US Virgin Islands’ Plaskett announces inclusion of community funding project in government funding package

United States Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey E. Plaskett (D) hailed the recent passage of the government funding package that includes 12 community projects specifically for the US Virgin Islands. 

“The US House of Representatives passed HR 4366, The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, 6 out of the 12 spending bills extending funding through September 30, 2024. I am very pleased that 12 of my office’s Community Project Funding Requests were included in the first of the appropriations government funding packages. Our project funding requests specifically focus on providing social solutions through rural and economic development, education, and climate mitigation in our territory. The requests reflect the great priority my office places on the need for education, health care, and community development and to provide more economic opportunities in our most vulnerable populations. Funding for the following 12 community projects were passed by the House this week.”

Deanna James, Executive Director of the St. Croix Foundation, which received $1 million to develop and revitalize available affordable housing units and affordable commercial building space in Christiansted, shared, “St. Croix Foundation for Community Development is beyond grateful for the steady, unwavering support we continue to receive from Delegate Plaskett’s Office for our Sunday Market Square Revitalization Project. As a small un-endowed place-based foundation spearheading one of the most holistic, civic-led community development initiatives in the US Virgin Islands, this congressional allocation affirms the power of civic-public collaboration which can manifest radical and systemic social transformation in underserved, marginalized places like the US Territories.”

Also sharing in the excitement was Jenny Hawkes, Executive Director of My Brother’s Workshop in St. Thomas, which received $1 million to construct a main campus building that will provide additional education and workforce development that will lead to employment and better financial stability:

“My Brother’s Workshop, Inc. is overwhelmed with gratitude with this opportunity to expand workforce development in the USVI through our new training facilities. With our programs, that include wrap-around services, our team will help individuals achieve their goals and help make our community even stronger. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard on identifying and creating this chance for funding, and thank you to the Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett for fighting to better the lives in the USVI.”

Kareem Edwards, member of the St. Croix Farmers in Action Board, stated, “The St. Croix Farmers in Action board is excited for this wonderful opportunity to be able to rehabilitate a 1-million-gallon cistern and 2 smaller cisterns, which will be a huge asset to the farmers of St. Croix. This project is part of the board’s vision for sustainable economic development on the island of St. Croix and will provide a critical water source to the farmers in times of drought. We are extremely thankful for the Office of Stacey E. Plaskett for its diligence and believing in our vision for agricultural development.”

The twelve community project funding requests passed this week are: 

Transportation, housing and urban development

• $1,666,279 to Lord God of Sabaoth Evangelical Lutheran Church to improve and rehabilitate three real properties held by the Church within the city center of Christiansted, St. Croix, to increase affordable housing supply and re-activate a critical neighborhood service center to meet the needs of economically disadvantaged youth, seniors, and the wider St. Croix community.
• $1,000,000 to the St. Croix Foundation for Community Development to develop and revitalize available affordable housing units and affordable commercial building space in Christiansted.
• $1,000,000 to My Brother’s Workshop to build Main Campus Building 2, a building that will provide additional education and workforce development that will lead to employment and better financial stability.
• $850,000 to the Virgin Islands Architecture Center for Built Heritage and Crafts to rehabilitate the blighted property, the Old Barracks property on Hospital Street in Christiansted, into a historic preservation educational center that will teach, train, and certify US Virgin Islands young people in the building arts of stone, wood, iron, and other crafts prevalent in the US Virgin Islands and other historic US and Caribbean towns.
• $1,000,000 to the Caribbean Centers for Boys & Girls of the Virgin Islands to rebuild and rehabilitate youth centers severely damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
• $510,000 to the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) for Gustave Quetel Fish Market facility renovation, the design and construction of solar lighting installments, and structural improvements to the roof.
• $850,000 to the World Ocean School to rehabilitate the National Historic Landmark, Roseway, for the benefit of educating primarily under-resourced students.

Energy and water

• $800,000 for the Army Corps of Engineers to continue and complete the post-authorization change report required to be completed and submitted to Congress for the Army Corps to carry out the project for navigation for Christiansted Harbor.
• $300,000 for the Army Corps of Engineers to continue and complete the post-authorization change report required to be completed and submitted to Congress for the Army Corps to carry out the project for navigation for Charlotte Amalie Harbor.

Commerce, justice and science

• $438,000 to Coral World Ocean and Reef Initiative to investigate the effects of the influx and decomposition of sargassum as well as monitor nesting beaches for hatchling sea turtles trapped or distressed by sargassum.
• $963,000 to the US Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) to carry out industrial solutions or direct removal of harmful sargassum algal blooms in the Virgin Islands.

Agriculture

• $1,000,000 to St. Croix Farmers in Action to rehabilitate an existing 1-million-gallon cistern and two smaller cisterns on the Bethlehem Sugar Factory Site.

“Additionally, through the work of President Biden, House Democrats, Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, Leader Jefferies, and our Democratic appropriators, we ensured WIC is fully funded, countering drastic Republican cuts that would take food out of the mouths of 1.4 million women, infants, and children. The bipartisan spending bill invests in our nation’s affordable housing, and we continue to support veterans, families, and seniors working to make ends meet and protecting victims of domestic violence and other vulnerable communities with funding for critical public safety programs,” added Plaskett.