At the request of AltaMed Health Services, a community health center whose staffmembers were providing medical care to evacuees at the convention center, Direct Relief pharmacist Pacience Edwards was delivering an emergency health kit — a large-scale supply of medications and materials commonly requested during wildfires and other disasters. 
 
Police officers waved Edwards through the barricade outside the convention center, where the contents of the kit were put to instant, urgent use. A patient with severe respiratory symptoms had been waiting for a nebulizer — a machine that delivers medication directly to the lungs — and others urgently needed albuterol inhalers. One patient who seemed on the verge of a diabetic crisis needed their blood sugar tested immediately — but the glucometer the medical team already had with them wasn’t working. 
 
“We ripped open the packaging on the glucometer [from the emergency health kit] to make sure they could use it right away,” Edwards recalled.  
 
Patients whose hypertension was made worse by the stress of the fires needed medication to reduce their blood pressure. Healthcare providers working with medically vulnerable patients in close quarters were concerned about recent outbreaks of norovirus and RSV, both infectious diseases that can spread quickly in emergency shelters. Ambulances kept arriving to pick up patients in severe distress. 
 
Direct Relief’s emergency health kits, which can treat about 100 patients affected by a disaster, include equipment and prescription medications for chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension, respiratory equipment and medications, antibiotics, protective equipment, wound care, hygiene items, and other essential medicines and supplies. 
 
“We had what they needed and they used it immediately,” said Alycia Clark, Direct Relief’s chief pharmacy officer. Clark had been at the Pasadena Convention Center for several hours already to assess needs with the medical teams who’d been working through the night. 
 
Edwards said the level of urgent need was high. She’d been expecting to see the minor wounds and routine medical issues common in emergency shelters. But instead, nurses triaged patients on cots, and ambulances kept arriving to pick up the patients in need of hospital care. 
 
“The medical team was providing a much higher level of care,” she said. And while over-the-counter medications were easier to come by, medical providers told Clark and Edwards that prescription treatments like chronic disease and respiratory medicines were urgently needed. 
 
As the constellation of wildfires across Southern California continues to displace more than 100,000 people, the area’s community health centers, free clinics, and other nonprofit healthcare organizations are coordinating to provide in-the-field care. AltaMed providers were working at the shelter even as the health center lost a facility to the flames and evacuated staff in the path of danger. 
 
“They do not have the resources they usually do,” Edwards said. The level of care she saw physicians and nurses providing in an open shelter space “was just really impressive.”  
 
In response to requests from partners across Los Angeles County, Direct Relief has provided N95 masks, hygiene kits, emergency medical packs, reentry kits, wildfire kits, and other support to healthcare organizations working on the ground. Direct Relief staff have been working in the ground in Los Angeles to distribute N95 masks at community sites like the Koreatown YMCA Center for Community Well-being and the Anderson Munger Family YMCA, deliver requested supplies to community health centers and other partners, and assess and prepare for the next stage of medical need. 
 
“We’ll continue to support as long as needed,” Clark said. 

The post Critical Medicines Bolster Urgent Care in the Halls of an Evacuation Shelter  appeared first on Direct Relief.

On Thursday, Direct Relief staff fanned across Southern California to distribute medical aid at multiple locations, including evacuation centers and community health facilities.

Direct Relief maintains medical inventory commonly requested during large wildfire events, including N95 respirators, prescription medicines, Tdap vaccines, medical supplies, personal care items for evacuating people, and protective gear for post-fire recovery efforts.

A series of support shipments have been disbursed across the city and continued on Thursday.

One of those locations was the Arroyo Vista Community Health Center, where Direct Relief staff delivered N95 respirators, personal care products for evacuees, and solar chargers. Aid also arrived Thursday for the South Central Family Health Center, where Direct Relief staff delivered field medic packs, N95 respirators, personal care products for evacuees, and more.

The health center provides care for underserved and uninsured patients in South Los Angeles, and will be receiving more medical aid from Direct Relief, including prescription medications, later this week to support patients impacted by the fires.

Medical aid was also en route Thursday to AltaMed, a community health center with multiple sites in the Los Angeles area. The organization reported that one of its locations in Pasadena had been completely destroyed by the Eaton Fire this week. The organization requested 25,000 N95 respirators, which will be distributed to senior care facilities in Los Angeles and primary care patients in Pasadena.

Direct Relief staff also delivered support this week to the Pasadena Convention Center, where hundreds of people have been evacuated, including older adults living in nearby assisted living facilities.

The organization is continuing to coordinate with the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, California Primary Care Association, California Association of Free & Charitable Clinics, Mobile Health Care Association, Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County, Health Center Partners of Southern California, local VOAD groups, and community health centers, free and charitable clinics, and other safety net providers in the impacted areas.

The post As Smoke Thickens and Fires Continue, Medical Aid Reaches Impacted Communities appeared first on Direct Relief.

As evacuation orders were announced throughout Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, tens of thousands of people left their homes for safety. Many fled on foot with possessions and pets as roads became too crowded for timely travel.

Many of them might not have gone far. Andrew Schroeder, Direct Relief’s vice president of research and analysis, is examining anonymized population movement data provided by Meta through the company’s Data for Good project. Schroeder said the population between Malibu and Santa Monica, currently threatened by the Palisades Fire, has declined by about 20%, with increased population dispersion to the east and north.

Schroeder explained that, on average, population displacement data indicate that most evacuated people stay close by, traveling an average of only 15 or 16 miles from home.

These data cannot identify specific, individual movements but can highlight general population movements.

However, the area’s densely clustered population and expansive sprawl may contribute to particular health impacts. The relatively short distances traveled by most of the population suggest that local health concerns may impact many evacuees as well as those remaining in place.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has asked residents to conserve water and notified people remaining in Pacific Palisades that water must be boiled for the next 48 hours due to ash in the system. The Environmental Protection Agency has designated much of the Los Angeles area’s air quality “Unhealthy” via its AirNow map.

Public safety power shutoffs, which occur when an electricity supplier deliberately turns off the power during dangerous circumstances to reduce the likelihood of wildfires, affected more than 100,000 people on Wednesday morning. More than half a million more people risk losing electricity from further shutoffs. The loss of electricity poses a health risk for people reliant on medical devices such as oxygen machines and other medically vulnerable populations.

Direct Relief’s local partners have indicated that the fires will interrupt routine health care as nonprofit health providers are impacted or forced to evacuate. Direct Relief staff have activated the organization’s emergency response protocols and are deploying emergency medical supplies and respiratory equipment to affected residents and first responders.

The Los Angeles Fire Department has reported that evacuation orders remain in effect between the Santa Monica and Malibu areas. Extreme winds are forecasted for the area, paired with dry air, are contributing to the fire’s rapid spread. The Pacific Coast Highway from McClure Tunnel to Topanga Canyon is closed.

