MIAMI — Dadiere Licona said homes remain destroyed as efforts to rebuild continue nearly one year after Hurricane Melissa slammed into Jamaica as a Category 5.

Licona is the founder and president of Seeing the Unseen Outreach, a nonprofit organization that is fundraising to contribute to the effort.

“Jamaica is the best place on Earth, the greatest place on Earth, but we’re hurting. Western Jamaica is hurting,” Licona said.

Many families have been forced to live in shambles. Licona said Seeing the Unseen Outreach volunteers visited needy areas for two weeks in August to help as much as they could.

“So what we do is we create care packages, food staples, rice, flour, sugar, corn meal. We provided canned food,” Licona said.

The volunteers helped deliver thousands of care packages and hundreds of backpacks filled with school supplies.

“They’re still parents that were in tears because I ran out of bags. I ran, I ran out of the school supplies. They still need water, they still need clothing,” Licona said.

Jonathan Licona, a board member of the nonprofit, said they distributed 24,000 packages. He is eager to help a homeless family of nine in the Saint Elizabeth Parish to get a roof over their heads by Christmas.

“They’re still living under a tarp,” Licona said.

Dadiere Licona said she was impressed by Jamaicans’ resilience.

“Despite of what they’re going through, they still have smiles on their faces. They’re still cracking jokes. They’re, ‘Oh God bless you. Thank you for coming back,’” Dadiere Licona said.

The nonprofit organization is hosting a flower for a cause fundraiser on Saturdays at the Legion Farmers Market in Miami and on Sundays at the Vizcaya Village Farmers Market in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood.

For more information about how to help, visit the nonprofit organizations page.

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