Response, Recovery, and Resilience
Sail Relief Team’s mission is to bring disaster relief to remote, isolated and under-served coastal communities in the Caribbean, addressing the three core needs to preserve life during and after times of emergency: Response, Recovery, and Resilience.
Response – Emergency Relief
Response focuses on the immediate needs of disaster victims including search and rescue, first-aid, sourcing clean drinking water, supplying non-perishable foods, and facilitating communications. In addition to assisting in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria, Sail Relief Team remains committed to providing emergency relief in the event of natural disasters.
Latest Response and Emergency Relief Project
Earthquake Response
Over the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, the southwest of Puerto Rico was rocked by a series of earthquakes. In early February, Sail Relief Team went to several of the Centros de Apoyo Mutuo in the affected areas to help install and maintain solar systems. A Centro de Apoyo Mutuo (CAM for … Continue reading Earthquake Response
More Response and Emergency Relief Projects
Recovery – Rehabilitation and Restoration
Recovery focuses on necessary cleanup following damage done by natural disasters which includes coordinating donations and volunteers to maintain a presence long after the initial emergency has passed. Sail Relief Team has had the benefit of volunteers coming from throughout the United States to provide direct assistance.
Latest Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Restoration Project
Painting the Luisa Guadelupe Senior Center on Vieques
Volunteers and staff joining together to complete exterior work in order to reopen the Senior Center Vieques has an aging population and the Senior Center is a vital resource, comprised of multiple buildings in the Monte Santo neighborhood. We worked in community with staff members and a wide roster of volunteers to scrape and paint … Continue reading Painting the Luisa Guadelupe Senior Center on Vieques
More Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Restoration Projects
Resilience – Preparedness and Education
Resilience focuses on preparation against the next disaster including hardening of power infrastructure, communication infrastructure, and education of the population in ways to work together to help rebuild communities to be stronger for the future. Donations through personal networks and matching funds from companies allowed Sail Relief Team to install 42 solar panel roof and battery kits on homes to date, in addition to public services such as a water pump station and community centers. We were also able to deliver 500 solar kits to Ill Le Vache in Haiti and by doing so, half of the islands homes can be powered with solar.
Sail Relief Team has also worked directly with local authorities, companies, and nonprofits to bring renewable energy to Vieques. Through a donation of solar panels from Solar Libre, Sail Relief Team was able to install six solar panels on top of the AAA Water Tower in Vieques. These panels now power the repeater station for emergency services on the island. Sail Relief Team also donated eight solar panels to FarmPod, who created a revolutionary, vertical aquaponic food production system that is both off grid and automated.
Additionally, Sail Relief Team is in development of a self-sufficient solar-PV microgrid in Esperanza, a town of 1,500 residents located on the south side of the island of Vieques. Esperanza serves as a major tourism hub for Vieques, Puerto Rico; supporting 5 popular hotels, 10 restaurants, and is home to Vieques’ main tourist attraction–the bioluminescent Mosquito Bay.
Such a microgrid would serve three critical functions for the community: it would support the necessary energy resilience in the event of natural disasters such as hurricanes, provide a more economical source of energy for both residents and local businesses, and provide the city of Esperanza revenue through the sale of energy to nearby hotels.
Latest Resilience, Preparedness, and Education Project
Update on 2019 Activities
We’ve been busy in 2019 and the first quarter of 2020! Please bear with us as we work to more thoroughly update our website with more updates! In the meantime, here’s an edited list of what we accomplished in 2019. These activities can be broadly grouped into the following five categories: resilient solar energy infrastructure, … Continue reading Update on 2019 Activities
More Recovery, Rehabilitation and Restoration Projects