The first blazes broke out mid-morning on January 7 in Topanga State Park and have spread to several other locations in the Los Angeles area. Fierce winds have shifted the flames exponentially as fires ignite across the county.

The Los Angeles County Fire Chief said there are insufficient resources to combat the flames. According to the chief, the 29 departments were “not prepared for this type of widespread disaster.”

The post Few Places to Go in Densely Populated Los Angeles County as Fires Spread appeared first on Direct Relief.

Firefighters are working tirelessly to contain the blazes, which continue to threaten homes and communities across the region. The most dangerous conditions are expected to persist through today, with gusts up to 100 mph in some areas, according to the National Weather Service.

Direct Relief’s Preparedness and Response Efforts

Direct Relief has activated its emergency response protocols and is in communication with local health providers and emergency management teams in the affected areas.

The organization is currently deploying medical aid, including emergency medical supplies for first responders and displaced residents, and respiratory protection equipment, including N95 respirators, to mitigate health risks from smoke exposure.

Supporting Fire-Affected Communities

Direct Relief has a long-standing commitment to supporting communities affected by wildfires. In recent years, the organization has:

• Delivered more than $6 million in medical aid during the 2021 wildfire season.

• Supplied critical resources, such as oxygen concentrators, air purifiers, and medical equipment, to health centers in fire-prone areas.

• Provided grants to local health organizations for ongoing recovery efforts.

Health Impacts of Wildfires

Wildfires not only destroy homes and infrastructure but also have significant and long-lasting effects on public health. As wildfires become more frequent and severe, the health risks to individuals and communities continue to grow, particularly for those already vulnerable.

Health impacts of wildfires include:

• Long-Term Exposure Risks: Prolonged exposure to poor air quality caused by wildfire smoke can have cumulative effects, including developmental impacts on children and worsening of chronic diseases.

• Respiratory Illnesses: Smoke from wildfires contains harmful fine particulate matter (PM2.5) that can penetrate deep into the lungs, exacerbating asthma, bronchitis, and other chronic respiratory conditions.

• Cardiovascular Strain: Exposure to wildfire smoke is linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular issues, particularly for older adults and those with pre-existing conditions.

• Mental Health Effects: The trauma of evacuation, loss of homes, and disruption to daily life can lead to anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

• Displacement and Health Access: Evacuations often disrupt access to essential medications, medical care, and support services, disproportionately affecting those in underserved communities.

Why Direct Relief Focuses on Communities Impacted by Wildfires

Direct Relief prioritizes wildfire response because these disasters often exacerbate existing health inequities. Communities that lack access to healthcare and resources are disproportionately affected by wildfires, both during and after the event.

Immediate Support for First Responders and Health Centers: Wildfires place immense pressure on local healthcare systems. Direct Relief ensures first responders and health providers have access to the emergency medical supplies and equipment needed to save lives.

Smoke Mitigation Resources: Providing N95 masks, air purifiers, and oxygen concentrators helps protect respiratory health in affected areas, particularly for those with pre-existing conditions.

Focus on Underserved Populations: By supporting community health centers and free clinics, Direct Relief ensures those who are uninsured or underinsured receive care during emergencies.

Recovery and Resilience: After the flames are extinguished, the organization continues to support long-term recovery efforts by funding health services, replacing damaged medical supplies, and helping communities rebuild healthcare infrastructure.

Direct Relief’s commitment to wildfire-affected communities is rooted in the understanding that disasters impact health in profound ways. By equipping healthcare providers and delivering targeted aid, the organization works to alleviate the immediate and long-term health challenges caused by wildfires.

As the Southern California fires continue to spread, Direct Relief remains ready to assist communities and healthcare providers on the front lines.

The post As Southern California Fires Rage, Medical Aid En Route appeared first on Direct Relief.

A severe red flag warning remains in effect for much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties due to dangerous offshore winds and dry vegetation. Wind gusts have reached up to 80 mph in some areas, with potential for gusts as high as 100 mph through Wednesday, further intensifying wildfire risk.

Direct Relief’s Response

Direct Relief is closely monitoring the situation and has reached out with offers of support to Los Angeles County, the regional primary care association, and community health centers and free clinics operating in areas impacted by the fire and smoke.

Offers of assistance have also been sent to the California Office of Emergency Services, Southern California Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, and other organizations responding.

Direct Relief’s History of Wildfire Response

Direct Relief has a long history of responding to wildfires in California, from the devastating 2018 Camp Fire to recent fires including the Mountain Fire in Ventura County. The organization, based in Southern California, maintains a robust inventory of medications, personal protective equipment including N-95 respirators, and other supplies commonly requested during wildfires.

Through partnerships with local agencies and healthcare facilities, the organization has provided personal protective equipment, medical supplies, and financial support to aid communities impacted by wildfires.

Direct Relief remains ready to respond to the Palisades Fire and to continue supporting impacted communities as conditions continue to unfold.

The post Palisades Fire Erupts Amid Extreme Fire Conditions in Southern California appeared first on Direct Relief.

A patient urgently needed oxygen, but the hospital’s supply was down to one cylinder — not enough for the case and certainly not enough for the 700-bed facility to get through the night.  
 
Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital is an essential research and referral hospital in Banjul, the Gambia’s capital city. It is the most critical healthcare institution for the national health security of the country. But until recently, sourcing, transporting, and paying for oxygen canisters for patients were a massive drain on hospital resources. The only oxygen available was industrial, not the more effective medical-grade oxygen. Canisters were carefully rationed, frustrating providers and making it harder to provide surgeries and specialized care. 
 
Dr. Mustapha Bittaye, the hospital’s chief medical officer, explained that staff members needed to wait in a queue every two weeks at an industrial oxygen plant to purchase about 350 canisters. Purchasing the oxygen — if it was even available — might cost 2 million dalasi, or about $28,000 USD, per month. Sometimes oxygen costs more than the entire revenue the hospital collected that month.

The effort and expense it took to meet one critical need is a testament to the hospital’s dedication to its most vulnerable patients, such as newborn babies and the critically ill. But the disproportionate allocation of resources hampered preventative care, teaching, research, and the expansion of medical services.

“It was very common to have many people employed…just moving the oxygen around,” Dr. Bittaye said. “It was very common for supplies to be short. You only give it to those who need it badly…you had to do rationing.”  
 
The complex oxygen piping systems employed by many hospitals allow physicians to customize oxygen concentrations to individual patients, like premature infants, who have specialized needs. They allow surgical teams to use a built-in suction system rather than an external device. Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, which operates in conjunction with the University of the Gambia, trains surgeons and other specialists with the goal of eliminating the need for outside medical missions, but its colonial-era facility didn’t have an oxygen piping system or a plant to produce the medical grade oxygen required. 

Now, a new medical oxygen plant has been completed at the hospital, and a pipeline system developed to distribute the operating theaters and oxygen throughout the facility. Biomedical technicians are being trained to maintain the new system over time. 
 
