Accelerating Through

Accelerating through the challenges

The fiscal year of 2020-2021 presented its fair share of challenges while revealing new opportunities for OEF to accelerate and power forward with sustainable solutions for our island and nation.

Still staggering from the aftershocks of an ongoing global health pandemic, countries around the region, including The Bahamas, have had to endure major disruptions in travel and tourism, our number one industry; an escalating health care crisis; a severe economic downturn; and mounting concerns around food security and our overall sustainability.

The implications of these inescapable and unprecedented challenges left OEF with only one course of action: to accelerate through the turbulence…and accelerate we did!

Over the last year, much has happened for which we can all be proud. Major capital projects transitioned from concept to construction on campus, including our revolutionary Cravo Cooling House (CCH) and 1,930 sq. ft. farmers market building. We donated two ambulances to South Eleuthera Emergency Partners (SEEP), extending emergency transport services across the island and into settlements in the North. OEF rallied with partners to provide an island-wide food distribution network that fed thousands in our community during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the Centre for Training and Innovation (CTI), we expanded our technical training programs, increasing employment outcomes and fostering entrepreneurship by providing business grants and professional mentorship to students.

This year, we also established and sanctioned a fiveyear strategic plan for OEF. This strategic plan guides our growth, taking into account current realities and potential future shocks. It provides the framework to balance long-term impact with strategic agility, ensuring we remain responsive to the needs of our community while achieving our organisation’s big-picture goals.

OEF remains steadfast and focused on leading the way with innovative solutions for Eleuthera and its people through the challenges of this pandemic and beyond. Every gift given is an investment in a sustainable future, backed by our resolute commitment to leverage our expertise, experience, and resources to drive results and impact lives on a local, national and regional level.

On the following pages, you’ll find key highlights of the remarkable projects and partnerships that shaped our community footprint and accelerated our growth and impact this past fiscal year. Enjoy!

ECONOMY

Business is Building at The Retreat Hotel

The Retreat Hotel at CTI is back in business! We are grateful that tourism is rebounding in Eleuthera as visitors begin returning to our shores for safe and relaxing holidays. Located at our Rock Sound campus, The Retreat is the only dual hotel and hospitality training facility in The Bahamas. Here, students are able to gain live and valuable hospitality training experiences while delighting our guests. Through The Retreat, we are investing in an industry essential to our economy while building lives and improving livelihoods.

We look forward to welcoming new and returning guests for a one-of-a-kind rejuvenating stay at our quaint, bungalow-style, 16-room hotel.

OEF Steers Back-To-Work Programs

Local businesses have had to bear the financial burden of continuous interruptions due to COVID-19 restrictions. As a result, many small and medium businesses have struggled to keep their doors open and staff employed especially non-essential businesses like restaurants. To extend a financial lifeline and give the local economy a much-needed boost, OEF launched the Back-to-Work program in South and Central Eleuthera. Through this initiative, a number of restaurants on the island were given a monthly subsidy of up to $5,000 to assist with operational expenses for several months. In exchange, they were required to bring staff back to work and provide hot meals for those in need within their respective communities. Expanding on this drive to get people back to work, OEF partnered with the South Eleuthera District Council to hire temporarily over a dozen people to conduct a short-term roadside cleanup initiative. Additionally, former students of the Learn and Earn program were hired to work on the OEF campus and complete the renovations, electrical work and finishing touches on the farmers market building.

Cravo Cooling House Accelerates Food Security

Cravo Cooling House Accelerates Food Security Goals

Construction is nearing an end on our revolutionary, one-acre Cravo Cooling House (CCH) on our Rock Sound campus. This capital project is a significant development for our organisation and a huge stride in our quest towards local and national food security and food sovereignty. Food sovereignty enables local farmers and producers to have full control and ownership over the conditions, practices and policies that govern local food production and distribution, guaranteeing their communities access to affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate food.

