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You’ve probably seen the ad on The Consortium of job fairs that are to take place this week territory-wide for the Emergency Home Repairs VI Project, a $766 million federal program being administered locally through the V.I. Housing Finance Authority (V.I.H.F.A.), which is estimated to provide an estimated 10,000 jobs.

Speaking on Wednesday at his weekly media briefing at Government House on St. Croix, Governor Mapp said the local workforce was expected to fill more than a quarter of these positions.

“We say 2,500 to 3,000 because we measure that against everything else that is going on in the Virgin Islands in terms of work driven by insurance claim dollars both in the residential community and the commercial community, regular construction that has to take place (and) that’s going on,” he said.

Job and contractor fairs will begin today at the Juan F. Luis Hospital, Virgin Islands Cardiac Center conference rooms 1 and 2 on St. Croix. On Thursday, February 22, the fair will be held at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center Arena on St.Thomas, and on Friday, February 23 at Gallows Point Resort, Ocean 362 Restaurant on St. John.

More than 1,000 applications have been submitted as of February 13 for the V.I.H.F.A. program, which was launched last month. AECOM, an American multinational engineering firm, won the bid for the project, and will work with a number of subcontractors across the territory.

“The true emergency in this program is that in five months we are going to be right back in hurricane season in the Virgin Islands. We would like to do everything possible to get all of our citizens in safe and habitable homes before that happens,” said Daryl Griffith, executive director of V.I.H.F.A.

He said through the program, officials were hoping to repair up to 12,000 homes in the territory that were damaged during Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017. For those that qualify, a maximum of $25,000 in repairs per home can be expected.

Mr. Mapp encouraged everyone who suffered damage by the hurricanes to participate in the program. “Do not lose hope, even if you may have been disapproved for personal assistance or maybe you were disapproved for an SBA (Small Business Administration) loan. Those disapprovals will not bar you from participating in this program,” the governor said.

To qualify, applicants must be the owner of the home and the home must be their primary residence. Applicants must be able to show storm damage and have a FEMA registration number. To apply for a FEMA registration number residents can call 1 800-621-3362 or log on to disasterassistance.gov.

Applicants for the Emergency Home Repairs VI Program may call 1 844-813-9191 to register or log on to www.ehrvi.com. Another option to register is to visit the walk-in application centers. On St. Croix it is located at the Rotary Club West, #40 KA-KD Estate LaGrange. On St. Thomas, residents may visit Tutu Park Mall, Suite 233; and on St. John, the walk-in center is located at the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. All centers are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The centers are closed on Sundays.