The new system has rapidly changed healthcare in the Gambia, said Dr. John Sampson, a professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who works closely with medical partners in West Africa. Now, a new anesthesiologist, who recently graduated from medical school, makes full use of the medical oxygen system in her work at Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital.
 
“The hospital is transforming very rapidly,” Dr. Bittaye said. Average monthly revenue has sharply increased, and more specialists are completing training. But for his providers and staff, the increased quality of care, and better outcomes for patients, are the most important considerations. 
 
“Most important is the patient,” he said. “No more rationing, that’s the biggest thing.” 
 
The medical oxygen plant and distribution system are part of the larger Africa Infrastructure Relief and Support, or AIRS, project – a Society of Critical Care Medicine collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Global Alliance of Perioperative Professionals, or JHU-GAPP, and the Institute of Global Perioperative Care. (Dr. Sampson founded the last two organizations, and is GAPP’s executive director.) Through AIRS, Direct Relief is funding reliable power and medical oxygen projects in Sierra Leone, the Gambia, and Liberia, with a $5.5 million grant. 
 
International groups have worked to supply major hospitals around the world with oxygen plants for years, but frequently these hospitals are reliant on foreign workers to fix broken systems. When support is slow to arrive, hospitals are without medical oxygen once again. To prevent this, the AIRS project also includes extensive training for local biomedical engineers, who will maintain the plant and distribution system and repair as needed.  

Because power spikes and other electrical phenomena can damage oxygen systems, Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital’s system is specifically designed, by a Ghanaian installer who has experience with the region’s grids, and knows how to insulate the plant from shocks.  
 
“Obviously the amount of effort of well-meaning Westerners over past years has been in the millions of dollars,” Dr. Sampson said. “But no one is addressing the core infrastructure issues that prevent the health care providers who were born, who were trained, who live, who teach [in the Gambia], and who care for their people” from providing the care which they are so capable. 
 
Dr. Sampson explained that Westerners often misunderstand the nature of health care in countries like the Gambia. West African countries train and develop their own accomplished physicians, and hospitals are staffed by skilled, committed providers. For many health systems, drastically reducing the need for foreign doctors is a high priority. But to accomplish that, high-quality medical infrastructure and reliable electricity are indispensable. 

Without necessary resources like medical-grade oxygen, West African providers may feel frustrated and disempowered, Dr. Sampson said. A surgeon may be highly talented, dedicated, and trained in state-of-the-art techniques, but performing surgery without reliable electricity won’t allow them to care for patients to the best of their ability.  
 
Choosing the AIRS projects and the best locations for each required working with regional experts, health ministry authorities, and medical and cultural partners across West Africa. The Gambia’s new medical oxygen system is intended to strategically meet the needs that health systems, hospitals, and providers encounter in their communities every day.  
 
“Our program has taken a different approach to global health,” Dr. Sampson explained.  
Now, the hospital’s leaders “can actually use their money for health care instead of cylinders.” 
 
“That’s what I love about this project,” Dr. Bittaye said. “It’s the holistic nature of it,” with partners asking what a hospital needs and what its goals are, rather than offering something that may fit an outside mission but doesn’t suit a country’s own approach to health care.  
 
“It’s going to have a big impact,” he said.  

The post A New Medical Oxygen System Supports the Gambia’s Dedicated Physicians  appeared first on Direct Relief.

Over decades of work with medical partners in West Africa, Dr. John Sampson had seen the infrastructure issues many times: Talented, dedicated doctors and nurses lighting up surgeries with headlamps or cell phones after the power went out, or patients dying because oxygen wasn’t available. One 2016 training at Bo Government Hospital in Sierra Leone stands out distinctly in his mind.

Dr. Sampson, a professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, had been tasked with training nurse anesthetists from across Sierra Leone to use a Universal Anesthesia Machine, or UAM. Sierra Leone’s government had purchased 41 UAMs, specialized devices that manufacture an oxygen supply for surgeries using a power source, and that maintain a flow of oxygen even during power failures, for use at 22 hospitals.

Because UAMs are designed to provide oxygen from a reserve tank if the power shuts off during surgery, Dr. Sampson needed to simulate power failures so that nurse anesthetists could practice deploying the reserve oxygen supply. However, during training at Bo Government Hospital, in the country’s Southern Province, he encountered a problem: a power failure at the training site that continued for over two weeks.

“We had to simulate a power failure while having no power,” Dr. Sampson recalled.

This August, Bo Government Hospital unveiled a new solar power installation that will provide reliable electricity to all of the major clinical areas of the hospital, including its operating theater, 24 hours a day. The installation will also support a medical-grade oxygen plant, which Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health plans to build.

Medical providers and staff, who serve a population of more than 660,000 people, have reported successfully conducting surgeries at night, fewer interruptions to medical care, reliable storage of cold-chain medications that the hospital uses in specialty treatment, and higher morale.

“It’s been a big relief,” said Dr. Osman Kakay, the hospital’s medical superintendent. Now that staff are no longer confronting late-night outages, or completing surgeries via cell phone light when there’s no funding for backup generator diesel fuel, he joked, “I’ve been having very peaceful sleep.”

For Dr. Kakay, the project addresses an essential — and often overlooked — need. Bo Government Hospital, the second-largest facility in Sierra Leone, is a teaching hospital offering a wide array of specialty services, from ophthalmology to fistula surgery. The issues that concern him most aren’t medical staffing or training — it’s the difficulty that the hospital’s providers encounter with infrastructure like oxygen and power, or accessing medical supplies.

“Electricity in the U.S. is still taken for granted,” he said.

The new solar installation is part of the larger Africa Infrastructure Relief and Support, or AIRS, project – a Society of Critical Care Medicine collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Global Alliance of Perioperative Professionals and the Institute of Global Perioperative Care. (Dr. Sampson founded the last two organizations, and is the Global Alliance of Perioperative Professionals’ executive director.) Through AIRS, Direct Relief is funding reliable power and medical oxygen projects in Sierra Leone, the Gambia, and Liberia, with a $5.5 million grant. The project will also include biomedical training for skilled workers operating these projects, to ensure they are successfully maintained over time.

Dr. Sampson worked closely with regional experts, national authorities from each health ministry, and partners across West Africa to choose the three projects. Energy and oxygen challenges aren’t just deadly, dangerous, and unjust, he said: They also hurt the providers working to deliver medical care in unreliable circumstances.

“It makes doctors and nurses who have trained for years to hone their knowledge base and skills frustrated, and wondering if they’re actually making a difference,” he said.

Americans and Europeans often underestimate the skill that healthcare providers in West Africa are capable of providing, Dr. Sampson explained. Like medical providers everywhere, doctors and nurses in Sierra Leone and other West African countries need access to medical infrastructure. Health systems need the funds to build and maintain it.