Funded in partnership with The TK Foundation and The Sallingsund Bridge Foundation, the CCH differs from a traditional grow house because the structure’s roof and walls

are fully retractable. This game-changing innovation provides protection from hurricane wind damage and allows automated control over temperature, precipitation, wind, and sun exposure. The result is the optimum climatic environment for growing hearty, healthy produce in every season. Crops traditionally grown in the cooler months will now be available year-round and in abundance to our community, local restaurants and businesses.

A later phase of the CCH will introduce a state-of-the-art packing house with food processing facilities. Here local farmers, food manufacturers and entrepreneurs will be able to process and develop food products to supply local, national and potentially international markets.

Investing in Eleuthera’s Farming Economy

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on food security and the world’s food supply chains. More than ever, building and expanding Eleuthera’s farming industry remains a top priority. OEF has been leading the way in strengthening and investing in local farmers through offering specialized training and access to revenue-generating opportunities.

Several free agriculture and farming workshops and courses led by industry experts have been hosted by OEF/CTI in South Eleuthera over the past year, including but not limited to Introduction to Hydroponics, Apiology and Apiculture (Beekeeping), Natural Pesticides, Poultry Management and Production, Small Ruminant Management and Production and Post-Harvest Management.

Our farm at the Rock Sound campus continues to provide farmers with experiential, hands-on training in traditional and new farming methods. By strengthening local farm operations through shared knowledge and the provision of resources, we’ve been working to expand the industry, create more farming jobs in South Eleuthera and increase the supply of affordable, nutritious food available to residents.

Our recently launched farmers market, “We’ Farmers Market,” has given farmers a consistent marketplace to attract new and returning customers, increase revenue and showcase their produce and food products on a bi-monthly basis.

OEF Social Enterprise Accelerator (OEFSEA) Making an Impact

The OEFSEA exists to provide crucial support services to enhance and strengthen OEF’s Core Partners, other Bahamas-based social enterprises and nonprofit organisations, and students of CTI.

OEFSEA’s key objectives include strengthening the dayto-day operations and organizational governance of Core Partners, so they can better serve their communities, helping fellow nonprofits move towards stronger self-governance and operational independence, and equipping CTI students with entrepreneurial skills and business development support.

To date, OEFSEA has assisted more than three dozen nonprofits in registering under the government’s new legislation, while five (5) local partners have received assistance with developing annual strategic plans and operational budgets. In addition, several cohorts of CTI students have been aided in creating viable business plans and given entrepreneurial training.

OEFSEA Invests $30,000 In Eleuthera Entrepreneurs

In August of 2020, OEFSEA launched the inaugural “Seed to Succeed” program in partnership with the Cotton Bay Fund as an economic initiative to empower Eleutheran entrepreneurs.

Eight (8) candidates, all prior graduates of the Learn and Earn program and some currently employed with OEF, competed for a share of $20,000 to start or expand their own business. The second installment of “Seed to Succeed” was held in June of 2021 with $10,000 in grant funding through partnerships with The TK Foundation and The Bahamas Development Bank. Students of CTI’s Learn and Earn Hydroponics Program competed, and three (3) were awarded financial grants to start their Hydroponics businesses in Eleuthera.

OEFSEA worked closely with each candidate to create a business plan and pitch that was presented in front of a panel of judges from various sectors. As a result, the winning entrepreneurs earned financial grants valued at up to $5,000.

Core Partners Receive $50K In OEF Grant Funding

To strengthen the 2021 operational budgets of our Core Partners, OEF made a substantial donation of $50,000 across five (5) community organisations. Receiving gifts of $10,000 were: The Cancer Society of The Bahamas (Eleuthera branch); The Eleuthera Arts and Cultural Centre (EACC); Island Journeys; One Eleuthera Cooperative Credit Union (OECCUL) and South Eleuthera Emergency Partners (SEEP). Each of these organisations fulfills a pivotal function delivering programming and community services that support OEF’s five key areas of focus: Economy, Education, Environment, Health and Heritage.

