The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved more than $1.3 million in Public Assistance funding for repairs to Friedensfeld Church in Kingshill, St. Croix, as part of the territory’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Maria.
According to FEMA, the funding will reimburse the Moravian Church Virgin Islands Conference for repairs to the church’s roof, gutters, windows, and other building infrastructure damaged during the storm.
The award was announced as part of a broader round of Public Assistance funding approvals issued nationwide. Although FEMA’s news release references multiple projects approved that day, the agency confirmed that only one project in the U.S. Virgin Islands was included in this announcement. Additional projects approved the same day were located in other states.
FEMA said the funding is tied to the territory’s Hurricane Maria disaster recovery efforts and is administered through the Public Assistance program, which helps state, territorial, tribal and local governments, as well as certain eligible nonprofit organizations, recover from federally declared disasters.
The agency said Public Assistance funding is awarded to the territorial government, which is then responsible for distributing funds to approved subrecipients. Questions regarding project completion timelines are handled by the Virgin Islands Office of Disaster Recovery.
FEMA also confirmed that the Friedensfeld Church project was approved without a hazard mitigation component.
According to the agency, one Public Assistance project remains pending approval in the U.S. Virgin Islands while FEMA continues reviewing requested adjustments and changes in scope of work submitted by the applicant.
To date, FEMA said it has obligated more than $22 billion in recovery funding for the U.S. Virgin Islands following Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
The agency indicated that additional Public Assistance funding awards for the territory are expected to be announced later this week.
In announcing the award, FEMA said the Public Assistance program helps communities repair critical infrastructure, restore public buildings and reimburse eligible disaster-related costs while supporting long-term recovery efforts following major disasters.