He said short-term medical missions, often led by American or European doctors, can provide valuable patient care, but leave the health systems with the same infrastructure problems that hinder consistent quality of care to begin with. Media outlets hail the missionary providers as heroes, compounding the mistaken idea that West African medical care relies on international missions.

With reliable medical infrastructure, West African doctors and nurses may see more reason to devote their skills to their home country rather than leave for a Western country, Dr. Sampson said. Local providers can offer high-quality, reliable medical care, and patients can fully experience what their public health system has to offer.

“No one is addressing the core infrastructure issues that prevent the healthcare providers who were born, who were trained, who live, who teach, and who care for their people” from doing everything they’re capable of doing, he said. When it comes to power and oxygen, “the situation in those countries is worse than in a country that may be undergoing active warfare.”

Even when international groups focus on infrastructure, Dr. Sampson observed that they may not prioritize partnership and regional expertise, which means that projects are less likely to be a good fit for a hospital’s needs. For example, employing and training technicians to maintain a solar or oxygen project — a major emphasis of the AIRS project — is often overlooked. This has led to broken-down oxygen plants in a number of global regions, and hospitals reporting difficulty in receiving skilled support to repair them.

“It’s important to work closely with people who live and have a stake in the environment where they work,” he said.

Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health selected Bo Government Hospital as a site for the AIRS project, but Dr. Sampson was delighted by the sense that things had come full circle. “That was the first hospital that someone referred me to when I came into the country,” he said.

Watching hospital nurses put on a skit to celebrate the launch of the solar installation — showing first an unsuccessful attempt to resuscitate a newborn with no electricity, then a lifesaving revival supported by reliable energy — was a touching moment.

“This is their chronic situation every single day,” he said.

The post In Sierra Leone, A New Solar Installation Powers Expert Medical Care appeared first on Direct Relief.

Dr. Scott, a distinguished healthcare leader, brings decades of clinical, operational, and business experience to the role. Since January 2024, he has served as Interim Chief Operating Officer at Direct Relief and Co-Chair of the organization’s Health Equity Fund, where he has played a pivotal role in advancing initiatives to address health disparities. He previously served on the Board of Directors at Direct Relief.

“Dr. Scott’s extensive healthcare leadership and commitment to advancing Direct Relief’s humanitarian mission make him uniquely qualified to guide the organization through this transitional period with focus and continuity,” said Mark Linehan, Chair of the Board of Directors. “We are grateful for his willingness to step into this critical role as we finalize the selection of a permanent CEO.”

This leadership transition follows Thomas Tighe’s decision to step down after an extraordinary 24-year tenure as CEO. Under Tighe’s leadership, Direct Relief grew into one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations, delivering over $15 billion in medical aid across 100 countries and all 50 U.S. states.

Dr. Scott’s career spans leadership roles at some of the most prominent healthcare organizations. Before joining Direct Relief, he served as Deputy Chief Health Officer at IBM Watson Health, where he advised global healthcare organizations on performance improvement and strategy. He also held leadership positions at Truven Health Analytics and EmCare, where he oversaw quality and operational performance across hospital-based contracts nationally. He previously practiced emergency medicine for over 25 years and has also served as Medical Director, Chief of Staff, and hospital board trustee.

In addition to his operational leadership, Dr. Scott is a respected educator, serving as Adjunct Assistant Professor at Thomas Jefferson University, College of Population Health, and Adjunct Faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Isenberg School of Management. He holds multiple certifications in healthcare quality management, physician leadership, and corporate governance; along with serving on the Board of Directors for a children’s hospital, health plan, and medical device company.

“It’s a privilege to support Direct Relief’s critical mission during this transition,” Dr. Scott said. “I look forward to working with the exceptional team and partners to ensure the organization continues to deliver life-saving aid and uphold its commitment to advancing its mission.”

The Board of Directors is in the final stages of a comprehensive search for a permanent CEO to build on Direct Relief’s legacy of innovation and excellence to advance its humanitarian mission.

The post Direct Relief Appoints Dr. Byron Scott as Interim CEO  appeared first on Direct Relief.

The community of El Paso, Texas, is one such place, where people enter the United States from Mexico, seeking asylum and opportunity. It’s also a place where human need is high, with food, shelter, and health services in demand among those in the community and recent arrivals.

Stepping into that gap is the Health Outreach Prevention and Education, or HOPE+, a collaborative program, run by The University of Texas, El Paso, College of Health Sciences, Department of Social Work and College of Nursing. The program includes 85 organizations that provide a variety of services, including healthcare, food, housing referrals for people who are unhoused, access to public health department programs, community health workers support for navigating services, and more. The organization also hosts health fairs to connect vulnerable populations to vital care while addressing health disparities in El Paso County.

In 2024, the program reached over 1,600 people, offering on-site services and referrals to safety-net services that can improve their health. The program also involves university students training in health fields so they can gain experience with patients.

“We’re adding a dimension of humility and exposure so that the next generation of professionals are better equipped to refer to the individual who is marginalized as an individual who is worthy of dignity and respect,” said Moya.

A $200,000 grant from Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity, made possible with support from the AbbVie Foundation, allowed the University of Texas at El Paso School of Social Work to expand the HOPE health fairs to unsheltered and uninsured people across El Paso and beyond.

Since 2021, Direct Relief, through its Fund for Health Equity, has granted more than $50 million to 163 organizations across the U.S.

This video was directed, produced, and edited by Oliver Riley-Smith Cinematography.

The post Health and Hope at the U.S.-Mexico Border appeared first on Direct Relief.

Dr. Hodes asked the nuns about the boys and was told they were without caregivers. Even though he was an experienced doctor who had been in-country for about a decade, seeing the boys’ condition impacted him.

He reached out to several U.S. surgeons for help and received one “no” after another – and that’s when he managed to get a response at all. At an impasse, he decided to go in another direction with his inquiries.

“I asked the Almighty, ‘What do you want me to do?’ I didn’t get an answer and that was it,” Dr. Hodes recalled. “But three days later, I got a message in my brain and it was ‘I’m offering you a chance to help these boys… don’t say no.’”

The only way to get the boys, ages six and 12 at the time, the lifesaving surgeries they needed, was to adopt them and add them to his U.S. insurance policy. So he did.

Today, Dr. Hodes, 71, is the Ethiopia Medical Director for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, or JDC, and founder of the JDC’s spine program, which he started in 2006 and has saved thousands of lives. He is also the father of five children, all of whom he adopted in an attempt to get them the health care they needed.

It’s a life he could have never imagined when he was in medical school and that has continuously defied expectations, mostly his own. Dr. Hodes said he did not expect to live his adult life in Ethiopia, did not expect to adopt five children, and did not expect to play a critical role in transforming spinal cord care in the region – much less become the subject of an HBO documentary and other documentaries, articles, and a book.

All Dr. Hodes knew during medical school was that he was drawn to global health. The problem, he shared during a call from his home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is that even now, no clear career path exists for those with such an interest.

