Shortly after he reached out and was connected to care, he was diagnosed with HIV. Housing Works health staff helped him access insurance and medication needed to treat the condition. As a direct result of these connections happening so timely and with tremendous follow-up, Daniel now has 100 percent adherence to his medications.

Daniel is one of the hundreds of youth ages 18 to 24 who call Housing Works their medical home. Many, like Daniel, learn of their services through social media, where peer navigators help connect people like him with health care providers.

The use of social media along with peer navigators is one of the reasons why Housing Works was selected as one of seven winners of the 2014 “Innovations in Care” Award as part of the BD Helping Build Healthy Communities initiative, implemented together with Direct Relief and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC).

The awards seek to recognize innovative approaches to the prevention and treatment of diseases that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations in the U.S.

Connecting with the Hard-to-Reach

Housing Works is the nation’s largest community-based AIDS service organization that directs its outreach efforts to homeless and street youth with a focus on young LGBT people of color in vulnerable neighborhoods of Central Brooklyn.

The Housing Works Outreach to Homeless Youth program was established in 2010 to meet the needs of runaway, homeless, and street youth who are, or are at risk of becoming, HIV positive due to sexual abuse, prostitution, sexual exploitation, or similar risk factors.

It’s critical that they connect with some of the hardest-to-reach populations as HIV/AIDS prevalence is three to 16 times higher among people in New York City who are homeless or unstably housed than among people who have stable, adequate housing.

Youth build relationships with street outreach workers and can access comprehensive services, including immediate access to primary and mental health care, substance use treatment, and long-term housing solutions. Additionally, youth learn their HIV status, learn about safe sex practices, and develop a peer network for support.

Social Media Boosts Scope

Their reach and reputation extend far beyond New York City. Nadine Juste-Beckles, Vice President of Primary Care Operations at Housing Works said that youth have traveled from as far as Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina to receive care. Many of the out-of-state youth find the services on Facebook.

Her colleague Karen Thompson, Vice President of Access to Care and Harm Reduction at Housing Works said that the social media outreach works well because many of the youth are isolated from their families. Additionally, many want to keep their lifestyle secret – particularly their patients who are men who have sex with men (MSM).

The program’s modern way of connecting with their patients has increased awareness of the program, but keeping them involved in their health is where the commitment of Housing Works staff and volunteers come in –  a dedication that earned the attention of BD Helping Build Healthy Communities.

BD Award Enables Viral Load Suppression Project

The BD Award allowed the clinic to implement a viral load suppression project. Called “The Undetectables Project” the program identifies people who are detectable and provides quarterly incentives in the form of $100 gift cards to review their labs. This helps ensure that they are taking their medications, talking to their provider, and being involved with their treatment plan.

“It’s one thing to get clients to come in for initial intake, it’s another thing to get them actually to come in for primary care,” said Karen.

They’re young adults who feel invincible,” said Nadine, adding that this means they often don’t get up at regular hours or have a routine schedule. “We get them to follow up [with their health care] and get them in a rhythm to maintain a pattern of a healthy, stable life.”

To make their services more accessible, every Thursday at the Eastside location, Housing Works hosts late primary care hours. The clinic remains open until 9 p.m., and they have games and parties to draw in youth.

The agency has a goal of 80 percent viral load suppression. At present, Housing Works has surpassed the goal, averaging 82 percent across all sites.

“We’re very appreciative of [the award],” said Nadine. “It was instrumental in our ability to enhance our services and be able to do things that really make a difference.”

Direct Relief is honored to work with partners like Housing Works who are helping vulnerable youth like Daniel access long-term care in a place where they feel safe and connected.

*name has been changed to protect patient privacy

The post NYC Health Center Helps Vulnerable Youth Access HIV Testing, Treatment appeared first on Direct Relief.

The packs will assist health workers and responders in their emergency preparedness and response capabilities and will also be used for street outreach and health fairs.

Modeled after Direct Relief’s Medical Reserve Corps packs, these specially designed backpacks contain supplies and equipment to meet a variety of disaster-related health needs, including infection control, diagnostics, trauma care, and personal protection tools.

The ability to go to where the patient is located and provide care is a unique and essential service of health centers and clinics that is critical both in emergencies as well as routine health care.

Each pack is valued at approximately $500. To support Direct Relief’s emergency preparedness and response initiatives, click here.

The post 16 Connecticut Health Centers Equipped with Emergency Medical Packs appeared first on Direct Relief.

Dubbed “Direct Relief Jean Day,” employees could make a $5 donation each week (or $25 for the whole month) for Direct Relief’s Nepal relief efforts that allowed them to wear jeans on Fridays during May.

“[The fundraiser] shows in a small way that we appreciate all the help and assistance they give us through the program which allows us to receive hundreds of thousand dollars over the many years they have supplied FCHC with both prescription as well as over the counter items,” wrote one of the participants.

In the last five years, FCHC has received more than $270,000 worth of medicines and medical supplies from Direct Relief to help them treat 20,000 people annually who would otherwise not be able to access health care.

“It’s amazing to see one of our U.S. health center partners helping another Direct Relief partner on the other side of the globe,” said Direct Relief pharmacist, Ruth Smarinsky. “Their effort will make a big difference for people in Nepal who are rebuilding their lives after the devastating earthquakes.”

Direct Relief is honored to support health centers like FCHC that are not only caring for people in need in their own community, but also around the world.

The post Missouri Health Center Staff Raise Funds for Nepal Earthquake Survivors appeared first on Direct Relief.

“I didn’t care about my body or how I looked. I didn’t have much energy,” Carlos said. “But then the doctor told me what could happen if I kept going down the same road – diabetes, low blood sugar, heart attacks. It scared me.”

After receiving this diagnosis, Carlos was referred to the Campeones de Salud (Champions of Health) program at the Southwest Community Health Center – one of nine sites run by Santa Rosa Community Health Centers (SRCHC), a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and Direct Relief partner in Sonoma County, Calif. that provides health care to low-income and uninsured people in their community.

Ever since his mother Maria lost her health insurance when pain an her arm made it impossible for her to work, she and Carlos had been going to Southwest Community Health Center for care, where no one is turned away because they can’t pay.

Campeones de la Salud combines behavioral health best practices with research-based clinical management and peer support to help children and their families develop healthy lifestyle habits. It is a series of 10-week sessions serving a group of about 30 youth and adolescents with a Body Mass Index (BMI) at or near obesity. Each two-hour session is conducted entirely in Spanish and includes activities for the participant’s entire family.

The Campeones program was based on other successful family-based approaches, but is unique in that it specifically targets low-income Latino families in a culturally appropriate way. This approach is one of the reasons why SRCHC was selected as one of seven winners of the 2014 “Innovations in Care” Award as part of the BD Helping Build Healthy Communities initiative, implemented together with Direct Relief and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC).

The awards seek to recognize innovative approaches to the prevention and treatment of diseases that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations in the U.S.

Helping low-income Latino children and their families maintain a healthy BMI is SRCHC’s key strategy for preventing diabetes and diabetes-related complications in their service area.

“This program helped me a lot as a parent,” said Maria. “It taught me how to help my son make healthy choices, how to arrange healthy meals with portion control and how to motivate him to exercise.”

As for Carlos, improvements in his health became clear after just a few months. His blood sugar levels dropped from 5.8 to 5.1.

“I have more energy, my PE class is easier,” he said. “My blood pressure is going down and so is my weight.”

Direct Relief is privileged to support SRCHC as they help children and their families develop healthy habits to improve their well-being.

The post Fighting Childhood Obesity, Reducing Diabetes in Sonoma County appeared first on Direct Relief.

With a goal of improving skin health for people in need across the world, Direct Relief’s activities will include the following:

• Products: Direct Relief is managing the charitable distribution of more than one million units of Vaseline products annually. Many of the Vaseline products will be included in existing Direct Relief kit programs – including Personal Care Packs, Obstetric Fistula Modules, Hurricane Preparedness Packs, Emergency Medical Backpacks, and Midwife Kits.

• Missions: Direct Relief is facilitating Healing Missions focused on improving skin health on the frontlines with health care partners. The organization will be helping coordinate dermatology volunteers who will be serving on the missions and providing dermatological care to areas of high need, including people affected by crisis situations (such as Syrian refugees) and communities that experience devastating emergencies. In addition to Vaseline products, Direct Relief will be providing essential medical aid (including anti-fungal and antibiotic medications) and supplies (gauze, bandages, alcohol, hand sanitizer, etc.) to help improve the skin health of people receiving care at the Healing Missions.

• Advisors: To help provide critical insight into the Healing Project, Direct Relief has create a Dermatology Advisory Board of skin health experts to provide guidance into program elements – such as data collection, training, and reporting impact.

• Data Collection:  Direct Relief is collecting data from a variety of Healing Project components to understand what gaps exist in skin health and product availability, which will determine program build-out in future years.

• Reporting: Direct Relief is working to map, track, and measure the impact of the program, via the development of an Interactive Aid Map that will live on the Vaseline website.

• Training: With input from the Dermatology Advisory Board, Direct Relief will be formulating an educational skin health curriculum to improve diagnoses and treatment on the frontlines.

The idea for The Healing Project stemmed from the insights of dermatologists Dr. Grace Bandow and Dr. Samer Jaber, who highlighted Vaseline Petroleum Jelly as one of the highest priority supplies to treat people suffering from skin conditions in refugee camps following a mission trip to Jordan. You can read their observations in this op-ed written for The Washington Post. This March, both Dr. Bandow and Dr. Jaber were part of the first Healing Mission in Jordan.

You can participate in the program by helping build a virtual kit to help a person in need.

The post The Healing Project: Medical Mission for Syrian Refugees appeared first on Direct Relief.

With the 2015 hurricane season officially underway, Direct Relief has pre-positioned more than $2.6 million in medical aid in 50 communities in nine U.S. states as well as 20 international modules in nine countries that are particularly vulnerable to storm-related health risks.

The emergency supplies are stocked at 68 health facilities near the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, the Caribbean, Central America, Fiji, and the Philippines.

Each U.S. Hurricane Preparedness Pack holds enough medical supplies to treat 100 patients for a variety of conditions, from basic trauma injuries to chronic illnesses, for a 72-hour period, during which follow-on support can be mobilized. The International Modules contain supplies to care for up to 5,000 people for one month.

Following an emergency, people often turn to community health centers and clinics for care. It’s critical that medical facilities in areas most often hit by extreme weather are able to respond immediately to medical needs when time is of the essence.

The packs eliminate shipping delays and ensure resources are available to individuals who are low-income, have chronic medical conditions or have limited access to transportation to evacuate. They contain supplies such as antibiotics, insulin, pain relievers, inhalers, prescriptions for behavioral health conditions, first-aid supplies, and many other items identified as most-needed following an emergency.

Direct Relief first developed the pre-positioned modules for nonprofit clinics and health centers in the U.S. following its extensive responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and its subsequent work with the Texas Blue Ribbon Commission on Emergency Preparedness and Response.

Direct Relief is able to supply the Hurricane Preparedness Packs with donations from individuals, pharmaceutical and medical corporations, and through a long-standing relationship with FedEx.

The Hurricane Preparedness Packs are provided free of charge to healthcare safety-net facilities. If not used for an emergency, the materials are absorbed into clinics’ general inventory to provide care for low-income patients at the end of hurricane season on November 30.

View the map below to see where the Hurricane Preparedness Packs are sent.

The post Vulnerable Communities Stocked with Emergency Medicine as Hurricane Season Begins appeared first on Direct Relief.

The National Association of Christian Churches Disaster Services (NACC) based in Houston, Texas and Community Med Assist in Oklahoma City, Okla. have received a combined total of 250 Family Emergency Kits. The kits contain basic hygiene items to comfort families who were forced to evacuate their homes.

Because of CVS Health’s and Vaseline’s commitment to emergency preparedness, the companies donated the care items which were organized into kits by local volunteers in the spring to be on standby for this type of need, enabling Direct Relief to respond quickly.

Additionally, N95 masks from Covidien and sunscreen from Neutrogena were sent to NACC to support volunteers who are helping with cleanup efforts of the damaged homes.

The Direct Relief Emergency Response Team continues to stay in touch with clinic and health center partners in the affected areas, ready to respond to further requests for assistance as the communities rebuild.

To support emergency response initiatives like this one, donate here.

The post Aid Delivered to Flood-Affected Communities in Texas & Oklahoma appeared first on Direct Relief.

The donation makes the Seattle-based company and developer of popular games, including Destiny, the single largest financial donor to the medical aid organization’s Nepal response efforts.

