Thread by @angelurena

Today: NY 🔜 USVI.

Follow along as the Clintons spend three days visiting partners and @ClintonGlobal commitment-makers, and seeing progress made and opportunities to expand recovery and increase resiliency for the region.

#IdeasIntoAction

Wheels down, St. Croix, USVI.

President @BillClinton and Secretary @HillaryClinton are greeted by @govbryan and his family in St. Croix.

And just like that we’re on our way...

A little perspective about our fellow Americans: The 2017 hurricane season damaged 86 percent of the homes in the US Virgin Islands.

The Clintons are visiting the Queen Louise Home for Children on St. Croix. A @ClintonGlobal commitment, the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands committed to partner with Lutheran Social Services and other groups to increase solar energy capacity and energy efficiency.

The Queen Louise home provides foster care for children in the Virgin Islands who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected.

The staff talked about their Early Head Start program, the only one in the territory, and its impact. In ‘94, the Clinton administration, led by Secretary @HillaryClinton, started Early Head Start.

We also brought some friends, including @StaceyPlaskett & @nba legend Tim Duncan!

.@ClintonGlobal & @2SmallToFail have donated books with early childhood development materials to the Queen Louise home, along with a credit for educational materials from @LakeshoreLM (a @2SmallToFail partner).

Incredible fact about Lutheran Social Services (LSSVI): it’s been a grantee of the
@AmeriCorps program since 1994. LSSVI recruits AmeriCorps members who are highly committed to social work. #IdeasIntoAction

42 & 21.

Fantastic first stop 🔜 the historic Alexander Theater in Downtown Christiansted. #IdeasIntoAction

A word about USVI native Tim Duncan and his organization, @YesOurKidsCan: they’ve been educating disadvantaged children and uplifting their families for a while.

Just today the organization made a @ClintonGlobal commitment to expand its work in St. John & St. Croix.

Teams @HillaryClinton, @BillClinton, and @ClintonFdn hard at work. #IdeasIntoAction

Recap of the day thus far, courtesy of @schultzinit.

At the historic Alexander Theater in downtown Christiansted, which is part of the St. Croix Foundation for Community Development’s @ClintonGlobal commitment.

The St. Croix Foundation has committed to renovate Alexander Theater to serve as both a community disaster shelter during emergencies, as well as a state-of-the-art performing arts center, conference space, and job training center. #IdeasIntoAction

.@BillClinton & @HillaryClinton are touring the facility and hearing from St.
Croix Foundation staff about the importance refurbishing the theater, originally built in the early 50s, as well as the need for a disaster relief shelter for those living on St. Croix.

Fun fact: up until the age of 18, Alexander Hamilton worked a few blocks from here.

“Why am I telling you this”?

@BillClinton and @HillaryClinton spent some time with reporters today.

The @ClintonFdn recently launched its podcast🎙 Subscribe here: theclintonfoundation.org/why-am-i-telli…

St. Croix ➡️➡️ St. John.

Day 1 is a wrap here in USVI. Really inspiring day. Tomorrow: more projects & @ClintonGlobal brings together leaders from government, business, & civil society to discuss ongoing hurricane recovery needs facing the Caribbean.

Bonus: end of day postcard, from a really beautiful place.

- Day 2 -

Today @BillClinton will visit @ClintonGlobal commitment-maker @LoveCityStrong on St. John, to view progress on their commitment.

&

Will convene hundreds of partners at the @ClintonGlobal Action Network on Post-Disaster Recovery meeting on St. Thomas.

Follow along!

.@BillClinton & @HillaryClinton are visiting the home of Adele Thomas. Adele’s home was rebuilt as a part of @LoveCityStrong’s CGI commitment to expand its Resilient Housing Initiative (RHI) by rebuilding 30 homes that were damaged during the 2017 hurricanes.

The story Adele is one of resiliency. She’s a single mother of three. Has always lived in the house that her grandfather built and that she grew up in. This house was the first home built on the highest hill in her community, and she’s very proud of
that.

When the 2017 hurricanes hit, Adele and her family grabbed all they could carry. They didn’t look behind to close the door, just ran. They found cover under the house and used an old refrigerator to block the door to the outside.