Like so much of Dr. Hodes’s life, the path forward would emerge from a mix of happenstance, reflection, and simply taking action.  

During medical school, he had stints caring for people in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh before going to Sudan right after finishing his final year to care for refugees there. In 1985, following a three-year residency at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and becoming board-certified in internal medicine, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach internal medicine in Ethiopia.

He spent two and a half years there, but even after that experience, Hodes still didn’t see himself as a long-termer.

“There was no way I thought I’d be living the rest of my life here,” he said.

After returning to the U.S., Hodes found himself being drawn toward his Judaism, which spurred him to move to Israel. One morning in 1990, while reading an Israeli newspaper, he learned that many Ethiopian Jews, who were trying to escape Ethiopia and emigrate to Israel due to political instability and persecution, had become stuck in Addis. Many were in dire need of medical care, which they did not have access to, having moved, en masse, from more rural areas.

“I called the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and said, ‘I’m an American doctor, I’ve lived in Ethiopia, I speak Amharic — can I help?’” he recalls. Thirty-five years later, he’s still on the job. 

From Emergencies to a Calling

In May 1991, Hodes and JDC played a crucial role in Operation Solomon, the historic airlift that brought over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in just 36 hours. But the work didn’t end with the operation. He stayed behind to care for those left behind, and in doing so, he found his life’s mission. 

Hodes’s focus shifted from emergencies to chronic care. As he was directing the JDC medical program for potential immigrants, he began volunteering at Mother Teresa Mission, a self-described “home for sick and dying destitutes,” in his free time.

At Mother Teresa’s, Hodes encountered a stream of young people suffering from all manner of illnesses and hardship, experiencing what he described as “the largest collection of worst spine deformities in the world.” Hodes and JDC set up a spine and heart care program at Mother Teresa’s to address the need. Among the children needing care were his now-sons.  

For the doctor, it was a clear choice. “I was trying to save their lives and  I realized that the only way I could get them free surgery was if they had health insurance and the only way they could get health insurance is if I adopted them,” he said matter-of-factly.

That act of compassion marked the beginning of several adoptions to connect children to care.

Over the years, Dr. Hodes has adopted five Ethiopian children, all of whom are thriving including a son who is now a pharmacist in the U.S. and one who is a successful businessman in Ethiopia.

“He gave me a new opportunity, a new purpose, a new life,” said Mesfin Hodes, one of Dr. Hode’s children, during a TED talk in Mexico. Semegnew, one of the first children adopted, referred to his father as “the saver of the world” in an application he submitted for his father to be recognized as a “CNN Hero,” which was accepted.

Among the other children whose lives have been saved by Dr. Hodes is one named Mesfin Yosef, from Sidamo, who came to St. Mother Theresa’s to die. Yosef felt he was a burden to his family due to his illness. Hodes determined that the illness was heart failure caused by a heart valve problem, which Dr. Hodes treated. Several more procedures followed leaving the boy in good health. Today, he works as a perfusionist at the Mayo Clinic, and calls Dr. Hodes “his angel.” Yosef recently returned to Ethiopia with his colleague, a heart surgeon, and they operated on 15 patients.

During a stay in Gondar, Dr. Hodes happened to walk past a man and a small orphan girl with a severe back issue.  The man was her uncle, and Dr. Hodes was able to arrange travel to Addis for her, where he cared for her in his household, which sometimes swells to as many as 25 people, some of whom live in another local house. The girl received care in Ghana and grew up in his home. Today she is enrolled in a master’s computer science program in Oklahoma. This, and several other of his cases have turned into award-winning documentaries.

Dr. Hodes’s life so far is peppered with these types of events, miracles, or coincidences, in all shapes and sizes. There was the time he asked a woman at an airport to hold his Tefillin, phylacteries worn by Jewish men during morning prayers, while he went to the lavatory. They began to talk and he was able to diagnose her irregular heartbeat with his Apple Watch, even writing a kind of doctor’s note to the airline excusing her from flying. Or the stranger in a Minneapolis synagogue who happened to be a skull-base surgeon — the exact specialist needed to save a patient’s life. Dr. Hodes was only there because he overslept and wanted to pray with his Teffilin in a community setting.

“Stuff like this happens to me all the time,” Dr. Hodes said, his voice tinged with wonder.

A Framework for Care into the Future

In addition to chance, Dr. Hodes has also played an instrumental role in solidifying care options for the region’s hardest cases. In 2006, JDC and Hodes partnered with Dr. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, one of the world’s leading spine surgeons, to launch a spine program based at Mother Teresa’s Mission. Today, it’s the largest of its kind in Ethiopia, treating hundreds of patients annually with conditions ranging from scoliosis to tuberculosis-related deformities.  The program has trained over 1,000 providers.

“These are cases you’d never see in the U.S.,” Dr. Hodes said. “The natural history of untreated spinal disease, that’s what I see every day.”  The program’s success has also catalyzed interest and support from the government, which had been lacking.

Ethiopia’s government recently allocated space in a leading Addis hospital, St. Paul’s, for the new National Spine Center. JDC will renovate and equip the Center while providing ongoing training to local doctors and health professionals, aiming to enhance their capacity to treat a greater number of patients locally. Direct Relief staff met with Dr. Hodes in Ethiopia earlier this year about medical needs and potential support.

The program relies on a global network of surgeons, with patients sent to Ghana, India, or treated locally depending on the severity of their condition. “Some cases require six months of traction before surgery,” Dr. Hodes explained.

Part of Dr. Hodes’s effectiveness in both medicine and parenting, beyond a deep empathy and desire to help, can be traced to his deep knowledge of, and respect for, local cultures and ethnic groups. He casually rattles off several subgroups of a local ethnic group during the conversation, and said he often prefers to conduct visits in Amharic versus English, since he’s able to communicate more effectively with his patients.

Even as his program has grown in its capacity to care for Ethiopia’s most difficult cases, and as he continues into his eighth decade, Dr. Hodes shows no signs of slowing down. His son Semegnew noted that his dad often eats in his car to save time and scrimps on sleep so that he can see more patients.

“Retirement isn’t in my vocabulary,” Dr. Hodes said. “My friends are retiring, but I have a mission.” 

The post Adopting Hope: The Doctor Who Became Family to Children in Ethiopia appeared first on Direct Relief.

These emergencies were all experienced by communities, but also by staff at health centers. But instead of shying away from these disasters, those staff stepped up for their communities, many times as first responders even as they experienced the storm’s impacts personally.

Whether through driving mobile units, creating resilient power hubs, or working to connect patients with lifesaving medications needed during an evacuation, community health centers are often on the frontlines as disasters increase in frequency and intensity.

Through an editorial partnership, Direct Relief and the National Association for Community Health Centers, or NACHC, uncover and share stories of health centers reaching their patients in unique ways, during emergencies and beyond. These stories, published by Community Health Forum and Direct Relief, are offered free of charge for republishing and have been syndicated in various digital and broadcast outlets throughout 2024.