“As a gamer, we spend our time pretending to save the world. It’s good to get an opportunity to save an actual part of the world through giving,” said Eddie Moreno, a Santa Barbara gamer who participated in the Bungie campaign.

The total $1,026,006.80 for medical relief in Nepal was raised when gamers purchased special t-shirts and a shader and emblem for their in-game character.

“The Bungie community’s amazing support will translate immediately and directly into help for people in Nepal who experienced a tremendous blow, are in a very difficult and more vulnerable situation now as monsoon season nears, and also have a long, tough road ahead,” said Direct Relief CEO, Thomas Tighe. “Every penny will be spent to help strengthen essential health services that were needed before the earthquakes and much more so now.”

To date, Direct Relief has sent more than 119,000 pounds of medical aid supplies to Nepali-based organizations caring for survivors of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck on April 25 and subsequent 7.3 magnitude quake that hit on May 12. Direct Relief is preparing additional emergency shipments that will be delivered on a chartered cargo flight next week.

“It’s great to see where all of it is going. I’m proud to be one of the 50,000 people who bought a shirt,” remarked Moreno after learning more about Direct Relief’s response effort.

Bungie is a new donor to Direct Relief, however they have a history of charitable giving that dates back to Hurricane Katrina. Their executives reported that the campaign for Nepal is their most successful charitable initiative.

“When disaster strikes and aid is needed, Guardians are powerful allies to have on your side,” wrote Bungie in an update to their community. “You’re our pride and joy, Destiny Community. We’re in awe of you every day, and we thank you.”

The gamers said they look forward to more ways they can be a part of charitable efforts through Bungie’s games.

“We really hope that we get to have another opportunity like this again for a much more positive thing rather than just doing it for an emergency,” said Raul Aguirre, a Destiny gamer who was on-hand to present the check. “To all the fellow gamers out there, if you’ve donated, it means a lot.”

The post Bungie Rallies 50,000 Gamers, Raises $1,026,006.80 for Nepal Earthquake Survivors appeared first on Direct Relief.

The massive storms have killed at least nine people and left 30 more missing, prompting a state of emergency to be declared in 24 counties in Texas and 44 in Oklahoma, according to The Washington Post.

Both Direct Relief’s standing inventory of critical medicines and supplies as well as its emergency response stock – items set aside specifically for disaster support efforts – have been made available for these partners.

Staff at the Texas Association of Community Health Centers, Inc. (TACHC) report that many health centers are closed because of the flooding. TACHC has included Direct Relief as an emergency response resource in an email to their contacts.

During and after flooding, many people are at high risk of developing skin, eye, and respiratory infections as well as other waterborne illnesses. Additionally, many people may have lost their critically needed medications in the midst of flooding and/or evacuation.

As the first nonprofit licensed to distribute pharmaceuticals to its network of more than 1,300 clinics and health centers in all 50 states, Direct Relief is uniquely positioned to respond to medical needs during and after emergencies.

To support Direct Relief’s emergency preparedness and response initiatives, donate here.

The post Responding to Deadly Flooding in Texas & Oklahoma appeared first on Direct Relief.

My name is Laxmi Bhatt. I live with my husband and two sons in Baitadi district, Salina 4 in Nepal. I am 32 years old. I married when I was 15 and my first son was born when I was 17 years old. That delivery and the birth of my second son a year later were both very straightforward, fortunately. We live far from the bazaar and health post. Our home is isolated and if we need help it is difficult to find. We are poor and I have to work hard collecting grass and firewood in the forest.

A Painful Childbirth

When my younger son was six years old, I became pregnant again. I didn’t realise until I was already five months pregnant. I didn’t have any antenatal check-ups because I live far from the clinic. When the baby was due, labour pains started at about 10 o’ clock at night. Pain continued until morning and then the baby’s hand appeared.

My husband looked for people to help and eventually I was carried to a hospital in India. We arrived three days after the labour began. They delivered the baby by operation but the baby was already dead. I didn’t regain consciousness until the next day. Then I found I had a catheter in my bladder. I was sent home with the catheter and told to return in 30 days to have it removed. After 15 days, the catheter somehow fell out at home and from then my urine leaked continuously – I couldn’t control it.

We are poor. We have little money and all we had was already spent on the treatment I had in India. So I stayed at home, ashamed of my condition.

Complications Three Years Later

After three years, we heard that there was a doctor at Dadeldhura hospital who could operate for my condition. My family took me there and I had an operation but it was not successful. I came home very sad. After that, more and more health problems developed. My urine burned me when it leaked and I had constant back pain and fever. My husband’s brother took me to India. They gave me some treatment but told me that one of my kidneys was already destroyed and I could die of kidney failure.

Receiving a Diagnosis Six Years Later

It is now six years since this problem began. One day, one of the staff from the health post came and told me that they had received training about my problem. I had an obstetric fistula and in Surkhet there was free treatment for this problem. My husband’s brother took the phone number for International Nepal Fellowship (INF) in Surkhet and phoned to register my name for the camp. They said I should come two months later.

Kidney Damage Delays Repair

I was one of the first to arrive at the hospital. I had lots of investigations, blood tests and ultrasound scan and X- rays. I was told that I had a stone in my bladder and I could not have surgery for the hole in my bladder until the bladder stone was removed and the bladder had recovered. I was also told that there were stones in both of my kidneys and these had caused a lot of damage.

I had an operation to remove a stone the size of a large potato from my bladder. While I was recovering from this I had more tests to see if my kidney function would improve. The results were not good. I was told I needed urgent treatment for the stones in my kidneys and INF arranged for me to go to a hospital in Kathmandu.

All the costs of travel and treatment were paid for me and in B&B hospital I had more tests and then two more major operations, one kidney was removed and all the stones were taken from the other kidney. A month later, I travelled back to Surkhet with my elder son. I was feeling much better and blood tests showed my kidney was recovering. I couldn’t wait to have the operation to close the hole in my bladder. I just wanted to be dry – to go home whole and well.

Dignity Restored

So at last in April I had the operation for fistula – the fourth big operation in six weeks. I wasn’t afraid. I just wanted to be well. I had two weeks to wait until it was time for the catheter to be removed. We laughed a lot- my son and I. The day arrived – the bladder hole was healed and the catheter was removed. At first I found I had to get up to pass urine every few minutes. My bladder just wasn’t used to holding anything. But I was dry and so happy. Every day my bladder could hold a little bit more and at last I was ready to take the three day journey home.

There is a huge change in my life since the operation and all this happiness is thanks to the help INF Surkhet gave me.

***

How You Can Help

You can help surgeons have access to the tools they need to perform these life-changing fistula repair surgeries when you support Direct Relief’s maternal and child health programs by donating at this link. To learn more about obstetric fistula and how it can be repaired and prevented, click here.

The post Laxmi’s Story: Overcoming Challenges to Fistula Repair in Nepal appeared first on Direct Relief.

Santa Barbara resident Bobbie Rubin was recognized as the 2015 Direct Relief Woman of the Year for her passionate support of maternal and child health around the world.

“For many women in many parts of the world childbirth is a game of chance,” said Day-Stirk, in reference to the more than 289,000 women die each year from birth-related causes.

The most consequential intervention for reducing such deaths is the presence of a trained health worker, such as a midwife, during delivery.

Direct Relief has worked with Day-Stirk and the ICM to create a Midwife Kit containing all the tools needed to compliment ICM-approved standards for midwifery training and certification.

Valued at $1,250, each Midwife Kit equates to roughly $25 per safe birth. The funds raised at the Mother’s Day event enable this life-saving program to exist.

“This means that midwives will not have to be in the situation that they are in with no equipment and no commodities,” said Day-Stirk, addressing the realities that many trained midwives face in under-resourced settings.

Following Day-Stirk’s presentation, Andrew Firestone addressed the attendees, serving as the master of ceremonies for the Stand Up and Be Counted portion of the evening.

“Childbirth doesn’t wait for an earthquake, a flood, or a typhoon,” he told the audience, referencing the role of midwives in saving lives during emergencies such as Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and the recent earthquake in Nepal.

This year’s event was made possible by a committee of over 25 members of Direct Relief Women and volunteers from the Santa Barbara Chapter of National Charity League, Santa Barbara City College Sigma Chi Eta, and Youth 4 Direct Relief. Direct Relief Women executive committee members Sharon Hughes and Kim Thomas served as event chairs.

The event was bolstered by financial support of event sponsors, including: Alamo Self-Storage, Allora by Laura, Daniel Gibbings, , European Wax Center, Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Florabundance, Lolë Women, Montecito Bank & Trust, Morton Capital Management, Dr. Susanne Ramos, OB/GYN, Salter Family Charitable Foundation, South Coast Emergency Medical Group, Steve L Karan and Tessa Morehouse, Susan Burns Associates, Coldwell Banker Previews International, and Wyatt Technology.

The post Direct Relief Women Raise Funds for 5,400 Safe Births appeared first on Direct Relief.

“I knew I wanted a midwife,” said Carmen, who is due in late September. “That was very important to me.”

That desire led Carmen to the Eisner Pediatric & Family Medical Center’s Women’s Health Center. Eisner is home to the only midwifery program hosted by a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in the Los Angeles area. Direct Relief has partnered with Eisner since 2008.

When Carmen learned she could deliver in a hospital setting with a midwife, that she’d have the option of a water birth, and that Eisner was close to her house, she knew it was the right place for care during her pregnancy.

Carmen enrolled in the CenteringPregnancy® program, which places pregnant women in support groups of other pregnant women with similar due dates. Eisner is one of three agencies in southern California that offer the unique program.

Run by a nurse-midwife (the same one that attends the deliveries of each woman in their group), the 10-session program helps women learn together throughout their pregnancy.

“It is good to have women around you who are experiencing the same things right alongside you,” said Carmen. “You don’t feel alone about what is happening with your body and your baby. It’s reassuring.”

Nicole Alton, Eisner’s Director of Pharmacy Services, said she’s noticed increasing demand for deliveries by midwives. She said that especially for patients who have emigrated from countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico, the midwife model is more familiar to them.

Alton said that a midwife is seen as more of a “comadre” or godmother-like figure. Because the midwife teaches the monthly courses, they build relationships and trust with the expecting mothers and are available for support between appointments.

Eisner does not charge uninsured patients for the midwife-run CenteringPregnancy® classes, which allows women of all income levels to access this method of pregnancy care. Additionally, the classes are taught in both English and Spanish to make them more accessible to all of the patients they serve. In 2014, nearly 1,250 women took part in the CenteringPregnancy® program.

Since 2008, Direct Relief has delivered more than $825,000 worth (wholesale) of medicines and medical supplies to Eisner, some of which have served as incentives for women participating in this important pregnancy program. Direct Relief is honored to support Eisner’s mission to provide a medical home for underserved communities in Los Angeles.

The post LA Health Center Makes Midwifery Services Available to All Women appeared first on Direct Relief.

The charter carries aid from three relief organizations – Direct Relief, Heart to Heart, and Water Mission.

The plane from Memphis will land in Dubai, U.A.E, where it will meet additional relief supplies. Teams on the ground will prioritize the most urgent shipments and the plane will quickly turn around and head into Kathmandu. Relief teams in Nepal are standing by to offload and distribute the  supplies.

The same plane will return to Dubai to reload another completely full flight. It will then head back to Kathmandu to deliver the rest of the supplies. The FedEx donated transportation and logistics services amount to more than 178,000 pounds of relief supplies for Nepal in the coming days.

Supplies from Direct Relief are valued at nearly $15 million and include prescription medicines, IV solutions, anti-infective agents, gloves, nutritional products, wound care supplies, and medical equipment. The breakdown of materials are as follows:

• 118,771 pounds, 165 skids, over 6 million defined daily doses of medications
• 20 hospital tents with solar lighting to facilitate safe births
• The shipment will support 6 hospitals in and around Katmandu, 5 emergency medical teams, One Heart Worldwide, and the Ministry of Health.

The post FedEx Airlifts Two Planeloads of Relief for Nepal appeared first on Direct Relief.

One person died and at least a dozen more were injured, reports the Associated Press.

The Emergency Response Team has reached out to 190 partners in six affected states – Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Direct Relief has received one request from Lighthouse Medical Clinic in Moore, Okla. which lost power for more than 12 hours and sustained damage from severe flooding.

The team will continue to stay in touch with partners in the area, ready to assist with requests for aid.

Direct Relief’s partners in the Oklahoma City area are equipped with medical outreach backpacks that were sent earlier this spring to assist health workers and responders in their emergency preparedness and response capabilities.

Meteorologists predict more storms could occur in the area later this week. The team will remain on standby for needs from health center partners.

To support Direct Relief’s emergency preparedness and response initiatives, donate here.

The post Responding to Medical Needs After Tornadoes Sweep Southern Plains appeared first on Direct Relief.