DAVINIA CARTWRIGHT VANHORN

1st Place Winner $5,000 Grant LYNETTE FERGUSON

2nd Place Winner $3,000 Grant MICHELLE OUTTEN

3rd Place Winner $2,000 Grant

CTI’s Learn and Earn Program Targets Unemployment Rise

Learn and Earn, the Centre for Training and Innovation (CTI’s) flagship technical training program based in Rock Sound, has steadily expanded, increasing its impact across Eleuthera. Many tourism-related jobs have been made redundant in the past twelve (12) months due to ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions. CTI continues to be the island’s primary source of technical skills training, giving young adults access to new skills and improved employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. Students enrolled in each twelve-week course earn a weekly stipend, making it the only training program in the country where students can earn as they learn. This year we successfully graduated three Learn and Earn cohorts in Hydroponics, Electrical, and Carpentry.

CTI and Harbour Island Trade School Partnership HITS More Homeruns!

Increasing numbers of students on Harbour Island and the surrounding settlements in the North are benefiting from courses offered through CTI and the Friends of Harbour Island Trade Schools (FHITS.) Since its inception two years ago, eighty (80) students have graduated, and the program maintains a 95% course completion rate. To date, there have been four (4) cohorts of culinary students, three (3) cohorts of electrical students and one (1) cohort of carpentry students. Plans are in motion to expand the CTI-HITS course offering based on current workforce skill gaps and emerging entrepreneurial opportunities that can benefit students in Eleuthera while strengthening and diversifying the local economy.

Jaden McPhee – CTI-HITS Culinary Class, 2019

“I’m a resident of Harbour Island and a proud graduate of the very first CTI-HITS Culinary Class. I graduated in October of 2019, and during my course I learned a lot of baking skills. Additionally, I refined my understanding of sanitizing protocols and gained more organizational skills. The program helped me sharpen my culinary skills and gain a lot of confidence in the kitchen and within my profession. I learned that it’s okay to make mistakes, and more often than not, even with a mistake, people will still find the food to be delicious.

Since completing this program, I was offered a full-time job as a private chef. I’ve worked as a full-time personal chef now for a year and a half and it’s provided a lot of unique opportunities, including traveling and connecting with other chefs in the industry. Currently, I’m traveling throughout the United States trying new foods. I recently toured the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York, and I intend to apply at the CIA to continue my education in the culinary arts for the fall of 2022.”

ENVIRONMENT

Earth Day 2021

Staff and management commemorated OEF’s 9th Anniversary and annual Earth Day celebrations with a “be-kind-to-earth” half-day event at the Rock Sound campus. The day started with reducing energy consumption at the Head Office. Overhead lights, computers and devices were turned off while staff ventured outdoors to share in the daily tasks and activities on the campus farm. The team spent the morning hours immersed in nature, planting seedlings, harvesting and packing fresh produce, including beets, lettuce, sweet peppers, and chives and learning best practices for starting home and community gardens.

CTI Joins World Movement to Save the Bees

In the Spring, CTI launched a new course in Apiology and Apiculture, highlighting the importance of honeybees within a global and local context. The twelve-week course was offered to students and beekeepers in Eleuthera as part of a grant and working partnership between OEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants. The goal was to increase honey production across the island and, in doing so, build the local bee population and industry. Students gained the hands-on skills to set up and manage a bee colony to produce honey and successfully operate their own commercial honeybee business. The OEF Apiary located at our Rock Sound campus was also doubled in size from ten to twenty beehives as part of the partnership agreement between the two organisations.

OEF Driving Emergency Transport For Eleuthera

Through our Core Partner SEEP, OEF donated two desperately needed ambulances to service Tarpum Bay and North Eleuthera. Proper medical and emergency transport has been an urgent problem for many years, with residents not having access to basic lifesaving services. Residents have suffered the indignity and danger of being transferred on the backs of trucks and in private vehicles lacking medical equipment and the intervention of medical personnel. The newly donated ambulances have been put to immediate use in facilitating the increased number of calls for emergency transport to both local clinics and airports due to COVID-19 and other emergencies.