The editorial partnership relies on high-quality storytelling from professional journalists at a time when health reporting from many outlets has been significantly reduced, leaving stories untold.

In between times of emergency, health centers work each day to meet patients where they are, with personal and culturally competent care. They are also actively involved in training the next generation of health workers, many of whom have been patients themselves or have had family seek care.

Here are some of their stories.

Resilient Power Proves a “Lifesaver” for Mississippi Health Center After Catastrophic Tornado

After an EF4 tornado swept through Rolling Fork, Mississippi, in March 2023, destroying one of Delta Health Center’s sites, the organization set up a temporary clinic and harnessed resilient power for nine months until a site with power became available. The microgrid allowed health center staff to treat Rolling Fork patients in their hometown.

Adoris Turner, deputy chief executive officer at DHC, said the solar power allowed the health center to offer services through the worst phases of Rolling Fork’s recovery.

“It was a lifesaver, and I literally mean a medical lifesaver,” Turner told Direct Relief journalist Olivia Lewis. “The ability to see a patient who may be having an asthmatic crisis or people who are having any type of medical need, it went a long way to have our facility up and running.”

Read more.

Shelter From the Storm: South Carolina and Georgia Clinics Stand Strong for Patients

As Hurricane Debby loomed over South Carolina in August, staff at Fetter Health Care Network, the Low Country’s only federally qualified health center, evacuated medicines and mobile units to their inland Summerville location for safekeeping.

The following morning, on storm game day, Powers led her staff through a plan for the day to ensure that patients throughout the city and on the neighboring barrier islands would have as much time to access care and get medication refills as possible.

“The city may shut down at 3 p.m., but we can’t do that. We have to give our patients an opportunity to get off with the shutdowns and then pick up their meds, Powers told Direct Relief journalist Noah Smith. Her staff also took vaccines off the islands in case of power outages and also coordinated with migrants to help them with supplies and to find off-island shelters.

Read more.

This San Diego Health Center Offers Patients a Career Focused on Community

One health center decided to train people who wanted a career in health care, starting with its own patients. The Laura Rodriguez Medical Assistant Institute, a program of the Family Health Centers of San Diego, reported that 65% of participants in its medical assistant program have been health center patients themselves, and aim to better reflect the community they serve, reported Olivia Lewis.

FHC of San Diego has 27 locations, which serve about 160,000 patients annually, with over 95% of them living at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, according to HRSA data. Most identify as part of a racial or ethnic minority.

For Diana Garcia Cortes, who graduated from the program in August, one of 15 in her cohort, the program was a game-changer. “It’s really, honestly life-changing to know that within a year I’m able to have a different career, better opportunities, a different job,” she said.

Read more.

As Francine Bears Down on New Orleans, A Health Center Braces for Impact — and Plans for Uncertainty

Tropical Storm Francine was sweeping towards New Orleans, but in the city’s Lower Ninth Ward, Teresa Bovia kept her health center’s doors open.

Regardless of the impending storm, six new patients had already needed walk-in appointments at Baptist Community Health Services, Inc., where Bovia is the chief operating officer. Most needed to refill their medications before the storm hit, but hadn’t been able to contact their regular doctors. The health center’s existing patients also needed insulin or other medications, or wanted to check their blood pressure, before sheltering in place.

“The people we serve, they don’t have the means to leave,” Bovia explained to Talya Meyers, Direct Relief’s senior editor and writer. In New Orleans’s Lower Ninth Ward, where Bovia works, patients are always vulnerable. She explained that life expectancy in the community is fully 20 years lower than it is for residents of her home neighborhood 15 minutes away.

“We know [the inequity] is there and it’s our responsibility to do something about it,” she said.

Read more.

A New Generation of Doctors Looks to Health Centers for Residency

When Dr. Joronia Chery applied for a residency program, it wasn’t at a hospital, but a community health center.

“I came here because this is where I see myself making the most difference. It feels like treating my grandmother or my mother,” said Dr. Chery, a first-year resident at the Institute for Family Health’s Harlem location. Her decisions stemmed from growing up witnessing the healthcare gaps in her Brooklyn community, where she had to travel 30 minutes by bus to the closest community health center.  

Many residents, like Chery, intentionally choose the program because they see themselves in their patients, reported Noah Smith. Fluent in French and Haitian Creole, she has bridged language gaps that might otherwise complicate care. “When a patient hears someone speaking their language, their shoulders relax. They know they’re in the right place,” she said.

Read more.

The post In 2024, Health Centers Responded to Disasters, Trained the Next Generation, and More appeared first on Direct Relief.

In early 2025, the clinic will open the nation’s first surgery center operated by a free clinic, a groundbreaking initiative to provide life-changing procedures, including hernia repairs, cataract removals, colonoscopies, and more, to those who cannot afford them. Already, over 3,000 patients are on the waiting list.

For Ed Gerber, executive director of the Lestonnac Free Clinic, and a former patient, the implications are profound, having once had to balance imaging costs with eating dinner, he recalled. Gerber dreams of the surgery center becoming a national model, a goal that seemed out of reach until a $3.5 million donation from philanthropist Bill Thompson.

The creation of the surgery center, a 4,000-square-foot facility with two state-of-the-art operating rooms, five pre- and post-operative beds, and sterilization units, represents both a solution to a pervasive nationwide problem and a model for the future.

For nearly a decade, Lestonnac Free Clinic, founded by Sister Marie Therese in 1979, saw about 17,000 patients across 30,000 visits last year, and has been striving to offer surgical procedures to its uninsured patients. In one instance, the clinic borrowed operating rooms at a hospital for a single “surgery day,” completing a dozen cases— hernia repairs, carpal tunnel releases— with undeniable success. Yet no hospital agreed to repeat the program.

Eventually, through partnerships with organizations like the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, or AAPIO, Lestonnac secured occasional access to a Beverly Hills surgical center, performing surgeries twice monthly. It was during this period that early-stage cancers were detected in several colonoscopy patients— cases that could have turned fatal without intervention.

“That was eye-opening,” said Gerber. “We saved those lives, but the frustration was realizing how unsustainable it all was. We realized couldn’t rely on hospitals long-term. We had to build this ourselves.”

The Lestonnac surgery center is, in part, a response to the systemic challenges of U.S. healthcare. While hospitals are legally required to stabilize emergency cases, they are not obligated to treat conditions like hernias or cataracts, which can profoundly impact quality of life. “Emergency rooms stabilize and release patients. After that, you fall into a rabbit hole trying to find care,” said Gerber.

At Lestonnac, care is free, provided through a network of volunteer doctors, surgeons, and anesthesiologists. Free clinics do not receive any state or federal government reimbursements for care they provide. Addressing common perceptions about free clinics, Gerber said the volunteers are doctors with deep experience.

“They’re doctors you wish you could get. They’re well-seasoned surgeons who want to make a difference,” he said, adding that instead of doing medical missions internationally, they’re able to provide services locally.