After a few visits in which she received personalized education about the disease as well as an adjustment to her medication to tailor her treatment to her specific needs, her diabetes is under control for the first time. Nascha no longer has pain in her feet, her vision is clear, and she has lost 10 pounds since last summer.

Nascha is one of many patients that has improved their health dramatically since the clinical pharmacy program was first implemented at UNHS three years ago. The documented success is part of the reason why UNHS was selected as one of seven winners of the 2014 “Innovations in Care” Award as part of the BD Helping Build Healthy Communities initiative, implemented together with Direct Relief and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC).

The awards seek to recognize innovative approaches to the prevention and treatment of diseases that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations in the U.S.

Serving Utah’s Most Underserved

UNHS serves Utah’s southern San Juan County, including the Utah strip of the Navajo Nation. Since beginning in 2000 with a small health clinic in Montezuma creek, UNHS is now a federally qualified health center (FQHC) with four sites serving one of the most remote areas of the contiguous United States.

Their patient population is 80 percent Navajo, and 57 percent of people in their target area do not have running water, electricity, telephone, or central heat. Between the four sites, UNHS serves 12,875 patients each year, of whom more than 25 percent are uninsured.

Clinical Pharmacists Complement Provider Care

Emily Hunter, a clinical pharmacist at UNHS, said the clinical pharmacy program was developed because of a shortage of providers, which she says is a trend in health care facilities across the nation. Being in a rural area creates additional challenges as it’s harder to attract doctors to serve those areas.

“When you’re in a rural setting, the doctor has to do it all,” said Hunter. “Clinical pharmacists can help these overworked, seeing everybody kind of doctors.”

She said patients are referred to the clinical pharmacist if their primary provider feels they need more time and instruction. Patients spend about 15 minutes with providers, but Hunter says her sessions last about 45 minutes, allowing more personalized care.

Many of the patients have one or more chronic conditions, such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. The clinical pharmacist can help determine if their medication should be increased or decreased, and when to start and stop prescriptions. With a pharmacy on site at all four of UNHS’s locations, it’s easy to help patients make changes.

Overtime, measurable success in participating patients’ health and regular feedback and collaboration between everyone involved has strengthened the program.

“There’s a lot more trust between the providers and pharmacists,” said Hunter.

Personalized Education Helps Break Barriers to Improved Health

Hunter said that often in her sessions with patients, she spends time explaining basic facts about diabetes. Many people – even those who have been diagnosed for 10 years – don’t fully understand what’s going on, what sugar has to do with their condition, and how to make changes.

She frequently uses a white board to draw and explain the complexities of the condition. “It makes the biggest difference,” she said.

Hunter said solutions for better health consist of fine-tuning the patient’s medication, nutrition intake, and exercise habits.

But with poor access to good food on the reservation, nutritious meals can be difficult. Additionally, Hunter says she often encounters resistance to exercise in the area UNHS serves. There are no bike paths, very few paved roads, hardly any gyms, no swimming pools, and little access to the local track.

Much of the time, she recommends that people simply walk as it is the most convenient form of exercise under the circumstances.

Furthermore, when first starting the clinical pharmacy program, providing effective translation services was a challenge – even for native speakers.

“A lot of terms in Navajo do not have a direct translation,” said Stephanie Makihele, who works in program development for UNHS.

She said that after their translators attended a medical terminology session, they came back feeling much more confident about how to explain things to the patients.

Moreover, UNHS has a traditional Navajo healer on staff who is called in occasionally to help a patient understand how a provider’s recommendation can be in alignment with traditional medical practices.

This culturally sensitive care delivered in the patient’s native language has helped build trust between patients and health workers at UNHS.

BD Award Comes at a Critical Time

Makihele said the BD Helping Build Healthy Communities Award came at a time when UNHS was struggling to keep the clinical pharmacy program running.

“We felt like if we could continue the program, we would have enough good results to get more funding,” she said. “[The award has] been a critical resource for us and we are extremely grateful.

Makihele said most of the services provided through the program are not reimbursable through Medicaid, and that the funding helps offset what they have to pay for.

Direct Relief is privileged to work with partners like UNHS who are using innovative practices to help people in need, like Nascha, improve their health and lives.

*Name has been changed to protect patient privacy

The post Clinical Pharmacists Help People in Need Manage Chronic Conditions in Southern Utah appeared first on Direct Relief.

Unfortunately, she also tested positive for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which weakens the body’s ability to fight infections and disease. Without treatment, it can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy. Asha was completely unaware of her HIV status prior to getting tested.

Providers at MHHC helped Asha access prenatal care as well as antiretroviral treatment, which helps keep the level of HIV virus low and prevent it from progressing to AIDS – the final stage of HIV infection.

Months later, Asha delivered a healthy baby girl who is HIV-negative. Additionally, her own viral load is currently undetectable and Asha now provides coaching and support to other women she knows who are newly diagnosed.

Recognizing Improved Access to HIV Care

Asha’s story is one example of the power of MHHC’s Helping Hands Project – a project in which volunteer recruiters, like Kalina, encourage people in their communities to get tested for HIV and help link them to care.

Since implementing Helping Hands in 2012, they have seen a slow but steady increase in identifying individuals with HIV and connecting them with services.

These results over time are one reason why MHHC was selected as one of seven winners of the 2014 “Innovations in Care” Award as part of the BD Helping Build Healthy Communities initiative, implemented together with Direct Relief and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC).

The awards seek to recognize innovative approaches to the prevention and treatment of diseases that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations in the U.S.

Building a Program on Proven Success

Helping Hands is based on the success of the Social Networks Demonstration Program, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) between 2003 to 2005.

It was found that using community members who have tested for HIV and are dedicated to awareness was highly effective in reaching people at risk and connecting them with resources.

Morris Heights responded by using this proven strategy to help identify HIV-positive residents in the Bronx as soon as possible to immediately link them to treatment services through the creation of its Helping Hands Project.

HIV Prevalence in the Bronx Prompts Outreach

According to Ms. Candace Jones, program manager for CARE Services (MHHC’s HIV Program), peer-driven programming is much-needed in the community MHHC serves as the Bronx has an HIV prevalence that is higher than the city-wide rate (1.7 percent vs 1.3 percent respectively). Some neighborhoods in the area have rates as high as 2.2 percent, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

But for each person with HIV captured in the data, there are many others who don’t know their status. In the U.S., more than one million people are living with HIV, and it is estimated that nearly 1/4 of those infected are unaware.

The lack of awareness poses a major public health risk as the transmission rate of people who are unaware is estimated to be at least three and a half times greater than the rate of the transmission of HIV by people who are aware of their infection status.

Barriers to Getting Tested

Though MHHC provides testing at no cost to people without insurance, many other barriers exist. Jones said that many sub-populations “have been extremely difficult to infiltrate because of stigma.”

Jones said that in addition to stigma, other barriers to testing include: fear or mistrust of an organized system (especially among undocumented community members), poverty, mental health, substance use, comorbidities like hepatitis, and lack of knowledge about how to access resources.

That’s why training recruiters like Kalina, who already have existing knowledge, trust, and relationships within these communities, has made significant advancements in getting at-risk people tested and linked to care.

Enhancing Helping Hands as Program Expands

To further refine the Helping Hands Project, MHHC decided to implement a formal training component to strengthen community members’ communication skills and provide them with the tools to conduct effective outreach to engage, refer and link their social networks in care through testing.

Participants of the Helping Hands Project are MHHC patients. The health education training they receive also provides them with the skills to educate their peers on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, including Hepatitis C.

This training, which will be implemented with funds from the award, will help recruiters better articulate the benefits of testing and increase their ability to confidently educate peers in their social networks on HIV modes of transmission, harm and risk reduction.

To date, the BD Helping Build Healthy Communities Award has:

• Funded peer advocates who function as recruiters
• Enabled MHHC to facilitate trainings in-house
• Provided incentives for more than 200 people to receive HIV testing

Morris Heights: Helping the Underserved Since 1981

MHHC was established in 1981 and emerged as a premiere and much-needed medical presence for the medically underserved and socially disadvantaged populations of the Central and South Bronx.

MHHC consists of six diagnostic and treatment centers, two licensed Mental Health Counseling Centers, a Women’s Health Pavilion, a Mobile Medical Unit, and 15 school-based health centers.

Each year, MHHC serves more than 48,000 patients, of whom 13,000 are uninsured. In 2013, the organization tested more than 13,000 patients for HIV.

Their dedication to looking past the statistics to reach individuals like Asha is making a difference in the health and lives of people in the community.

*names have been changed to protect patient privacy

The post Helping Hands Increase HIV Testing & Treatment in the Bronx appeared first on Direct Relief.

The delivery, bound for the Foundation for Education, Social, and Economic Development (FEDES), includes first aid supplies, exam gloves, and hygiene items for people evacuated to shelters.

Authorities reported last week that the fire was contained. One person was killed and nearly two dozen others injured. Direct Relief is expediting the shipment for the internally displaced families still living in temporary shelters.

A large supply of face masks are included in the shipment, which will also prepare FEDES for future disaster responses, like fires and volcanic eruptions.

The fire comes nearly one year after Direct Relief responded to a fire that spread through Valparaíso, killing 15 people and destroying at least 2,000 homes.

To support Direct Relief’s emergency preparedness and response programs, click here.

The post Aid Bound for Chile Following Wildfire Near Port Cities appeared first on Direct Relief.

The packs will assist health workers and responders in their emergency preparedness and response capabilities and will also be used for street outreach and health fairs.

Modeled after Direct Relief’s Medical Reserve Corps packs, these specially designed backpacks contain supplies and equipment to meet a variety of disaster-related health needs, including infection control, diagnostics, trauma care, and personal protection tools.

Some are designated as ongoing support for disaster-affected areas, including equipping every mobile medical unit operated by New York and New Jersey health centers as well as packs designated for clinics affected by the tornadoes in Moore, Okla. Other packs will go to Direct Relief partners across the nation who requested the packs for their outreach programs.

The ability to go to where the patient is located and provide care is a unique and essential service of health centers and clinics that is critical both in emergencies as well as routine health care.

The backpacks were organized with help from local volunteers, including students from Bishop Garcia Diego High School; a dozen nursing students from Santa Barbara City College; and employees from Vaseline and CVS Health stores, who supported the initiative.

The post 400 Medical Outreach Packs Bound for Responders Across the U.S. appeared first on Direct Relief.

Volunteer Molly Green came with her daughter and said it was very special for them to celebrate International Women’s Day together as empowering women and girls is a passion they share.

“Direct Relief has always been near and dear to our hearts and we’re so impressed with the work that [Direct Relief] does and the impact it has on the world,” said Green.

Obstetric fistula is a hole in the birth canal caused by prolonged and obstructed labor that, if untreated, leaves women with constant and uncontrollable leakage of urine and/or feces. In addition to physical injuries, many women with fistula suffer humiliation, isolation, and stigma as a result of the smell and constant leakage.

The condition can often be repaired with surgery, but many women who are eligible for surgery are placed on a waiting list. Sometimes it can take weeks and possibly even months for the women who have been identified as candidates to receive the repair surgery.

That’s why Direct Relief developed the Dignity Kits – a type of care pack for women who are awaiting obstetric fistula surgery. The kits contain cleansing spray, soap, moisturizer, maternity pads, cleansing wipes, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a notepad.

These items were made available with generous donations from 3M, Covidien, Henry Schein, Neutrogena, Sappo Hill Soapworks, and individuals.

Each kit is valued at about $30 each. To support Direct Relief’s maternal and child health programs, you can make a donation here.

The post 1,000 Dignity Kits Readied for Women Awaiting Obstetric Fistula Repair appeared first on Direct Relief.

He continued to lose motor abilities and some of his facial features began to develop atypically, prompting his parents to consult a physician. After seeing about half a dozen doctors and specialists, Arian and his family received a confirmed diagnosis of MPS II, also known as Hunter syndrome.

At the time of his diagnosis in early 2006, there were no treatment options available in the world for MPS II.

“It was beyond our comprehension that there was no medicine that could help our only child,” wrote Arian’s father Sib in a letter. “Our world collapsed around us and we felt as if we had lost everything that mattered to us.”

What is MPS II/Hunter syndrome?

MPS II is an inherited rare disease and is estimated to affect 1 in 100,000 to 1 in 150,000 males, according to the MPS Society. A disease or disorder is defined as rare when it affects fewer than 1 in 2,000 people in Europe and fewer than 200,000 in the United States.

One of the mucopolysaccharide diseases, people with MPS II are missing an enzyme that helps break down specific types of sugar molecules in the body. The incomplete breakdown causes progressive damage to many parts of the body.

