Project Promise Road Trip: Caterpillars Head Home

M.A. Dworkin

St. Croix - Resa O’Reilly Shearn’s groundbreaking Project Promise and its Caterpillar Project students are heading home after a remarkably successful Summer of Service Road Trip that took them to Washington, D.C., across the country to Chicago, Illinois, and up to Seattle, Washington, before heading down the west coast to San Francisco, California. 

What an incredible trip it was for the Caterpillars who reached deep into the culture of the United States and came out with amazing adventures and everlasting memories that will fuel them into adulthood. 

In Washington, D.C., the group volunteered at the United Way of the National Capital Area and helped out by creating Healthy Snack Kits for local area youth. 

Community service is one of the nine components at the core of the Project Promise program. Over the last ten years, the Caterpillar Project students have completed monthly community service projects locally, nationally, and even internationally. 

The Caterpillars next stop was the City of Big Shoulders, as the great poet Carl Sandburg dubbed Chicago, Illinois, the hardworking, industrial city that runs along the shores of Lake Michigan. It was there the Caterpillars created Cards For Kids which helped out the Cards For Kids organization in carrying out their signature initiative. The Project Promise Caterpillars created Encouragement Cards, which was a creative and meaningful way to impact the youth of Chicago. 

The next stop for the group was Seattle, Washington, that great, beautiful city on the Western Coast of the U.S. The Caterpillars made it to Seattle after a 48-hour journey aboard the famous Empire Builder train which runs between Chicago and Washington State, with stops along the way in such great cities as Minneapolis, Portland and then finally into Seattle. 

In Seattle, the Caterpillar’s hit the ground running as they volunteered at New Horizons Ministries, which is a shelter for young people and a place for those who have been separated from positive relationships and opportunities to reconnect with their individual strengths and dreams. The Caterpillars helped the New Horizon’s people put together lunch for the homeless. Once their helpful work was done they had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of riding up to the top of the World Famous Space Needle where they were able to see the beauty of Seattle from high above.

The last leg of their trip took them down the beautiful coast of Washington, Oregon and California into the City by the Bay, San Francisco, California. It was there the Caterpillars visited GLIDE in San Francisco, a sixty-year old institution that is on the forefront of addressing some of society’s most pressing issues, including poverty, racial and social injustice, housing and homelessness. 

The Caterpillars stepped right up to help out, serving 686 meals for the homeless population around San Francisco. 

They finished up their wondrous journey by spending the 4th of July exploring the  natural beauty of Yosemite National Park. 

Riding the rails back to D.C. and home to St. Croix on July 9, 2025. Wow! What a trip! With designs on making an impact on communities outside of the U.S. Virgin Islands it’s easy to see how the Project Promise’s Summer of Service expedition was a total success!   

“Community Service is an instrumental part of who we are as an organization,” Ms. O’Reilly Shearn, Founder and Executive Director of Project Promise told the St. Croix Times. “The activities are designed to expand the students’ outlook and help them think of themselves as citizens of the world.”

Project Promise’s Summer of Service is sponsored by One Communications, Attorney Joel Holt, Tropico Management, Judge Steele, Frederiksted Twin City Lions Club, Cruzan Creations, and several other businesses and individuals. 

Project Promise is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of at-risk youth on St. Croix by providing empowerment initiatives, cultural programs, and family services. For more information about Project Promise please contact Resa O’Reilly Shearn at 340-513-0446 or visit their website at www.projectpromisevi.com.