 Courtney Harrison, the clinic’s Director of Surgical Services, envisions a ripple effect from the free surgery center. “The evolution of this is going to be fantastic. If a surgeon is willing to volunteer, I know we’ll find the patients,” she said.

Already, the clinic coordinates with 16 federally qualified health centers and other clinics, which refer uninsured and underinsured patients. “A $2,000 co-pay might as well be no insurance at all,” Gerber said, referring to private insurance plans that have high deductibles, which are out-of-pocket costs that a patient must pay before insurance begins to cover costs.

The types of procedures planned are considered routine, yet are potentially transformative: cataract surgeries that restore sight, hernia repairs that allow patients to work again, colonoscopies that prevent advanced cancer, and minor orthopedic procedures like ankle stabilizations.

“These are surgeries that don’t take much time, some are 15 minutes, but they change lives,” Harrison explained. “One hernia patient couldn’t work for two years. After the surgery, he was back on his feet.”

Bringing the surgery center to life has required a delicate balance of donations and partnerships. Kaiser Permanente has donated critical supplies, while hospitals have offered pathology services free of charge. Specialized equipment, such as colonoscopy scopes and anesthesia machines, are among the project’s major expenses, along with construction costs.

“Collaboration is what’s making this a reality,” Gerber said. The free clinic also benefits from owning the building in which the surgery clinic will be housed. “If you’re renting, you’re back to relying on someone else,” Gerber said.

Once operational, the center will prioritize patients based on severity and urgency according to Mary Baker, director of quality. Cases will be sent to volunteer surgeons, who select those they are most comfortable performing. Already, some patients are willing to drive from as far as Arizona.

The Lestonnac team hopes the center serves as a national model for other free clinics, showcasing how communities can bypass a complex, costly healthcare system to provide vital care for those who do not have another option due to cost.

“This is what free clinics are about,” Gerber said.

“Saving lives is first and foremost for all of us. But quality of life matters too. If we can do one cataract, we’ve made a difference, it’s huge for patients,” he said about the procedure, which can restore sight.

The post With Thousands on the Waiting List, California Free Clinic Aims to Provide Surgery Services appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief relies on their expertise to know what is needed, and their resilience represents the best of humanity even in the darkest of times.

This year, Direct Relief has shipped more than $1.6 billion in medical aid to 90 countries. But behind those abstract numbers are real people, working to serve others in tremendously challenging situations, whether during an emergency or while experiencing limited resources — or both.

Here are some of their stories.

Kranti Tamang on the Anti-Trafficking, Anti-Stigma Revolution

Trafficking survivor Shanti Tamang, and her daughter, Kranti, are providing safe spaces for survivors to thrive and dismantle the stigma that comes with living with HIV in Nepal.

Shanti had been taken from her job in Nepal and forced into sex trafficking in India as a teenager. After escaping and returning home, Shanti’s family and community rejected her upon learning she was living with HIV, and she was forced to find work and housing on her own. For a time, she was so unwell that she had to leave her daughter, Kranti, at an orphanage.

Then, in 2015, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal, and a border blockade between Nepal and India, cut off the supply of critical medications into Nepal, including the HIV treatment on which Shanti’s life depended.

With the help of a friend, Shanti connected with Direct Relief, which provided a supply of antiretroviral drugs for a number of Nepali people living with HIV, including Shanti.

“We love to say that Direct Relief saved my mother’s life,” Kranti shared with Direct Relief’s Brianna Newport. “And when she felt that she had been given a second chance to her life, she had to do more for her community.”

Shanti went on to found the Shanti Foundation, which works to rescue, rehabilitate, and reintegrate trafficking survivors and people living with HIV.

 Read more.

Plan A Health Hits the Road for Patients in Mississippi Delta

A local team travels across the Mississippi Delta to ensure every adult has access to quality reproductive care, contraceptives, and trusting relationships with their medical team.

Plan A provides reproductive and primary care health throughout the Mississippi Delta, a region that historically has had poor health outcomes and low economic status. Their small team operates a mobile medical unit, outfitted with two exam rooms, that truck driver Antoinette Roby drives from city to city.

Since its inception in 2018, Plan A has expanded to include a pharmacy, mail-order prescriptions, options for contraceptives, pre-and-post-natal care for patients with HIV, and telehealth for family planning. They’ve also hired a nurse practitioner that patients can call or text directly to ask questions.

The team includes Desiree Norwood, who is the mayor of her hometown of Sunflower, Mississippi. Norwood said when the mobile medical unit arrives in Sunflower, people are excited because Plan A has built a reputable reputation.

“A lot of organizations come into the community, and they do evaluations and research and then what happens? They leave,” she told Direct Relief journalist Olivia Lewis. “We’ve actually been able to fill a lot of gaps and alleviate some of those barriers that they’re facing.”

“This isn’t working a job, it’s a passion,” Norwood said.

Read more.

In Panama, Type 1 Diabetes Care Improves by Empowering Young People

Pilar Gomez, DiabetesLATAM’s founder and director, started DiabetesLATAM after moving to Panama in 2017 with a son and daughter diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. With little in the way of services for people living with diabetes in Panama, Gomez decided to change that, reported Brianna Newport.

Kids like her own needed reliable access to insulin. Through contacts at the International Diabetes Federation, she got in touch with the Life for a Child team, an Australia-based NGO that, in partnership with Direct Relief, provides insulin to young people in 45 under-resourced countries.

When plans to provide insulin and education through a local hospital fell through, Gomez created a completely volunteer-run program separate from the hospitals for families that don’t have guaranteed insulin access. The program began in August 2022 with 30 kids enrolled, and in the last two years, it has grown to support 150 kids with diabetes care. That means that DiabetesLATAM now provides care for roughly 1 out of every 10 people living with Type 1 in Panama, according to the prevalence numbers from the Type 1 Index.

Read more.

“Living Day by Day,” Health Staff in Haiti Keep Hospital Doors Open as Violence Continues

Since 2010, Haiti has faced a catastrophic earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people, Hurricane Matthew, cholera outbreaks, the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, and a 7.2-magnitude earthquake the following month. Gang violence continued to rock the country this year, and health providers went to heroic lengths to show up to work, putting themselves at risk, reported Direct Relief journalist Noah Smith.

“We’ve never seen a situation like this,” said Dr. Marc Edson Augustin, medical director of the St. Luke’s Foundation, which runs a hospital in Port-au-Prince and clinics nationwide that care for about 60,000 patients annually.

Direct Relief provided $1 million in financial support to health organizations across the country so they could maintain operating budgets and continue serving patients.

Read more.

Health Care Hero: A Landfill Fire Was Poisoning Her Patients. She Cared for Them at Home.

Alejandra Hernandez Ezquivel was in her house in the 500-person community of Santa María Chimalhuacán, in eastern Mexico, when her husband came running indoors. The landfill nearby — the one that had appeared one day out of nowhere years earlier, with no opportunity for the community to object — was on fire.