The damage over time leads to joint stiffness, coarse features of the face, and affects mental function, among other symptoms. There is no cure for MPS diseases, but there are ways of managing and treating the problems they cause.

Elaprase: An Out-of-Reach Solution

Shortly after Arian’s diagnosis, Elaprase – a drug manufactured by specialty bio-pharmaceutical company, Shire – was approved as a treatment for MPS II in some countries. Elaprase is designed to replace the enzyme that is missing or defective in patients with Hunter syndrome.

Among other measures, it has been shown to improve walking capacity in patients five years and older. To receive Elaprase, you go to a treatment center every week to receive it intravenously.

However, the treatment was not available in India. Furthermore, the high cost of the medicine limited their family’s ability to afford the treatment. In fact, Forbes included Elaprase on their 2010 “World’s Most Expensive Drugs” list at around $375,000 per year.

“We felt so helpless watching Arian’s condition deteriorate compounded by the fact that there is treatment available that we couldn’t afford,” wrote Sib.

Their family began to speak up, spreading the word about Arian’s condition to Indian policy makers and starting a #SaveArian campaign to help raise money that garnered support from many on Twitter.

Global Charitable Access Program Provides Hope

About two years ago, Shire and Direct Relief partnered to launch the Shire Global Charitable Access Program to improve access to Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT) for those living with Lysosomal Storage Diseases (LSDs) – like MPS II – in countries where Shire’s products are not commercially available.

Through the program, Shire and Direct Relief are providing allocated Enzyme Replacement Therapy free-of-charge to patients that qualify. Physicians apply on behalf of their patients and their applications are then reviewed by an independent Medical Expert Committee.

Arian was accepted to the program last summer.

His father wrote that after receiving the news that Arian had been approved, “it took us several minutes of silence to really comprehend what we had heard and then we cried tears of joy.”

Observing Rare Disease Day

Having just turned 13 years old, Arian has much to celebrate this week as people like him will be recognized worldwide on February 28, Rare Disease Day.

The goal of Rare Disease Day is to raise awareness among the general public and decision makers and advocate for advancement in national plans and policies for rare diseases. Access to treatment for those with rare or special conditions can be a big challenge, even in developed parts of the world.

In 2010, an advocacy organization formed in New Delhi called the Lysosomal Storage Disorders Support Society (LSDSS). The Chowdhury’s became members and have since been advocating for Arian and other children across India suffering from LSDs. On Rare Disease Day, they will continue to speak out on behalf of other families who share their struggle.

“Our struggle isn’t just a struggle for one family. It is that of many. The hope we now have for our son should be the hope of these families for their children, too,” wrote Sid.

The post Arian’s Story: A Reason to Advocate on Rare Disease Day appeared first on Direct Relief.

To better understand why the peculiar pattern was occurring, Crystal asked Deborah about her activities on Tuesday night. She found out Deborah belonged to a sorority and that each Tuesday, the group ate dinner together at the same restaurant.

Crystal pulled up the menu of the restaurant and asked what Deborah usually ordered. She suggested Deborah try some of the more heart-healthy dishes on the menu. After their discussion, Crystal noticed that Deborah’s levels on Wednesday mornings became more consistent with the rest of the week.

This situation is what RCCHC CEO Kim Schwartz calls a “teachable moment” in which the real-time tracking and data from the remote patient monitoring program helps improve the patient’s knowledge of their chronic condition, empowering them to take charge of their own care.

High Need Breeds Innovative Solutions

Positive results like these among their patients with chronic disease – particularly diabetes – is just one of the reasons why RCCHC was selected as one of seven winners of the 2014 “Innovations in Care” Award as part of the BD Helping Build Healthy Communities initiative, implemented together with Direct Relief and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC).

The awards seek to recognize innovative approaches to the prevention and treatment of diseases that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations in the U.S.

Schwartz said RCCHC was an early adopter of remote monitoring for patients with chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension. With a background in telehealth, she helped kick-off the program at RCCHC in 2006. Though many still consider remote monitoring to be “cutting-edge” in medicine, for RCCHC, the innovative project came out of high need.

RCCHC is a federally qualified health center (FQHC) serving 14,000 patients annually with four locations in northeastern North Carolina that are completely rural. Schwartz said there is no public transportation, so getting to the health center regularly is difficult for many patients.

Additionally, many cannot afford frequent visits. In the four counties served by RCCHC, 53 percent of the population have incomes at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (for a family of four, an income of $47,700) and nearly 20 percent of residents in their service area are uninsured.

To have more frequent contact between the patient and primary care provider and also help detect potential problems early and keep patients from going to the hospital or emergency room, they needed data tracked daily.

How Remote Patient Monitoring Works

The program identifies patients with chronic conditions and provides them with monitoring equipment installed in the home at no cost to them, which is possible because the program is entirely funded by grants, such as the BD Helping Build Healthy Communities Award. Schwartz said the majority of the participants are Medicare patients and that the consistent monitoring keeps them from needed a higher level of care.

Some patients receive the equipment and instructions at the clinic, but most of the time, their nurse case manager comes to their home to set up the equipment for them. Everything is connected wirelessly to a server that Schwartz says is about the size of a hamburger. After a patient has done all their needed screenings (blood pressure, pulse, body weight, blood sugar level), the device transmits the readings and data.

A nurse care manager directly communicates the information to the primary care physician via their electronic medical record. Rather than taking a guess at what’s happened with the patient in the three months between appointments, providers now have hard data that’s tracked daily and not able to be disputed.

Schwartz said it takes about six months of participation to reinforce the change in the patient. The program overall has brought about tremendous progress for health in the surrounding area. Schwartz said there’s been a 75 percent reduction in hospital admissions/re-admissions among participants in the program.

Restoring Lives Through Partnership

While the program is producing measurable results, for Schwartz the most important evaluation is the lives changed.

She gave the example of a patient who is a minister living with hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). His condition became exacerbated and he couldn’t figure out why. Eventually, he wasn’t able to leave his home anymore because of complications.

After being part of the remote monitoring program, he was able to work with a nurse and primary provider to better understand lifestyle changes that needed to be made. He’s now preaching again, which has restored his emotional and spiritual wellness. Schwartz said he told her, “What keeps me well is being able to do my life’s work.”

Schwartz said the partnership is what allows patients with chronic conditions to lead a full life. “We love Direct Relief and BD.”

Direct Relief has supported RCCHC since 2009 with 38 shipments of medicines and supplies valued at more than $175,000 (wholesale). RCCHC is also part of the annual Hurricane Preparedness Program and was recently brought on as a Replenishment Program partner.

*Patient name has been changed to protect privacy.

The post Remote Monitoring Helps People in North Carolina Manage Chronic Conditions appeared first on Direct Relief.

“We could not have gone to a pharmacy fast enough to buy supplies to distribute them to those people as quickly as we were able to access the Direct Relief disaster kit and get them in the hands of the people here who needed them,” he said in the message.

Atkinson is referring to the Emergency Preparedness Module pre-positioned on site in June. The modules are filled with versatile materials such as antibiotics, syringes, basic first aid supplies, and medications that can save lives during various types of emergencies. He said the particulate masks in the module were distributed to firemen, military personnel, and ambulance workers who helped with response.

Direct Relief is preparing an air shipment of essential medicines to help people still affected by the volcanic ash. Scheduled to leave next week, it will contain more masks, eye drops, medicine for upper respiratory infections, hygiene items, and basic first aid supplies.

To support Direct Relief’s emergency preparedness and response programs that enable people in need to receive care immediately after a disaster like this one, click here.

Related post: Responding to Medical Needs After Volcano Erupts in Guatemala

The post Guatemala Health Partner Sends Thanks for Response to Fuego Volcano Eruption appeared first on Direct Relief.

Thirty-seven children in Santa Barbara County received dental care free-of-charge on Saturday as part of the Healthy Smiles program, coordinated by Direct Relief in collaboration with other local organizations. The clinic is held annually during February, National Children’s Dental Health Month.

Hosted at the office of Dr. Samuel Burg in Santa Maria, California, the goal of Healthy Smiles is to screen, identify, treat, and educate children in need to ensure that their current dental problems do not develop into more complex health conditions.

However, many families cannot afford the cost of dental care, leaving their children without regular cleanings and check-ups. Below are stories of three families who wanted to share their thanks for services received from volunteer dentists and hygienists at this year’s dental clinic:

Naya & Nina:

Sisters Naya, 12, and Nina, 9, arrived in California less than two years ago when their family sought refuge from the escalating conflict in Syria. Their parents said that without the clinic, their girls would not be able to receive dental care as insurance issues for refugees can make it difficult to access regular dental visits.

Juan Carlos:

Juan Carlos, 13, came to the dental clinic for the second year. His mother, Imelda, told Direct Relief that because their family cannot afford dental insurance, the clinics are the only way they can get dental care for their two sons, Juan Carlos and Stephen. She said they were very happy to learn Juan Carlos was accepted after being on the waiting list for some time. Juan Carlos’ father has molar pain and said he is grateful his children can access these services to prevent them from the same suffering.

Jose Alberto:

Jose Alberto, 11, said this was his second-ever visit to the dentist. Jose Alberto had three permanent rotten molars in need of emergency attention and will be receiving follow up care to prevent further damage. He arrived in the U.S. five months ago from Honduras, accompanied by his mother, Mirean. She was thrilled her son was accepted into the program as she lost her job due to injury several months ago and cannot afford insurance. Mirean said the two came to the country to flee violence at home and are working to create a better life in California.

Beyond the One-Day Clinic

In addition to medical treatment, families receive bilingual oral health education when they arrive at the clinic, providing them the information they need to ensure proper care at home.

Each family also takes home a dental hygiene kit containing toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss, which were donated by many health care manufacturers to Direct Relief and packed by local volunteers.

Related post: Healthy Smiles, Healthy Futures for California Kids in Need

The post Dental Clinic Helps Central Coast Children Smile Brighter appeared first on Direct Relief.

Each small group of volunteers took with them lotion, sunscreen, and Neosporin donated by Direct Relief as well as granola bars, socks, and a brochure on local social services provided by other local businesses and individuals.

While seemingly small items, these served as “tools of engagement” to help initiate a friendly conversation between the volunteers and the people they surveyed.

“Outreach items serve as incentives for individuals and families to take the survey, while also helping them meet some of their most basic needs,” said Jeff Shaffer, community coordinator for the Central Coast Collaborative on Homelessness.

“They also serve as relationship starters – an easy way for volunteers to begin the conversation with people they have met on the streets or in their vehicles for the first time,” he added.

The survey – which includes questions about medical history, veteran status, history of homelessness and more – is conducted as part of a the national Point-in-Time index required for funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Santa Barbara County survey also includes a Vulnerability Index developed by local groups to attain additional information.

The results and data from the survey are used throughout the year to help connect people in need with service providers. Since the first survey was conducted in 2011, more than 1,000 people have been placed in housing, reports the Santa Barbara Independent.

Beyond the quantitative data, the survey also serves as a way to develop relationships between volunteers and people in need in their community, fostering a better understanding of homelessness and the people experiencing it.

Direct Relief is honored to support the work of its amazing local partners – Common Ground Santa Barbara County and the Central Coast Collaborative on Homelessness – in this important survey that seeks to ensure the most vulnerable people in the community are counted.

The post Counting the Most Vulnerable People in Santa Barbara County appeared first on Direct Relief.

With the substantial decrease in new Ebola cases in recent weeks, the airlift represents a pivot toward helping local health facilities deal with both the pre-existing health challenges exacerbated by the outbreak as well as the still serious threats that Ebola presents.

Dozens of primary care facilities shuttered during the crisis; malaria and other conditions went untreated; vaccination programs were suspended, prompting a recent measles outbreak; and pregnancy-related complications saw an uptick as more women gave birth at home.

“As the focus shifts to long-term health systems strengthening in West Africa, these items will help restore confidence in health care for both providers and people seeking care,” said Andrew MacCalla, Director of Emergency Response and International Programs at Direct Relief.

Each module contains 36 of the essential supplies needed to operate a functional medical clinic for two months, including items such as surgical gowns, gloves, masks, lanterns, medical disposal bins, and non-contact thermometers. The contents were developed in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Ministry of Health of Liberia, and Last Mile Health.

The supplies contained in the modules were donated, in part, by the City of Yokohama, 3M, BD, California Nurses Foundation, and One Million Lights. Additional supplies were purchased through a grant from The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

Another 17 modules will ship later in the month for a total of 100 modules. In Liberia, 40 modules will be distributed by Last Mile Health. In Sierra Leone, 10 modules will be distributed by Wellbody Alliance and 50 modules will be distributed by Medical Research Centre. Prescription medicines contained on the airlift will also be delivered to all three of these partners, as well as to Africare in Liberia.

