For decades, the people of St. Croix have carried burdens that would break the spirit of many communities. We have lived with WAPA’s unreliable electricity and rolling blackouts since 1968. Every year, education leaders testify before the Senate that our schools are “ready,” only to shut them down days later because of mold, broken bathrooms, and classrooms without air conditioning. For over 20 years, our hospitals have faced shortages of supplies, nurses, and doctors, forcing two out of every five patients to be flown off-island just to receive the care they deserve.
We can manage a pothole or two, but on St. Croix, our roads are more than an inconvenience — they are dangerous. And when it comes to cost of living, we are paying three times more than the mainland United States. Our prices rival Switzerland, yet unlike Switzerland, we cannot point to world-class healthcare, modern schools, or safe, well-maintained roads.
The truth is simple: the people of St. Croix do not have much to rejoice about right now. And yet, every single day, teachers walk into classrooms, nurses report for shifts, public servants open their offices, and families make sacrifices to keep our island moving forward. Their resilience is a testament to the character of our people.
But resilience alone is not enough. We cannot continue to patch holes in a wall that is already crumbling. The real question before us is this: when will we choose to do things differently? Will it be in 2026? Will it be in 2030? Change is inevitable — the only question is whether we will be ready to shape it, or whether we will allow it to happen to us.
St. Croix is at a crossroads. We can continue down the same path — a path marked by unreliable electricity, broken schools, fragile healthcare, crumbling roads, and the highest cost of living in the nation. Or we can choose a new path — one where families thrive, where our children learn in safe classrooms, where our elders receive quality care close to home, and where the cost of living no longer drives our people away.
This is not about politics. This is about survival, dignity, and the future we owe to the next generation. The people of St. Croix deserve better. The people of the Virgin Islands deserve better. And together, we can demand the better future we have long been promised.