Jamaica United Relief Association:
“Our mission is to help the less fortunate in the areas of HEALTH, EDUCATION, and SOCIAL SERVICES here in South Florida, Jamaica, and the rest of the Caribbean.”
OUR MEMBERS
OUR HISTORY
Jamaica United Relief Association, Inc. (JURA) was founded here in South Florida in 1985 by Joan Seaga-Gonzalez and a group of civic minded Jamaicans, responding to the need for a Caribbean oriented service organization addressing the needs of the less fortunate as well as new immigrants needing assistance in different areas, and to provide help in times of disasters. The organization’s focus was centered around giving back to the community, locally and to Jamaica.
Joan Seaga-Gonzalez became the first President of JURA, serving for the first 21 years. This organization has grown from its humble beginnings to becoming a major charitable organization serving South Florida and the Caribbean. Its growth and service to the community is remarkable. Membership is open to all persons with a willingness to help others. JURA’s current membership includes people from all walks of life, professionals in most areas and at all levels. Over the years JURA has joined forces with various community organizations, Jamaican alumnae associations, and individuals, producing and co-hosting events, including the annual most important Fund raiser: The Premier Jamaica Independence Ball. One of those partnerships incorporated Members Only Social Club of Miami (MOSCM), an organization founded in 1996 with the same ideals and similar aims and objectives of JURA. MOSCM, hosted a number of occasions for many years in collaborated with JURA. The inevitable took place in March of 2007, JURA and MOSCM merged as one and elected Hugh ‘Ossie” Osborne, a founding member of MOSCM as President of the new JURA, Hugh served for two consecutive terms.
Through the years, JURA has raised funds which has provided goods, material, school supplies, medical equipment, housing materials, and has underwritten community outreach programs, assisted with medical and burial expenses, for various families and individuals, Provided scholarships and tuition fees for deserving and needy individuals, resulting in the over one million US dollars (US$450,000) of assistance to the Caribbean and local communities, provided by JURA in the last few years.