The pharmaceutical supplies were made possible by Accord Healthcare, Inc., Actavis Pharma, Inc., Bayer Corporation – USA, Baxter International, Inc., GSK, Hospira, Inc., Mylan Inc., Prestige Brands, and Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Since Direct Relief began responding to the Ebola outbreak last spring, the organization has sent 40 shipments of Ebola relief aid valued at $25 million (wholesale), which have been distributed to more than 1,000 clinics and health centers in West Africa, in coordination with partner agencies.

The post 747 Jets to West Africa as Ebola Response Pivots toward Recovery appeared first on Direct Relief.

“Their eyes are lighting up,” she said. “That simple knowledge helps them feel they have a lot of control.”

Leah helps support the cervical cancer screening program at the Charles Drew Health Center (CDHC) of Omaha, Nebraska – one of seven community health center winners of the 2014 BD Helping Build Healthy Communities Innovations in Care Awards, which seeks to support innovative approaches that address health disparities affecting underserved and vulnerable populations in the U.S.

Each awardee received $100,000 to allow them to continue and/or expand their models of care. The initiative is funded by global medical technology company BD and implemented together with Direct Relief and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC).

Because of the award, CDHC was able to hire Leah to work one-on-one with people in the community, helping eliminate barriers to getting an appointment for cervical cancer screening.

Screening Saves Lives

Since starting in October 2014, Leah (who has a background in social work and previously worked for the American Cancer Society) has helped craft a campaign for the community to get screened, with the simple, but true message: “Screening Saves Lives.”

Cervical cancer is the easiest female cancer to prevent. Leah said 80-85 percent of women are affected by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Many clear the virus on their own, but for the percentage who don’t, Leah says it can take about 12 years to develop into cervical cancer. However, she said that with regular screening, “it should not be an issue.”

But lack of access to screening prevents some from receiving these life-saving services. Several years ago, CDHC staff recognized that women receiving health care services through its homeless and public housing health centers and women that are uninsured were less likely to receive screening services.

Additionally, the CDHC target patient area is 45 percent African American, and African American women develop cervical cancer more often than white women and are more than twice as likely to die from it, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health.

CDHC CEO Kenny McMorris said that these statistics, along with Omaha’s high rate of sexually transmitted diseases, caused the team at CDHC to prioritize a screening program for their patients.

“The opportunity to get screened is a challenge for underserved populations,” he said.

By implementing a team-based approach, using electronic health records to generate notifications for patients past due for their Pap smear, and hiring a Women’s Health Case Manager, the team at CDHC saw a 100 percent increase in the number of patients screened after program implementation.

Reaching the Underserved

Part of the reason for the success of the program is because the team at CDHC works to eliminate barriers to getting a health appointment. This includes financial, transportation, language, and cultural barriers, among others.

Kenny said that Omaha is one of the top five cities in the U.S. for refugee resettlement. In order to help this population receive care, Leah speaks every other week as part of the Lutheran Family Services refugee program, helping inform refugees of how to access the services offered at CDHC.

Once a patient comes to the center, they have a team of nearly 40 translators that speak 25 languages and 36 different dialects who are on hand to help alleviate barriers to care. CDHC also offers a sliding-fee scale pay system to help patients afford the screening services.

But Leah said another less obvious barrier to making an appointment exists – lack of self-esteem.

“If a woman doesn’t feel good about herself, why would she be invested in making the call to get screening?”

She said that’s why the CDHC focus on building personal relationships with their patients in need works.

“Having a one-on-one approach is the best.”

Partnering to Help More People

Kenny said that the BD Helping Build Healthy Communities Award allows CDHC to multiply their efforts around cervical cancer screening services.

“We’re always charged with doing more with less,” he said. “It helps to have partners that get our mission, purpose, and understand that the little things go a long way.”

Opening in 1983, CDHC currently provides comprehensive health services to more than 11,000 patients from the Douglas County area each year. Nearly half of them are uninsured.

Charles Drew Health Center has been a Direct Relief partner since April 2009. Since then, they have received more than $228,000 worth (wholesale) of medicines and supplies to support their ongoing work treating people in need in the Omaha community.

The post Expanding Cervical Cancer Screening for Underserved Women in Omaha appeared first on Direct Relief.

Every Tuesday, including this week, Edythe comes to Direct Relief to hand-write thank you notes to supporters, brightening the day of everyone she meets with her incredible sense of humor and quick wit.

Her lifelong example of selfless commitment to others speaks far louder than her soft voice. And her advice to stay positive, not worry about things that can’t be changed, and give back to help people who need it is a powerful reminder and sure seems to work.

Just wanted to share Edythe’s milestone with you and everyone who is part of Direct Relief and makes the work special, with the hopes it lifts your day.

Please consider sending Edythe a birthday message on yet another amazing milestone. (When she learned this week that she’s Facebook’s oldest user, she laughed and said, “Well, I’m pretty much the oldest everything.”)

The post Inspiring: Volunteer Edythe Turns 107! appeared first on Direct Relief.

Edythe turns 107 on January 22, but wanted to celebrate on a Tuesday – the day she regularly comes to the office to help write thank you letters to supporters with her fellow volunteers.

“I hope to continue coming to Direct Relief for many years to come,” Edythe told the guests.

Santa Barbara Chief of Police Cam Sanchez named Edythe “Honorary Chief of Police” for a day on behalf of the Department for being an “Outstanding Santa Barbaran” for her 40 years of service with Direct Relief as well as her clean driving record.

Additionally, Edythe learned from former Chairman of the Board Tom Cusack that when Direct Relief builds its new headquarters, there will a room dedicated to volunteer activities that will be named after her because she embodies the spirit of volunteerism.

The Santa Barbara resident garnered international attention two years ago with appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Access Hollywood Live in which she inspired the world to make a difference by raising awareness for Direct Relief’s work improving the health and lives of people in need.

As the oldest registered Facebook user, Kirchmaier’s 105^th birthday wish was to get 105,000 people to like Direct Relief’s Facebook page. She surpassed her goal and continues to raise awareness and give back to the organization.

A special thanks to Lazy Acres Market for donating Edythe’s birthday cake, the Montecito Starbucks for providing coffee, and Von’s Fairview for donating birthday balloons.

View her 107th birthday video here.

The post Chief for a Day: Celebrating Edythe’s 107th Birthday appeared first on Direct Relief.

Helping Soldiers Abroad & Citizens at Home During World War I

Edythe’s commitment to others dates back to when she was 10 years old and knit “cootie catchers” for soldiers serving in World War I. Because of dirty conditions in the trenches, the soldiers’ clothing and bodies would often become infested with lice (or cooties). The cootie catchers were a belt that they could tie around their waist when they slept at night. Attracted to the warmth, the lice would burrow in the belts which the soldiers would then burn in the morning, helping keep them free of painful itchiness and discomfort.

Right around the time Edythe (then Edythe King) was making cootie catchers for soldiers abroad, she continued to care about people in need living near her childhood home in Springfield, Ohio. She asked her mother if she could bring food in a basket to school for the poor children. Her mother told her, “there’s no one poorer than we are” but allowed Edythe to take food to school anyway. Edythe says that her mother would often provide food to people in poverty in exchange for work around the house and that this influenced her own desire to help others.

Pursuing the Emerging Field of Social Work

Edythe studied social work while attending Ohio State University, though she says in undergraduate school she was “just too busy having fun” to volunteer much. She attained her degree in 1930.

She continued to pursue studies in social work, enrolling in a master’s program at the University of Chicago in 1931. She took classes and did field work through 1934, but didn’t complete her degree because she had to help her family at home. While at U Chicago, she studied under pioneers of the emerging field, such as Edith Abbott and Jane Addams.

During her time in Chicago, Edythe lived at Howell Neighborhood House, which at the time was in the Czech neighborhood. In exchange for room and board, Edythe would spend time with the teenage Czech girls who lived there. She said she taught them things such as how to fix their hair and do their nails and makeup. She also helped them buy clothes. “They were so appreciative of anything that was done,” Edythe reflected.

Afterward, she lived at Hull House at the Jane Club, or a cooperative for working women. While there, she worked with Mexican immigrant girls whose families were receiving aid, helping them to adjust to culture in the United States.

Moving to California

Edythe took a job in the Illinois state welfare office where she met her soon-to-be husband, Joe Kirchmaier. A few years after marrying, they moved to Lompoc, California where Joe worked as a Red Cross Field Director during World War II.

During this time, they had their two children, but family duties didn’t stop the couple from finding ways to help in the community. Edythe said that because of the war, meat was in short supply and so they raised rabbits to sell to people who couldn’t afford to buy other meat. She says their family never ate the rabbits though, because it was too traumatic for the children.

They moved their family to Santa Barbara in 1948 to the house that Edythe continues to live in today. She worked at Family Service Agency, but found time to give back to her kids and community. Edythe served as a leader for the high school youth group at the First Presbyterian Church, where she is still a member today. She was also a Girl Scout leader for her daughter’s troop.

Volunteering at Direct Relief

After Edythe and Joe retired, they saw an ad in the newspaper seeking volunteers to serve abroad for Direct Relief. They served two 18-month terms teaching abroad in Taiwan starting in 1976 and continued to stay involved in the organization upon their return to the states.

Though Joe passed away seven years ago, Edythe continues to come to the office nearly every Tuesday morning, hand-writing thank you letters for supporters of Direct Relief with a tight knit group of fellow volunteers. She says it is one of the highlights of her week and that “Direct Relief is like my second home.”

Join Us in Honoring Edythe

Edythe will be celebrating her birthday next week with Direct Relief. Beyond her personal contributions to the charity, including hitting her goal of getting 105,000 likes on Direct Relief’s Facebook page to raise awareness,  Edythe has inspired thousands of people around the world through appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Today Show, and the Oprah Winfrey Network’s Super Soul Sunday.

Her message of staying positive, not worrying about things that can’t be changed and giving back to others has touched the lives of many. Please join Direct Relief in honoring this amazing woman.

The post A Lifetime of Giving Back: Celebrating Edythe Kirchmaier at 107 appeared first on Direct Relief.

Progress has been made. Lost amid the negative headlines are the ample stories of hope the Direct Relief team sees on the ground. Backed by the generosity of people like you, Direct Relief has transformed its immediate disaster response into a commitment to making quality health care viable for the long term in Haiti – a country where Direct Relief has worked for almost 50 years.

View the full report here: Haiti Five Year Report

The response is now focused on the following three objectives:

Helping Underserved People Access Needed Medical Care

Direct Relief continues to be among the largest providers of medical material aid to Haiti by supporting 115 health facilities serving 4 million people throughout the country.

Since the 2010 earthquake, Direct Relief has sent 932 deliveries of medicines and medical supplies valued at more than $144 million to its network of on-the-ground health facilities treating the most underserved people in Haiti.

These deliveries support the efforts of large international organizations like Partners In Health as well as locally established organizations such as the Saint Damien Pediatric Hospital – the only free pediatric hospital in Haiti – and many more.

The ongoing medical support was heightened during subsequent emergencies such as the cholera outbreak and most recently, the spread of chikungunya virus throughout the region.

Repairing and Re-equipping Health Centers

Direct Relief helped restore damaged health centers throughout Haiti, with the majority of this work completed in the three years following the quake. For example, in Northern Haiti, Direct Relief worked with Haiti Hospital Appeal to fully equip their operating theater, allowing them to provide quality care to thousands of vulnerable women in the surrounding region.

Increasing Capacity and Building Resilience

Direct Relief is working with partners in Haiti to strengthen resiliency among health systems addressing critical health issues and those reaching the most disadvantaged by supporting local training efforts, including:

• Midwife training sessions at five birthing centers in Haiti in collaboration with Mother Health International
• Training health workers to screen for cervical cancer in collaboration with Basic Health International and St. Luc’s Manitane Clinic

What’s Next?

• Ongoing support of local partners – Direct Relief will continue providing requested medical aid to its local partners to ensure ongoing health services for people in need
• Sustaining relationships with Haiti’s Department of Health – These relationships with health officials ensure local feedback and help guide efforts to plan and implement long-term solutions to strengthen resiliency.
• Maintaining warehouse operations in Port-Au-Prince – Direct Relief’s in-country warehouse allows the supply chain management to be carried out locally, which enables the support of a large number of small clinics who would otherwise not be able to receive medical aid because of Haiti’s strict customs regulations.
• Boosting local health worker capacity – Direct Relief continues to promote local capacity building by bolstering local partner efforts to scale health worker training in numerous specialties.
• Continuing disaster preparedness initiatives – Each year at the beginning of  hurricane season, Direct Relief sends preparedness modules containing enough medical supplies to treat 5,000 people for a month to partners in Haiti for immediate use following a storm or other emergency.

