Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. announced the territory’s purchase of the Nana Baby Home facility on St. Thomas during a weekly Government House press briefing Monday.
“For generations, the Nana Baby Home has been a refuge in moments of crisis — a place where infants and toddlers found safety, love and dignity when the world seemed uncertain,” Bryan said Monday. “By purchasing this facility, we are lifting the burden of survival from those who have carried it so faithfully, so they may devote their hearts fully to the children. To support the Nana Baby Home is not only an act of compassion. It is an investment in the soul of our community.”
The government’s purchase of the home — which providers 24-hour emergency care, respite care for children whose parents or guardians are hospitalized or temporarily unable to look after their children, and transitional care — was made possible through an appropriation of funds the territory received from settlements with the estate of Jeffrey Epstein and financier Leon Black, which the 35th Legislature approved in September 2024.
On Monday, the home’s executive director, Darian Torrice-Hairston, thanked Bryan and former Sen. Donna Frett-Gregory for spearheading the government’s efforts.
“This is such a rewarding place to be a part of,” she said. “I know that we are only the current shepherds of this mission. Nana Baby Home has been around long before me, and I hope it continues long after me, and we plan to utilize this new facility to the best of our abilities and fill it with love and laughter and light and really give the children more space to grow into themselves while they are with us.”
Bryan hinted that more purchases will be announced in the coming weeks.
Frett-Gregory wrote in a post on social media that she is grateful “to see a vision come to life” and thanked her former colleagues in the 35th Legislature for “recognizing the importance of securing a safe home for our children, while ensuring the Epstein Funds are used to support and protect some of the most vulnerable members of our community.”
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