CUMI focused on new mandate after Hurricane Melissa disruptions last year

MONTEGO BAY, St James — Last year, the Committee for the Upliftment of the Mentally Ill (CUMI) announced that it had shuttered its Day Rehabilitation Centre and would adopt a new model, becoming a foundation that would distribute funds and work with agencies to assist individuals living with mental illness.

But those plans were put on hold following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, the devastating Category 5 storm that wreaked havoc across the western end of the island.

“Last year the $4 million that we raised was spent on relief packages for the mentally ill. We worked with Cornwall Regional [and its] social workers and its mental health workers and we gave packages after the hurricane,” treasurer of CUMI Debbie Leouw told the Jamaica Observer on the sidelines of the annual Tryall-CUMI Charity Golf Tournament, held last Saturday at the Hanover-based club..