How You Can Help

People in Haiti need your support to keep building back better. Efforts in the country will continue to be a focus for Direct Relief’s ongoing work. Be a part of the commitment to long-term resiliency, make a donation here.

*Consistent with Direct Relief’s policy, 100 percent of contributions received for Haiti have been used in support of the efforts to strengthen health care systems in Haiti.

The post Five Years After Quake, Committed to Improving Health in Haiti appeared first on Direct Relief.

While a new dedicated Ebola care center was constructed for foreign health care workers who may contract the Ebola virus, the facility is not available for local Sierra Leonean health workers.

With Sierra Leone experiencing roughly 100 new cases of Ebola each day, the newly arrived tents will serve as a dedicated unit for local health workers in need of care. Each tent is 500 square feet and comes with a lighting system, air conditioning, privacy screens, air filtration systems, and portable beds. The sanitation system will be set up by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and the Medical Research Centre.

The tents and medical supplies were funded by a generous grant from The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

To date, 11 of the 12 Sierra Leonean doctors to contract the virus have died. The most recent, Dr. Victor Willoughby, died last week after contracting the virus from a patient. According to the World Health Organization, the Ebola outbreak has claimed the lives of 365 health care workers.

Ebola Response Update: Dec. 23, 2014

Direct Relief, in coordination with partner agencies, has sent 29 emergency shipments carrying 172 tons of medical aid to more than 1,000 hospitals and clinics since the outbreak began.

In the past two weeks, Direct Relief has delivered two shipments of medical resources to Sierra Leone. The first, sent to the Medical Research Centre, included basic antibiotics, antifungals, protective masks, and bed sheets. The second, shipped to Partners in Health in Sierra Leone, contained 3,000 coveralls, vitamins, IV solutions, soap, and face shields.

An additional delivery of requested medicines and supplies arrived this week in Liberia for Africare, Last Mile Health, and Christian Aid Ministries.

For more information on Direct Relief’s response to the outbreak, please visit Direct Relief’s Ebola information page.

The post First Ebola Treatment Unit for Local Health Workers Arrives in Sierra Leone appeared first on Direct Relief.

As a result of an 18-year drug addiction, Michael had only 13 teeth remaining. Most adults have 32. Michael was turning his life around through a recovery program and wanted to repair his smile as part of his start to a renewed life.

Michael found Covenant Community Care and instantly felt at home. Their staff helped make his Christmas wish come true. He received a complete upper set of dentures and a partial lower set just in time to eat dinner with his family on Christmas Day.

Covenant Community Care, Inc. (Covenant) is a Federally Qualified Health Center with six sites in the Detroit area that help people who are uninsured or unable to afford the medical care they need. Covenant offers integrated, affordable and quality healthcare services including: dental, OB/GYN services, pediatrics, mental health, and a school-based medical unit.

Stories of hope like Michael’s are a key reason why this year, Covenant’s administrative team wanted to be thoughtful about how they could best help their patients during the holiday season. They surveyed their doctors, nurses, and other providers, asking them: “What do our patients need most this Christmas?”

In addition to help with replacement teeth, like Michael needed, the answers were as simple as bus passes to get to appointments; glucometers to manage diabetes; help with paying the initial cost of a specialized referral visit to a cardiologist, ophthalmologist, or physical therapy; and other health care-related items.

Covenant’s Development Director, Sam Young, compiled the feedback and turned it into the Covenant Christmas Market, which allows their supporters to contribute to a fund dedicated to helping their patients who need it most.

“[These items] provide dignity and hope to our patients… and allow folks to be healthy in more than just a physical sense,” Sam said. “In our community, there’s a tremendous need for all kinds of healing.”

He said that in the upcoming year, the fund will allow medical staff to surprise some of their patients that don’t have the ability to pay with news that a procedure will be given to them free-of-charge as a result of generosity during the holiday season.

“Giving the gift of health care can make a big impact for people,” said Sam.

Since becoming a Direct Relief partner in 2009, Covenant Community Care has received 79 shipments of medicines and medical supplies valued at nearly $925,000 (wholesale) to help them make a difference in their community.

Direct Relief is privileged to support partners like Covenant who provide physical, spiritual, and emotional healing to people like Michael.

The post Detroit Health Center Gives People in Need the Gift of Healing appeared first on Direct Relief.

The typhoon made at least four landfalls in the island nation on Dec. 7, with winds reaching 125 mph, according to The Weather Channel. More than 30 million people have been affected by the storm, reports AccuWeather.

In the last few days, a 32-foot truck filled with medicines and medical supplies made deliveries to Leyte Provincial Hospital,  Bumi Wadah, Eastern Samar Provincial Hospital, Western Samar Provincial Hospital and the West Samar Emergency response division/pre-positioned for the Health Futures Foundation, Inc. mission.

At the Eastern Samar Provincial Hospital, the Provincial Health Officer asked for IV fluids and staff on the ground was able to  deliver a pallet of Baxter IV fluid and over 4,000 bottles of 1L oral rehydration solution (ORS) as they are starting to have issues with clean drinking water.

Direct Relief Emergency Preparedness & Response Manager Gordon Willcock reported that the power is out along the coast and it took six hours to drive in due to poor roads, damaged bridges, and power lines hanging across all the roads.

“The damage is pretty bad. The health situation is stable but a little sketchy when linked with shelter, food, sanitation and water issues,” he said.

Pre-positioned medicines on the ground, including three typhoon preparedness modules, enabled quick response to medical needs immediately after the storm.

Dr. Absin, Provincial Health Officer and Chief of Hospital at Leyte Provincial Hospital – where one of the modules was pre-positioned – said that having the typhoon module on hand “meant we were ready and didn’t have to look for medicines when we needed them.”

Absin said they opened the module as soon as the storm passed and it meant they had supplies immediately and could send some medicines to support other facilities. She also reported that in the preceding weeks they had been able to distribute another Direct Relief donation to district hospitals across Leyte.

The post Aid Delivered to Communities Affected by Typhoon Hagupit appeared first on Direct Relief.

“It is such a rewarding thing to be able to help other people,” said longtime volunteer Sandra Williams.

Direct Relief’s Personal Care Packs contain basic hygiene items like lotion, soap, facial cleanser, hairbrushes, combs, tooth brushes, tooth paste, dental hygiene items, and other assorted toiletries. They are delivered to families and individuals in need through 32 social service agencies throughout Santa Barbara County, such as Casa Esperanza Santa Barbara.

“These hygiene kits are life-changing, they’re resources that we wouldn’t have otherwise,” said Jessica Wishan, managing director of the agency that helps people move from homelessness to housing. “For Direct Relief to be giving resources in their own backyard and helping decrease homelessness makes a world of a difference.”

Casa Esperanza’s Volunteer Coordinator, J.B. Bowlin, said that hygiene items like those in the packs are needed year-round, but have a special meaning at this time of year.

“These packs will be great because it will come at a time right before the holiday season… they make [the recipients] feel better about themselves and build up their spirits,” he said.

But the recipients aren’t the only ones who benefit from the packs – many of the volunteers who came out to help said they were thrilled to be able to give back to people in their community.

“It really makes life worthwhile to be able to give back and help other people. We’re all so fortunate and yet we don’t realize it. I think it’s our responsibility to help others,” said Sandra.

This program is made possible by products donated from Chattem Inc., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Prestige Brands, Magno-Humphries Inc., and Sappo Hill Soapworks as well as generous support from Chumash Casino, Trader Joe’s of Goleta, the Union Pacific Foundation, and Wood-Claeyssens Foundation.

Watch this message of thanks from Casa Esperanze staff to the volunteers who packed the kits that help their clients.

The post Volunteers Pack 3,000 Care Kits for Neighbors in Need appeared first on Direct Relief.

“There are very few human casualties in Leyte, where our Bumi Wadah clinic is.  But there are damages. Fortunately the roof on the small borrowed clinic is intact. The team is re-erecting the big medical tent, even in the dark. Clearly we need to build something of our own, stronger, safer and sustainable.  With climate change, these storms will not stop, the ocean is so warm now, the typhoons just get bigger, more frequent, and more fierce.

Our team continued, even in evacuation, to see and treat patients. They are so devoted. And… the pregnant moms held their babies in, so this week will be lively indeed.

Thank YOU so much, for the Funding… the prayers and support. “

They also report that they have prenatal vitamins, water filters, and solar suitcases in stock from various supporting organizations. Additionally, they are sending a medical team with a large tent and supplies to Borongan where they have not had contact from anyone since the typhoon.

Direct Relief began supporting Bumi Wadah (the Philippines branch of longtime partner Yayasan Bumi Sehat) in the immediate aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. The Bumi Wadah team adopted a community health and childbirth relief camp in Dulag, one of the hardest-hit islands of Leyte. Direct Relief helped supply the camp with medical supplies and nutritionals to keep mothers and babies who survived healthy.

Bumi Wadah has received a total of $100,000 in two phases of grants to continue their work as the only truly free maternal and infant health service located in the storm zone. Since Haiyan, more than 700 babies have been born in the birthing center and thousands of prenatal check ups and postpartum evaluations have been conducted, in addition to other free medical services they provide.

In the wake of Typhoon Hagupit, the dedicated team at Bumi Wadah will continue to be supported by Direct Relief in their mission to save the lives of mothers and babies at risk in the aftermath of the storm.

The post Bumi Wadah Continues Care in Wake of Typhoon Hagupit appeared first on Direct Relief.

The typhoon – equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane – is predicted to hit the island nation on Saturday local time (Friday in the United States). Officials warn of possibly life-threatening winds, storm surge, and flash floods.

Staff is on the ground to facilitate relief efforts and three hurricane preparedness modules filled with enough medicines and supplies to treat 5,000 people for a month are positioned in-country. The preparedness program expanded to the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan, which battered the Philippines last year.

Direct Relief is in touch with medical relief teams who are preparing to respond, including Mammoth Medical Missions, which conducted extensive emergency medical relief efforts in the Philippines in the immediate aftermath of Haiyan.

According to staff on the ground, the typhoon is headed toward Legazpi where Direct Relief has close ties to the head of the Department of Health. The first landfall point is predicted to be E. Samar where Direct Relief has deep ties working with former Minister of Health Dr. Jamie Galvez Tan and with Health Futures Foundation, Inc. as well as the Governor of Samar to rebuild the health stations that were destroyed by Haiyan last year.

Partner Bumi Wadah, which provides care for mothers and their babies in addition to others in need, reports that their team is packing to evacuate away from the shore. They will set up a new clinic location further inland.

“We are concerned that the mothers who will go into labor this weekend will be able to find Bumi Wadah Foundation Philippines in the new location. The signs will be of no use during the storm. Please do not worry… say some prayers, focus your love toward the Philippines,” their staff wrote in an online message.

Follow @DirectRelief on Twitter for the latest information.

The post Typhoon Hagupit: Preparing Communities in Superstorm’s Path appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief already has staff on the ground ready to respond in the event of a disaster and has reached out to local partners and health officials located in high-risk regions 5, 6, 7 and 8.

There are also three strategically pre-positioned typhoon modules ready to be rapidly utilized in the event of an emergency. These modules contain enough medicines and supplies supplies to treat 5,000 people for a month following a disaster.

Philippine authorities are currently in the process of evacuating vulnerable communities. Vice Mayor of Tacloban city, Jerry Yaokasin, stated that “we will now strictly enforce forced evacuation.” Yaokasin said that “we have no more excuses, we have gone through Yolanda, and to lose that many lives, it’s beyond our conscience already.”

Direct Relief’s staff on the ground will be maintaining contact with partners and monitoring the situation as it develops in the next 72 hours.

Follow @DirectRelief on Twitter for the latest information. To donate to Direct Relief’s emergency preparedness and response efforts, click here.

The post Monitoring Typhoon Hagupit as it Approaches the Philippines appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief is eligible for a $100,000 grant through Hospira’s (Mission: Care)²  program but we need your vote! These funds will support our 1,200 safety net health center and clinic partners in all 50 U.S. states who help people access the medical care they need.

Watch and vote for Direct Relief’s video about the safety net support program.

The organization with the most votes will receive the additional $100,000 grant. You can vote once per electronic device during the voting period, which runs through 11:59 p.m. CST on Friday, Dec. 12.

The post Your Vote Needed: Help People in the U.S. Access Health Care appeared first on Direct Relief.

The shipments – valued at $4.8 million (wholesale) – contain items urgently requested by health workers in the field such as gloves, soap, IV fluids, and the antibiotic ciprofloxacin to help treat secondary bacterial infections.

