Ceremony “signifies the end of the largest Red Cross disaster recovery project undertaken in The Bahamas”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas Red Cross Society (BRCS) on Tuesday broke ground on its new center on Grand Bahama. In a ceremony, partners, delegates, volunteers, staff and beneficiaries of the Red Cross gathered to commence the building of the Grand Bahamas Red Cross Centre funded by the Canadian Red Cross (CRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

This ceremony also served to officially end the Shelter and Livelihood Programs as part of the long-term recovery of Hurricane Dorian. President of The Bahamas Red Cross Society Terez Curry recounted the success of the concluding programs. She indicated that under the IFRC and BRCS Shelter Program, 600 homes received home repairs. Additionally, 235 families received rental assistance of $700 for six months, totaling $4,481,700 spent on shelter assistance between Grand Bahama and Abaco.
“The Bahamas Red Cross, through the funds that it raised directly, gave an additional $2.1 million to complete 210 homes in Grand Bahama and Abaco,” Curry said.
“Under the Livelihoods program, 78 micro and small businesses were granted a total of $342,000 and in partnership with the Small Business Development Centre, an additional 25 businesses were assisted with a total of $100,000.
“This ceremony and luncheon signifies the end of the largest Red Cross disaster recovery project undertaken in The Bahamas, while also ringing in a new day through the establishment of new infrastructure to support the needs of Grand Bahamians.
“We are grateful, very grateful, to the Canadian Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for their appeal and pledge of funding to reconstruct this building. We are pleased that after many consultations between BRCS, IFRC and CRC, the scope of this project was agreed upon, tendered and eventually contracted.”
Efforts are underway to raise funding for Phase 2 of the building, which will secure a multi-purpose hall that could be used as a shelter as needed.
For more information or to donate or volunteer, visit the Bahamas Red Cross Society’s website at www.bahamasredcross.org.