Resa O’Reilly Sheam - The Pioneering Spirit

Many of us dream wonderful dreams of how we would like our future to unfold. We close our eyes, click our heels three times and hope for the best. But we all know it takes a lot more to make those dreams come true. It takes tons of hard work and a strong mind filled with steadfast determination. Enter someone like Project Promises’ Resa O’Reilly Sheam who does in fact possess those exact required virtues.

In order to build an organization with the towering social influence like Project Promise, Resa not only had to dream the impossible dream, but she had to fight every inch of the way to make that dream become a reality.

Project Promise is dedicated to improving the lives of at-risk youth in the St. Croix community. After a decade of working with the area’s youth in various capacities, Resa recognized a strong need for a holistic program that would address many of the challenges that the island’s at-risk youth face.  She realized that a large number of the islands’ youth experience a combination of risk factors that put their futures in jeopardy. She realized that what these at-risk youth needed was a support program that would empower the whole child to succeed. She saw that many times all it takes is one person to express a real interest to make a positive impact in a child’s life.

Motivated by her desire to make a real difference in the lives of these at-risk youth, Project Promise was born. Along with her Board of Directors she has created an organization that combines one-on-one mentoring with an educational, cultural and vocational focus to safeguard a brighter future for at-risk youth on St. Croix.