“We Wanted the Church to Actually Be the Church”: A Cayman Congregation Rebuilds an Unsafe Home for a Single Mother

• A Cayman church team repaired a dangerous home for a single mother of two
• The house had live wires, a leaking roof and standing water inside
• The church worked with the charity ARK and local businesses
• The project took about four months from the start of fundraising

A congregation in the Cayman Islands has put its faith to work on a building site. The Cayman Compass reported in July 2026 that the Hands On Ministry of Sunrise Community Church helped rebuild the home of Tina Ebanks-Jackson, a single mother of two in West Bay.

The house was in a dangerous state, with live wires, serious plumbing problems, a leaking roof and standing water inside. The church partnered with Acts of Random Kindness Cayman (ARK) through its Cayman CASA programme, and the project took roughly four months from the time fundraising began. Local businesses including Mango Construction, Cayman Coating, Kempa Design and Property Doctors contributed.

“I just want a safe roof for me and my two children. I am so grateful to ARK and everyone…” Ebanks-Jackson said.

Janine Every, a member of the Hands On Ministry team, said the aim was to take faith beyond Sunday services. “We wanted the church to actually be the church; not to just sit comfortably on a Sunday…” she said. Jason Every, lead pastor at Sunrise Community Church, said the physical work had its own reward: “There is more satisfaction in getting your hands dirty and putting your back into it…” ARK was founded by Tara Nielsen.

The project is small, one house for one family, but it shows a workable model: a church supplies volunteers and goodwill, a charity handles the programme, and local firms give materials and skills.

That model fits Jamaica well. With many homes still needing roofs and repairs after Hurricane Melissa, Jamaican congregations can do a great deal by adopting individual households, partnering with charities that already run housing programmes, and asking local hardware stores and contractors to help. Cayman has long ties to Jamaica, and churches there with Jamaican members are well placed to support similar work back home. For families living in unsafe houses, a safe roof is often the most valuable property improvement they will ever get.

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