The supplies are headed for Last Mile Health and ELWA Hospital in Liberia and Medical Research Centre (MRC) and Wellbody Alliance in Sierra Leone.

While the number of people who have died from Ebola is still rising, Direct Relief continues to hear word from the field that with the right supplies and staff in place, health partners are making a difference.

On Nov. 15, 54 Ebola survivors were discharged from the Hastings Treatment Centre, a facility that receives medical supplies in collaboration with MRC and Direct Relief. They follow 63 others who were discharged the previous week as well as a two week old baby – the youngest Ebola survivor – who was dispatched from the center in early November.

In an update from the Government of Sierra Leone, MRC Director Abdul Jalloh said the continued collaboration with Direct Relief has contributed immensely in complementing government efforts in the fight to contain Ebola.

Additionally, the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation sent a letter of thanks for the support, which was only possible because of people like you. Read the letter: Letter of Appreciation

Direct Relief thanks Airlink and UN Logistics Cluster for getting this shipment to the places where it is most needed.

The post More Ebola Aid Bound for Liberia and Sierra Leone appeared first on Direct Relief.

When Lily* began taking care of her ailing mother, the stressed 58-year-old’s own health started to suffer.

After a visit to Asian Health Services (AHS) in February, she learned that she had raised levels of HbA1c, or plasma glucose levels, which is particularly concerning to her ability to control her diabetes.

Because AHS employs a team-based coaching model that integrates behavioral health screening, Lily’s primary care physician recommended she begin a plan of care that incorporated counseling and other treatments.

After just a few months of the program, Lily reported feeling more relaxed and able to engage in her favorite hobbies again, such as gardening. During that time, her HbA1c levels dropped from 7.1 percent to 6.8 percent, a tangible sign of improvements in her health.

This innovative team-based model that assists patients with diabetes and the comorbidity (or presence of one or more additional disorders co-occuring with a primary disease) of hypertension through integration of behavioral care is why AHS was a 2014 recipient of the BD Helping Build Healthy Communities Award.

Operating a health center in Oakland, Calif., AHS focuses on providing care to low-income, uninsured, and underinsured people of the Asian and Pacific Islander community across Alameda County.

AHS offers services in 11 different languages to nearly 24,000 patients each year. Seventy percent of their patient population earns an income at or below 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, which is $23,850 for a family of four.

This specialized care is important for the community they serve as cultural and linguistic barriers and limited knowledge of the U.S. health care system create challenges for accessing care.

Because AHS’s staff understands the cultural norms of their community, they can offer specialized services to help patients make adjustments, including counseling, medication management, and cooking and education classes.

This is particularly important for diabetes care in Asian populations as Asian Americans are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than Caucasian Americans and are prone to developing the disease at lower body weights, according to a study highlighted in Medical Xpress

In the first nine months of 2014, AHS provided care to 1,740 active patients with diabetes. More than 92 percent of them have HbA1c levels less than or equal to nine percent, which exceeds the Healthy People 2020 goal of 83.9 percent.

Direct Relief is priveleged to support partners like Asian Health Services who are improving health in their communities by making comprehensive treatment accessible for the people they serve.

*name has been changed to protect patient privacy

The post Culturally Sensitive Care Reduces Hypertension Among Diabetes Patients appeared first on Direct Relief.

Each of the 120 packs will be filled with the most critical items for emergency medicine and will help boost health centers’ capacity to respond to future disasters in their communities.

Modeled after Direct Relief’s Medical Reserve Corps pack program, these specially designed packs contain supplies and equipment to meet a variety of disaster-related health needs, including infection control, diagnostics, trauma care, and personal protection tools.

Having the packs on hand helps better prepare mobile units and health center staff for future disasters and will result in fewer disruptions in care for an already vulnerable population.

The ability to go to where the patient is located and provide care is a unique and essential service provided by health centers that is critical in times of need, when infrastructure damage or physical injuries make it harder for people to get to a health center.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, mobile medical units, operated by New York and New Jersey’s federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), played a key role in responding to the needs of people affected. These units, mandated by the Mayor’s Office, were dispatched to medically underserved communities in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and throughout New Jersey most damaged by the storm.

Staffed by health center physicians and nurses, the units were stocked with medications and supplies to care for people from the van. Additionally, health center staff went inside buildings to treat patients unable to transport themselves to receive care. Mobile medical units remained in these communities for months to continue to treat patients with no other healthcare resources.

The post NY & NJ Mobile Medical Units to Receive Emergency Packs appeared first on Direct Relief.

These ‘silent killers’ are one reason why on this World Pneumonia Day,  we’re reminded by Dr. Raj Panjabi, CEO of Last Mile Health in Liberia, that “the goal has to be to not just contain Ebola,” but also to think about maintaining and strengthening health systems.

Pneumonia is the number one reason children around the world don’t live to celebrate their fifth birthday. It kills more children under five than HIV/AIDs, malaria, and measles combined – nearly one million deaths a year. And yet, pneumonia is very treatable with simple antibiotics, if diagnosed early.

Just $4 can provide one course of antibiotics for child with pneumonia. Donate here.

The Critical Role of Frontline Health Workers

Since 2011, Direct Relief has been supporting Last Mile Health to strengthen their comprehensive primary care and frontline health outreach services in remote southeastern Liberia, including their targeted efforts to reduce the incidence of childhood pneumonia and most recently their role in the treatment and prevention of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

In addition to providing Last Mile Health with critical medicines and medical supplies, Direct Relief also supports their efforts to train and support community health workers with the goal to have 100 percent coverage in Grand Gedeh and River Cess counties where their team works.

Because health workers provide proactive access to care, they are able to conduct early evaluations and interventions to make referrals and reduce need for more advanced treatment when the condition worsens. They treat people in hard-to-reach places and are trusted members of their communities.

In fact, UNICEF attributes great success in the fight against childhood pneumonia to the training of community health workers, who give sick children simple antibiotics in child-friendly chewable tablets as part of an integrated case management program.

These same community health workers helping fight childhood pneumonia are now also on the frontlines of the Ebola outbreak.

Ebola Threatens Health Workers & Primary Care

Last Mile Health reported that in April when the first suspected case of Ebola presented in Grand Gedeh County, LMH limited all non-essential field activities in an effort to provide urgent care to patients and support the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare’s response to the outbreak.

“The Ebola outbreak posed a very unexpected threat to our ability to deliver life-saving care to children,” LMH staff reported.

Because caregivers and health professionals are the most at risk of contracting Ebola, LMH acted quickly to ensure that its staff were safe, informed, and prepared. They provided frontline health workers with personal protective equipment so they could continue to provide community-based treatment for other illnesses, including pneumonia, malaria, and diarrhea.

Direct Relief has increased support to Last Mile Health in wake of the Ebola outbreak, providing more than 10 tons of medical supplies for health workers to continue essential services.

Aid is Working, You Can Join the Effort

The work of partners like Last Mile Health and others around the world is chipping away at the problem of childhood pneumonia. Deaths from the disease have declined by 44 percent since 2000, reports UNICEF.

Last year, for the first time in Liberia’s history, the Konobo region where Last Mile Health works achieved 100 percent health care coverage because health care workers were accessible in all villages. With the help of this milestone, within six months of implementing the childhood pneumonia project, the number of children receiving treatment per month increased by 91 percent in Konobo District.

Through the despair of Ebola, Dr. Panjabi says Ebola’s legacy can be a thriving community health system. If achieved, this is good news not only for eradicating Ebola, but for building resilience against other diseases and continuing to battle existing ones.

Direct Relief supported these ongoing efforts before the Ebola outbreak and will continue to do so afterward. You can join the mission to improve the health and lives of people in need. Donate here.

The post Ebola Threatens Childhood Pneumonia Treatment in Liberia appeared first on Direct Relief.

Hastings’ update today follows last month’s news from the treatment center of the youngest Ebola survivor – a two-week-old girl thought to have contracted the virus from her mother, also an Ebola survivor.

Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation reports 4,600 cases and 1,149 confirmed deaths in the country since the outbreak began. Today’s update from Hastings and MRC shows that Ebola can be survived and stopped, given the right staff and supplies.

To date, Direct Relief has sent 19 emergency shipments valued at $7 million to more than 1,000 hospitals and clinics in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. More shipments of personal protective gear, medicines, and supplies are scheduled to ship next week.

Click here to learn more about the response and how you can help: 2014 West Africa Ebola Outbreak

The post 63 People Survived Ebola Today, a Hospital in Sierra Leone Reports appeared first on Direct Relief.

Because of an outpouring of support from people like you, 286 tons of life-saving aid valued at more than $16.4 million has been delivered over the last year to partner agencies and health care facilities caring for survivors throughout the Philippines. Direct Relief’s ongoing response will continue to help rebuild local health systems and strengthen resiliency in the hardest-hit areas.

The Response

Direct Relief’s relief and recovery activities over the last year focused on the following three objectives:

Providing Medical Resources to Underserved Areas

More than 100 health facilities have received donations of medical aid since Typhoon Haiyan. Direct Relief also continues to support medical missions that provide care for survivors in remote and underserved regions of the country.

Rebuilding, Repairing, and Re-equipping Health Centers

Direct Relief has been working with partners on the ground to help rebuild damaged health systems in the hardest-hit regions of the Philippines. This includes restoring damaged Barangay Health Stations, securing a new building for Yayasan Bumi Sehat’s medical relief camp and birthing center, and equipping a mobile medical van that provides dental care to 200 survivors per month.

Creating Resiliency in High-Risk Areas

In collaboration with the Integrated Midwives Association of the Philippines, 20 Midwife Kits containing enough supplies to deliver 1,000 babies safely were delivered to birthing centers throughout the Visaya Islands. Direct Relief also expanded its Hurricane Preparedness Program to the Philippines by pre-positioning typhoon modules in-country containing enough medical supplies to treat 15,000 people for up to one month. Additionally, Direct Relief worked with Palantir Technologies to implement a data preparedness network to assess and analyze emerging health needs and respond accordingly.

What’s next?

Direct Relief’s relationships with its on-the-ground partners and officials and nonprofit organizations in the Philippines continue to guide the efforts to plan and implement long-term solutions to strengthen resiliency among vulnerable communities.  Work will contine to strengthen health systems left fragile by the typhoon. Three specific projects are:

Investing in the Capacity of Ormoc District Hospital

In Leyte, the province most heavily affected by the typhoon, Direct Relief is mobilizing life-saving medical supplies and equipment for Ormoc District Hospital. Because of damages and loss of staff lives from the storm, the hospital currently lacks the capacity to adequately treat patients in need of intensive care.

Preparing for Future Disasters

Twenty Emergency Medical Packs filled with medicines and supplies to treat people affected by disaster are being delivered to first-responders in high-risk communities. Direct Relief will also equip its partners in the Philippines with more typhoon preparedness modules in 2015.

Equipping Midwives With Essential Resources to Enable Safe Births

An additional 100 Midwife Kits will be distributed in the municipalities of Samar and Leyte to ensure that pregnant women have access to care during delivery. Each kit contains essential medical resources to ensure 50 safe births, enabling skilled birth attendants to full implement their life-saving skills.

The post Typhoon Haiyan: Recovery Efforts Continue One Year Later appeared first on Direct Relief.

Ormoc District Hospital (ODH) is the main public and referral hospital on the western side of Leyte Province, one of the areas hardest hit by the typhoon – the strongest storm on record to ever hit land.

Dr. Maria has been working tirelessly to keep things running at ODH, even though the hospital itself was badly damaged.

The burden after Yolanda was not as bad as it is now because everyone was helping. Now everything still needs to be done, but help is harder to find and there is less interest. – Dr. Maria Lourdes de Lara-Banquesio

“I just keep praying… the burden after Yolanda was not as bad as it is now because everyone was helping. Now everything still needs to be done, but help is harder to find and there is less interest,” she said.

The typhoon affected the entire health system on the western side of Leyte. Most of the health centers were damaged or destroyed. Moreover, many local health workers died in the storm and floods. This reduction in capacity resulted in more patients being referred to ODH because their local health station is out of operation.

A 100-bed hospital, Dr. Maria reported that ODH is currently averaging 210 in-patients daily, placing severe strains on the hospital. The nearest regional hospital is a two-and-a-half hour drive away.

But despite the circumstances, the devoted Dr. Maria has done an impeccable job of keeping ODH functioning over the last year. Though patients line the corridors, laying on stretchers, they are all being cared for by ODH staff.

“We are doing our best to provide for the people who have nowhere else to go,” she said.