Adele and her family spent several days under the house with small amounts of food and water. When they returned to their home after the storm, Adele found that the roof was completely gone, as was almost everything they owned.

So they relocated to live with other family members and at times had to go back to their home with only a tarp as their shelter. Adele became part of the Resilient Housing Initiative by @LoveCityStrong, and the organization repaired the damage to her home and rebuilt her roof.

This month, Adele and her family were finally able to move back into their house! This is the kind of life-changing work @ClintonGlobal helps facilitate every single day. #IdeasIntoAction

Artsy shot of the day, via @JonDavidson_

Adele shows the Clintons her breathtaking view.

🔛 to the next stop. Some context: after the storms, both supply chain and storage for needed materials presented a challenge for rebuilding. Shipments from south Florida could take weeks to reach St. John, and when they arrived there was nowhere to store materials.

To address this challenge, @LoveCityStrong established a
warehouse to help facilitate the rebuilding of homes. The warehouse is now a
sophisticated operation whereby they stockpile enough supplies to rebuild
approximately six homes a week.

The warehouse has everything you’d need for a rebuild - from toilets to doors, to hurricane ties and screws.

.@LoveCityStrong and other partners travel
frequently back and forth to St. Thomas to buy supplies, and materials are also
shipped from Puerto Rico and the mainland. The warehouse also has the ability to order specialized supplies. #IdeasIntoAction

PSA: when you see @NatlParkService staff, you stop, say hi, thank them for their service, and share anecdotes about your love of parks.

🔜 St. Thomas

During today’s opening plenary session, our partners, and several organizations, will explore resilience for the long-term and the Caribbean as a model for addressing climate change in the 21st century. #IdeasIntoAction

🔜 @ClintonGlobal Action Network Meeting

Life-changing work, adorable babies, and incredible views from USVI. 📸: @schultzinit

Day 2 is in the books. The Clintons met some resilient people, with incredible stories. And they launched the Action Network meeting, which is helping thousands of our fellow Americans in USVI and PR, and in the Caribbean, to build back better.

More tomorrow.

#IdeasIntoAction

Bonus: another end of day postcard, from a really beautiful place. #PostcardsFromTheRoad

Day 3 of @ClintonFdn work.

🔜 @UVI_edu for rest of @ClintonGlobal Action Network Meeting.

Quick pit stop on the way. @Rvick17 hard at work.

Today, President @BillClinton is bringing together government officials and private sector leaders to talk about creative ways to drive commercial & philanthropic investment in the Caribbean to address climate change. #IdeasIntoAction

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit @SkerritR, Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Cross @EvelynPMAruba, Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo @lrmsxm, Premier Andrew Fahie @BVIGovernment, and Governor Albert Bryan @govbryan are all in attendance.

As are representatives from @CocaCola, @the_IDB, @clubmedofficial, @digiceldominica, and countless other members of the private sector and philanthropic organizations. #IdeasIntoAction

.@HillaryClinton sat w/
Kurt Marsh, architect, woodworker & activist, St. John Heritage Collective; Jesus Espinosa, Marine Biology & Environmental Science Teacher, St. Croix Central HS; & Glorymar Rivera Báez, Program Director for Disaster Recovery, Rehace to talk climate change.

Final programatic update with the @ClintonGlobal team. Closing plenary up next.

As we close out the fourth @ClintonGlobal action network convening, watch President @BillClinton speak with leaders about unleashing small business growth. live.clintonfoundation.org #IdeasIntoAction

This week, President @BillClinton and @HillaryClinton convened over 350 leaders from across the Caribbean from business, government, and civil society at the fourth meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Action Network on Post-Disaster Recovery.

At this week’s meeting, participants discussed ongoing recovery efforts, progress to date, ongoing challenges, and announced 29 new projects that address critical issues such as food security, access to health care, small business support, sustainable tourism, & renewable energy.

Since the @ClintonGlobal Action Network was launched last year, 775 organizations – businesses, local and international civic organizations, and territory and national governments – have made 86 Commitments to Action.

And...that’s a wrap.

My @ClintonGlobal commitment is to put a bow on this thread, and go enjoy the view. #IdeasIntoAction

***Addendum: @GregHale1 won the trendiest blazer contest.***