Starting in 2015, FOR U began to work with members of the Ridge community to develop adaptive equipment for patients receiving physical therapy services at the clinic. With the help of donations from Stroke Camp participants, fundraising events, and the FOR U staff’s time and energy, we began developing equipment based on the needs of the patients that were coming for therapy services.

Working to counteract the gap in accessibility of services, FOR U collaborated with Erica Pincomb, a US-based OT, to develop a list of rehab-equipment based on the patient needs and her previous experience with other organizations in developing countries. With the focus on empowering local FOR U employees, Elaine “Toots” Wiltshire and Brenton Swaby, were trained by Pincomb on the different types of adaptive equipment, working to develop both an understanding of the equipment and a better understanding of persons with disabilities. Both of them have thrived in the creation of adaptive equipment and continue to add cultural insight into how to move forward with changing the equipment to better serve our patients.

In 2008, FOR U helped organize a summer reading camp to address illiteracy and low reading levels among area children. The initiative began as a US-Jamaican partnership to empower local teachers and community members to coordinate and run the program in the future. In the early years, US-based teachers and volunteers collaborated with local teachers, working toward creating a sustainable summer literacy program.

In 2014, FOR U hired a Jamaican coordinator, Mrs. Stephanie Salmon, who has a contagious passion for literacy and empowering local teachers. She successfully developed an interactive curriculum by inviting local community members to read to the children, creating a reading corner for kids to engross themselves in literary adventures, and incorporating arts and crafts into each day’s lesson plan, while structuring the curriculum alongside the guidelines set by the Ministry of Education.

With the continued growth and development of the program there continues to be collaboration with volunteers that have been a part of the camp in previous years. Brooke Giles is an art teacher in Pennsylvania who returned in 2015 with a two-year grant from her school to teach and integrate art into the curriculum. She came armed with art supplies and creative energy and through the artistic engagement of the students, teachers and assistants; she was able to work with the program to facilitate an environment of creativity. The two-year grant partnership with Giles will continue to bring more creative energy into the growing curriculum of reading camp.

The vision of reading camp is to continue to develop autonomy within the Jamaican teachers and offer a safe and creative place for the children in the community to grow as they carry these lessons back into the classroom. With the continued partnerships with local literacy programs in St. Elizabeth, as well as international partners we hope to continue to foster a hunger for reading and imagination in the lives of the community children.

Here are links to Brooke Giles’ blog post about the experience, as well as videos and images she had taken during the Summer 2015 reading camp. Please feel free to contact us with and questions at the bottom of the page.

FOR U partnered with its sister organization in Jamaica, Friends of Ridge United, to help complete phase-one a Community Center in Ridge, a St. Elizabeth Parish community that has warmly welcomed FOR U staff and volunteers over the years.

For the first several years, FOR U volunteers worked alongside local community members to aid in construction of the building and its surroundings. Through community efforts, a local basketball court was built and community youth began utilizing the space for recreational activities.

In June 2012, FOR U partnered with a youth group from Mt. View Mennonite Church in VA to build a playground at the community center. A team of eighteen volunteers spent a week in the Ridge community helping to make this dream a reality.

In January 2012, FOR U received a grant from Nazareth Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls, IA, to complete the first floor of the community center. A local construction crew was hired to do the job and FOR U was able to employ over forty members of the Ridge community to complete the work.

The community center’s Grand Opening was held on April 14th, 2012. FOR U continues to partner with the local community by providing funding and resources for the annual summer reading initiative.