lord gave us this.”
There are still many families in Jamaica and around the world who urgently need building supplies. Please join us today and help bring hope to families affected by natural disasters.
At the former location of the St. Theresa Kindergarten, Bishop Persaud surveys the rubble and recovers a child’s stuffed toy.
Around the world, communities rocked by storms, famine and unrest are in urgent need of food, shelter, clean water, medical care and more. Our partners are there to help — but only with support from friends like you. These faithful priests, religious sisters and lay Catholics stand ready to bring relief to devastated families and children. Will you join them in being the hands and feet of Jesus in a world crying out for help?
Give generously to bring hope and aid to those who need it most.
Use it for reflections and notes to grow in your spiritual life. You’ll also receive a prayer request form to mail back so that we can pray for your needs. In effect, this creates a spiritual bridge to connect you to our sisters and brothers in Christ in the developing world!
Cross Mission Partners also receive a semiannual Mission Update with news, insights and information about the good work and accomplishments made possible by your support.
Every dollar helps us bless the least of our brothers and sisters throughout Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Mexico & Central America and South America.
Thank You for Your Special Commitment to Serving the Poor!
The Cross Catholic Outreach Christmas Catalog makes it fun and easy to extend the joy of Christmas to the poor. Instead of being filled with retail items, the catalog contains meaningful gifts for some of the world’s most impoverished families. Some gifts are lifesaving items such as Food, while others are large projects such as Safe Homes or Clean Water. All gifts are sent on your behalf to grateful families in developing countries.
It’s easy to shop through the Cross Catholic Outreach Christmas Catalog. Simply browse through the categories and choose an item within your budget and close to your heart, such as Box of Joy or Catholic School Scholarships for children. Select and sponsor one or more of these gifts, and you’ll make a meaningful impact on the life of a needy child or family overseas. It’s that simple!
Blessing the poor happens year-round. Some gifts in our Christmas Catalog are sourced locally, so there is no need to worry about international shipping. For items that require shipping, Cross Catholic Outreach works with partners in every country we serve to ensure Christmas Catalog gifts are delivered in a timely fashion.
Yes! Making a gift in honor of a friend or family member is a fun and easy way to share Christmas joy. Once you complete the checkout process, let them know by sending a printed certificate or e-Card.
Donations from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred through June 30, 2027, the close of our ministry’s fiscal year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.