To help Dr. Maria, her staff, and the people seeking care, Direct Relief is working to rehabilitate the hospital by providing new medical equipment to replace what was damaged.

You can join the effort to help give health and hope to people like Dr. Maria by donating here.

The post Physician Spotlight: Caring for Philippines Typhoon Survivors One Year Later appeared first on Direct Relief.

Working in concert with these partners and local Ministries of Health, Direct Relief has identified sites in need of medical aid and has sent 19 emergency shipments supporting more than 600 facilities to date. Additional shipments of essential supplies are being prepared for health professionals in West Africa who are continuing their response to the outbreak.

Partners in Liberia

• • Africare
  • CDC Foundation
  • Christian Aid Ministries
  • ELWA Hospital
  • Last Mile Health
  • Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
  • National Drug Service

Partners in Sierra Leone

• • CDC Foundation
  • Medical Research Centre
  • Wellbody Alliance

Partners in Guinea

• • Ministry of Health

Partnering to Improve Outcomes

Though Direct Relief’s partners in West Africa had never encountered Ebola, they have been called upon to play central, critical roles in response efforts—they are among the best trained, most capable, deeply dedicated health professionals in the affected countries; countries with very few such trained personnel.

While these partners have had to refocus their efforts to combat the Ebola crisis, their important work that Direct Relief was supporting – training midwives in Sierra Leone, providing community health workers in Liberia – remains and will be even more important in the years ahead.

In addition to the strong non-governmental, corporate, and Ministry of Health partnerships, the organization is also working on three new Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitments to combat Ebola:

• Protecting medical professionals: Direct Relief, in partnership with the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Last Mile Health, and Wellbody Alliance have committed to work with the Ministries of Health in Sierra Leone and Liberia to effectively distribute personal protective equipment and medical supplies to clinics, health facilities, and hospitals.
• Building lasting health infrastructure: A coalition of Direct Relief, Last Mile Health (Liberia), Partners in Health, and Wellbody Alliance (Sierra Leone) has been launched to scale up rural Ebola response efforts and rebuild health systems in the two most-affected countries.
• Logistics and resource replenishment: Airlink, in partnership with Direct Relief and other aid agencies, has committed to establish and channel medical supplies through an airbridge (free delivery flights) to ensure Ebola-affected regions have the resources they need to curb Ebola’s deadly spread.

Mobilizing Resources

Direct Relief is uniquely positioned to not only mobilize medical resources from the U.S., but also to coordinate the receiving end of the deliveries in West Africa, in partnership with the Ebola Task Force and Ministries of Health. Direct Relief will also lend assistance in building the capacity of local responders and healthcare facilities on the ground to most effectively distribute aid. Direct Relief aims to continue providing essential items to address the Ebola crisis, in addition to helping restore the health system; bringing health workers back to work; and bringing patients back into facilities to receive care in West Africa.

Direct Relief’s near-term priorities include the following:

• Modularize shipments specific to the 23 Ebola treatment facilities in both Liberia and Sierra Leone to ensure efficient in-country receiving and immediate delivery to the appropriate facility. This will help remove bottlenecks and enable more rapid and direct transportation of materials to the centers caring for patients with Ebola.
• Help restock and resupply hospitals, health centers, and clinics to enable them to reopen by providing kits containing a stock of 35 essential items. These kits will be sent to hundreds of clinical sites around the country so they can reopen and begin seeing patients who have been unable to access care.
• Provide 267 Midwife Kits to Liberia and Sierra Leone which will provide safe births for 13,350 moms and babies. In Sierra Leone alone, pre- and post-natal care visits are down 28%, and delivery with a skilled birth attendant is down 16%. Estimates show that maternal mortality may rise to 15% as a result of the Ebola crisis.

Scale, speed, efficiency, and precision are all integral pieces of the ongoing response to Ebola, and your support ensures Direct Relief is able to continue providing aid to protect health care workers and reduce the spread of the disease.

The post 6 Month Update: Response to the World’s Deadliest Ebola Epidemic appeared first on Direct Relief.

“That Direct Relief was able to get aid to us within 48 hours [of Hurricane Sandy] was absolutely amazing.” – Lorraine Leong, Director of External Affairs, Ryan-NENA Community Health Center, New York City

More than 100 people died, thousands of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed, and tens of thousands of people were displaced. Many were left without heat, electricity, and water.

With generous support from individuals and private resources, Direct Relief responded to the needs of people affected by supporting safety net health centers and clinics that treat those who are most vulnerable in their communities – people who have the least cushion to bounce back from losses after emergencies.

Thanks to your support, during the last two years Direct Relief has provided:

• 89 emergency shipments to 35 partner health facilities in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
• More than $2.2 million (wholesale) worth of medicines and supplies, including: antibiotics, nutritionals, personal care products, vaccines, and chronic care medications
• 1,500 personal care packs filled with basic hygiene supplies for families in need
• 25 Emergency Medical Packs to equip the Point Breeze Volunteer Fire Department + $10,000 to rebuild their fire house
• More than $2 million in cash grants to 28 community organizations to help improve long-term recovery efforts – $1.5 million of which was funded by the Sandy Safety Net Fund, a joint initiative between Direct Relief and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)  *details below
• Assistance to help purchase a mobile medical unit for Care for the Homeless in New York City

Beyond Sandy:

The people most vulnerable before and during an emergency are most vulnerable after recovery, which is why Direct Relief remains connected daily to its partners caring for people who otherwise would not have access and provides them with free medicines and supplies. In doing so, this channel of support enables facilities to be better equipped to respond to the next emergency that arises.

To continue assisting partners affected by Hurricane Sandy, in the upcoming months Direct Relief will carry out several initiatives:

• Provide 120 Emergency Medical Packs to health centers in New York and New Jersey with mobile medical units. Similar to the Medical Reserve Corps pack program, these backpacks include the most critical items for emergency medicine in a ‘grab and go’ pack and will boost a center’s capacity to respond to future disasters
• Develop a larger, stronger network of community health centers and clinics as well as form deeper ties with state primary care associations, emergency response agencies, and other humanitarian networks in order to heighten preparedness
• Expand strategic relief work with technology company, Palantir to help aid organizations utilize Palantir technology to focus assistance where it is needed most before, during, and after emergencies

The following health centers received funding assistance through the Hurricane Sandy Safety Net Fund:

• APICHA Community Health Center
• Beacon Christian Community Health Center
• Betances Health Center
• Callen-Lorde Community Health Center
• Care for the Homeless
• Community Health Center Of Richmond Inc
• Eric B. Chandler Health Center
• Floating Hospital, Inc.
• Hudson River HealthCare, Inc.
• ICL HealthCare Choices, Inc.
• Institute for Family Health
• Jewish Renaissance Medical Center
• Joseph P Addabbo Family Health Center
• Lakewood Resource and Referral Center (LRRC)
• Monmouth Family Health Center Inc
• Morris Heights Health Center
• Neighborhood Health Services Corporation
• Newark Community Health Centers, Inc.
• North Hudson Community Action Corporation
• NuHealth Family Health Centers
• Open Door Family Medical Center, Inc
• Project H.O.P.E., Inc.
• Refuah Health Center
• VNACJ Community Health Center, Inc.
• William F. Ryan Community Health Center, Inc.
• Zufall Health Center

The following health centers received additional assistance from Direct Relief:

• Care for the Homeless
• Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center
• Point Breeze Volunteer Fire Department
• YES Community and Counseling Center
• Community Health Care Association of New York State
• New Jersey Primary Care Association

The post Hurricane Sandy: Support Continues Two Years Later appeared first on Direct Relief.

“Cost should not be a barrier to receiving important preventive health care such as a flu vaccination. While most insurance plans fully cover the cost of a flu shot, our partnership with Direct Relief will help ensure that thousands of uninsured patients will have access to a flu shot at CVS/pharmacy or MinuteClinic at no cost to them,” said Papatya Tankut, RPh, Vice President of Pharmacy Affairs at CVS Health.

Direct Relief’s network of more than 1,200 community health centers and clinics nationwide enables CVS Health’s generous contribution to reach people who need help.

“While flu shots offer the best protection against influenza viruses, too many families with low incomes and without insurance are unable to afford the vaccination,” said Damon Taugher, director of U.S. programs at Direct Relief. “Direct Relief is delighted to work with CVS Health to help protect thousands of people who are in tough financial situations access a flu shot at no cost to them this season.”

Community health clinics that received flu shot vouchers are located in the following metropolitan areas:

• Boston, MA
• Chicago, IL
• Dallas, TX
• Detroit, MI
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• Miami, FL
• New York City, NY
• Newark, NJ
• Orlando, FL
• Philadelphia, PA
• Phoenix, AZ
• Tampa, FL
• Trenton, NJ

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that everyone ages six months and older get an annual flu shot. All CVS/pharmacy and all Minute Clinic locations inside select CVS/pharmacy stores can administer flu vaccinations every day with no appointment needed, including evening and weekends.^*

About CVS Health

CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) is a pharmacy innovation company helping people on their path to better health. Through our 7,700 retail pharmacies, more than 900 walk-in medical clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with nearly 65 million plan members, and expanding specialty pharmacy services, we enable people, businesses and communities to manage health in more affordable, effective ways. This unique integrated model increases access to quality care, delivers better health outcomes and lowers overall health care costs. Find more information about how CVS Health is shaping the future of health at www.cvshealth.com.

^*Certain immunizations have age and location restrictions. Flu shots are available when immunizing pharmacist, Minute Clinic nurse practitioner or physician assistant is on duty, while supplies last.

The post CVS Health and Direct Relief Partner to Donate $1 Million in Flu Shot Vouchers to Uninsured Patients of Community Health Clinics appeared first on Direct Relief.

Curél® skincare sponsored the initiative to offer comfort to some of the most vulnerable women and children of New York City.  Because many New Yorkers lack even the most basic personal care essentials, Curél® skincare donated its new Rough Skin Rescue Smoothing Lotion, which was included in every care pack.

“The donated personal care kits were so overwhelmingly appreciated,” said Dawne Bell, director of development at Care for the Homeless, in an email following the event.

“The families we served today felt special and valued. When you’re experiencing homelessness, it can be easy to feel hopeless. Today was so uplifting for so many people.”

The assistance comes at a time when New York City is experiencing high need “Homelessness is going down nationwide, but it’s going up 40 percent in New York City,” said Debra Messing. Direct Relief has worked with Care for the Homeless since the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, when Care for the Homeless received two cash grants from Direct Relief to help their ability to recover.

The first was to assist with emergency funds to help them deal with a loss of revenue faced after they were forced to close their operations due to the storm.  The second grant helped purchase a mobile medical unit which allows their team to deliver medical care to people in need on a regular basis, but it also boosts their capacity to respond to future emergencies.

In all Direct Relief has provided more than $100,000 in cash and donations of medicines and medical supplies to Care for the Homeless.

The post Hundreds of Care Packs Provided to Homeless Families in NYC appeared first on Direct Relief.

“We see these as big impact years,” said Natalie. “We’re creating people that will be the future of this world.”

That’s one of the reasons why the Rowes made the decision to join the Legacy Society by remembering Direct Relief in their will.

“We wanted to start to have a more clearly defined strategy with our philanthropic giving,” said Matt, a financial adviser.

For the Rowes, this meant getting involved more deeply with fewer organizations. They said Direct Relief was a perfect fit because as seasoned travelers (Matt hails from Australia), they wanted to give back to an organization working internationally.

“You can’t travel to other countries and not be changed by what you see,” said Natalie, who added that she was particularly transformed by her time spent in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Having moved to Santa Barbara six years ago when their first daughter was born, the couple recognizes that the beautiful beach town “isn’t the reality that most people get to enjoy every day.”

To ensure their daughters grow up knowing what life is like for many people around the world, they’ve begun to start talking to them about the importance of thinking globally and giving back.

“Direct Relief is the ideal way to have that conversation with them,” said Natalie.

While the Rowes support the mission to improve the health and lives of people in need on an annual basis, they want to make sure that giving continues beyond their time here on earth.

But people like the Rowes are rare. According to nonprofit rating site, GuideStar, nearly 70 percent of Americans make gifts to charity during their lifetime, yet fewer than 10 percent create legacy gifts – though almost everyone has the ability to create one and they help organizations maintain long-term financial stability.

You can join the Rowes in making a lasting impact by remembering Direct Relief in your estate plans. Often referred to as “planned gifts,” these opportunities allow you to create a lasting legacy representing your lifelong values while planning for your own future as well as that of your loved ones.

When you establish any one of the following estate plan gifts and inform us of your intentions, you will qualify for membership in our Legacy Society.

The post Leaving a Legacy: Matt & Natalie Rowe Invest in a Healthy Future appeared first on Direct Relief.