Strengthening Emergency Response Services Through SEEP

SEEP continues to strengthen its operation and regularly train its community volunteers with the assistance of OEF. However, with the organisation’s recent expansion in the North and the continued implications of COVID-19 affecting the entire island, the demands on SEEP have grown tremendously.

Two volunteer training exercises have taken place for the year. The first provided First Responders from across the island with a refresher course in essential emergency response skills. Practical training included CPR, First Aid, and saving lives within the first critical minutes of a medical emergency.

The second training focused on the use of specialized emergency aid equipment. The OEF Social Enterprise Accelerator has been instrumental in assisting SEEP with developing a 30-60-90-day operational plan and annual budget to further strengthen SEEP’s operations. The next step for SEEP is to support the hiring of an Executive Director.

Eleuthera Feeding Initiative

In response to the food security crisis exacerbated by the current COVID-19 pandemic, OEF was appointed as a Zone Leader for Eleuthera and assisted with establishing an island-wide food distribution network for food vouchers and hand-packed food parcels. In collaboration with the National Food Distribution Task Force and the Harbour Island Food Bank, we provided urgent, ongoing food assistance to over eight thousand (8,000) residents from Harbour Island in the North to Deep Creek in the South and every settlement in between. In partnership with the Methodist and Anglican churches, OEF was also able to support hot meals twice a week to more than four hundred elderly persons in South Eleuthera and later to Central Eleuthera.

UUSC Research Project Aids Hurricane Dorian Survivors

Following Hurricane Dorian, Eleuthera became home to hundreds of evacuees who lost everything in the storm. OEF immediately stepped in, providing ongoing assistance with daily meals, housing, counseling services and job placement. Almost two years later, Dorian survivors continue the challenging task of rebuilding their lives and livelihoods. Through a grant in partnership with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), OEF is providing continued assistance for evacuees who remain in Eleuthera. The program affords financial support through micro-grants to help survivors develop their small business ideas on Eleuthera, enabling them to earn an income and improve their stability. In addition, utility and rental assistance is currently being provided for those experiencing financial difficulties.

Displaced survivors from the Haitian Creole-speaking communities are also being engaged to understand and address their current challenges post-Dorian. As part of this initiative, they have received additional support, including food assistance.

Help Is On The Way For Non-Communicable Disease Patients

The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (NHWSN) at Emory University recently teamed up with OEF to launch a three-month research project assessing the treatment of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) on Eleuthera.

Non-Communicable Diseases, including diabetes and hypertension, are a leading cause of death in The Bahamas. The Non-Communicable Diseases study will explore the need for additional trained healthcare workers to provide education and basic in-home healthcare for patients with chronic health issues. The outcome will be a report presented to OEF and the Ministry of Health to implement a home visitation program to address the challenges of island residents with complex healthcare issues.

Collaborators include students and professionals from the NHWSN and the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, The Bahamas Ministry of Health, business and civic leaders, local healthcare workers and private clinics in Eleuthera.

Staff and Student Wellness At The Forefront

Our in-house Wellness Consultant, Stephen Thompson, has been leading the charge in supporting our staff, community, and students with wellness education and counseling.

A trained Clinical Psychologist, Stephen works to ensure that OEF’s most valuable asset, its people, are supported in maximizing their health and wellbeing. To broaden OEF’s impact, special health and wellness programs have been extended to students of CTI and the community at large via in-person and virtual seminars. Staff and student wellness continues to be a priority as we encourage the development of healthy lifestyles and habits across the organisation.

Heritage & Culture

Plans are underway to identify a dynamic new Executive Director (ED) for the Eleuthera Arts and Cultural Centre (EACC) located in Tarpum Bay. In this new role, the ED will be responsible for organising cultural activities for the public at large, preserving and fostering cultural values within the island of Eleuthera and promoting cultural interactions while developing an exciting and diverse local arts and culture sector. The vision of the EACC is to have a first-rate facility that competes at an international level and attracts and hosts world-class patrons, artists and performers. Stay tuned for groundbreaking news and updates!

HERITAGE