“It was like a monster, so immense,” she told Talya Meyers, Direct Relief senior editor and writer, through a translator, recalling the fire that began raging on May 29, 2022. The blaze was out of control by the time firemen arrived at the rural community, located in the municipality of Chimalhuacán, about an hour away from Mexico City.

Ezquivel cared for patients all the while, eventually working to help establish a full-time primary care center, funded by the NGO Fundación Escala, which Direct Relief has supported with medications. With the nearest health facility two hours away, the primary care center fills a huge gap in care.

“Whatever patients need, that’s what we provide,” Ezquivel explained.

Read more.

After a Disaster, “the Mothers Will Call You to Where You Need to Be”

Picture a disaster’s first responders. A firefighter dousing a blaze or a doctor treating a critical injury might come to mind. But midwives caring for pregnant women and newborns are also critical responders during disasters, a fact that Sunny Chen, executive director of Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawai’i, knows firsthand.

“When the disaster happened, our Maui partners called us and said, ‘we need you to come,’ and so we brought the mobile clinic here and we were able to provide critical medical care and services,” she said. “That’s the amazing thing about midwives and nurses. We just do whatever it takes, and we adapt.”

The organization’s midwives and nurses were some of the first medical responders to reach Maui after the devastating 2023 wildfires and continue to provide care for families.

“When you take care of mothers and pregnant and parenting people, you really take care of a whole community,” Chen said. “The mothers will call you to where you need to be.”

Read more.

For Kids with Diabetes, This Summer Camp Is Like Any Other. But It’s Theirs.

Camp Conrad Chinnock in Southern California looks right out of a movie set: archery set, mess hall, climbing wall, flagpole, even a swimming pool. Campers laugh and lurch about, making jokes and trading stories as they walk to the next activity together, reported Direct Relief journalist Noah Smith when he visited the camp this summer.

The familiar atmosphere is precisely the aim. Camp Conrad Chinnock’s purpose is to give children with Type 1 diabetes a typical summer camp experience. Due to the nature of T1D, it’s not a simple proposition.

“The burden of diabetes management is minute-to-minute, constant, 24 hours. You can’t quit. And it’s always part of your thinking in the background. But when you come to camp, you have a support network that helps to carry your load,” said Tracy Fulkerson, a former camper who is now on the medical staff at the camp and works as a pediatric intensive care unit nurse supervisor at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.

Having trained support staff and medications and supplies needed to manage diabetes allows campers to focus on fun. Direct Relief’s insulin donations, which are used every day during the camp season, keep prices affordable. Without them, the cost of attendance would multiply several times over, said Rocky Wilson, camp director.

“Camp could not exist without donated insulin.”

Read more.

Fire Destroyed an Island Hospital. Months Later, a Honduran Free Clinic Is Still Bridging the Gap.

When a fire had destroyed the only public hospital on the island of Roatán, Honduras, staff at Clinica Esperanza, a local free clinic, were part of an immediate, community-wide response.

Thousands relied on the hospital for care, reported Direct Relief journalist Olivia Lewis. Patients and hospital staff were being routed to local medical practices to receive emergency care, and Clinic Esperanza staff said they couldn’t imagine having to turn anyone away.

“I cannot handle the idea that people can die because they don’t have any other option,” said Kallie Vallecillo, CEO of Clinica Esperanza, which has operated in the community for 22 years.

Clinica Esperanza, which relies on medical students and volunteers to operate, extended its daily hours to meet the increased need.

Read more.

The post 2024: Stories of Resilience appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included rare disease therapies, cancer therapies, insulin, and more.

MPOX Response Continues in Congo

As mpox cases continue to climb in Africa, educational efforts to curb the disease are taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Direct Relief recently awarded a grant of $50,000 to the nonprofit Jericho Road for mpox response, and prevention and treatment programs that are taking place in the three IDP (internally displaced people) camps near their facility in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC.

The Jericho Road Wellness Center is based in Goma, DRC, near three large IDP camps in North Kivu, and the spread of mpox in these camps was noted as an area of concern by Africa CDC. The province of North Kivu is home to over 2.5 million internally displaced people, and conflict and insecurity throughout the region have caused the additional displacement of over 500,000 people in North Kivu over the last year, which has played a factor in the recent mpox outbreak.

Jericho Road held mpox awareness and preventative health training sessions for community facilitators from camps where thousands of displaced people are living. The trainings covered hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, transmission of contagious diseases, and more. The facilitators will be training those in their communities about infection control and protection and prevention.

Direct Relief has worked with Jericho Road during previous outbreaks, including during the 2019 Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC. Direct Relief and Jericho Road worked to deliver PPE to the North Kivu provincial Department of Health, and the organizations are exploring the same approach as North Kivu is experiencing some of the highest rates of mpox in Africa.

Cancer Therapies Arrive in Gaza

Cancer therapies and essential medicines arrived recently at the Cancer Center at European Gaza Hospital to support treatment of people living with cancer.

The cancer center is a vital lifeline to care for those needing care, and seven pallets of requested medications were purchased locally by Anera in the West Bank, with $250,000 in financial support from Direct Relief. The local purchase of the medications allowed for the treatments to be swiftly delivered to the hospital.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 586 shipments containing 2 million doses of medication during the past month to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 1 million defined daily doses of medication totaling 13,673 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 24.2K shipments to 2,419 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 89 countries. These shipments contained 396.6M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.6B (wholesale) and totaled 5.0M lbs.

in the news

Reflecting on 24 Years of Crisis Care at Direct Relief – Santa Barbara Independent

Celebrating the Relief Chief – The Montecito Journal

Direct Relief Secures Spot as the Fifth Largest U.S. Charity, Forbes Reports – Edhat

The post Medical Aid Reaches 16 Countries, 45 U.S. States appeared first on Direct Relief.

In recent months, Moscow intensified its campaign to destroy Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with drones and missiles before the third winter of war sets in. On November 28 alone, Russian strikes left more than a million people without power. Ukraine now faces an energy crunch that could reportedly lead to daily blackouts of 10-12 hours during cold spells.

As the international community provides new equipment and funds for essential repairs, Direct Relief is supporting healthcare and other institutions in creating backup energy systems. As part of its global Power for Health Initiative, more than 2,500 13.5 kWh Tesla Powerwall 2 units were supplied, including 500 from the Polish government, to support critical and social infrastructure. Direct Relief’s contribution so far is valued at around $12 million.

This cooperation became an important element of national resilience, said former Deputy Minister for Digital Transformation Yegor Dubinsky, who worked closely with Direct Relief on much of the project: “Power for Health is an effective response which allows our hospitals, emergency services, and schools to work during the power outages, and our people to continue to live despite all attempts to break their will.”

Light and Life at Health Facilities

Almost half of the donated units will support healthcare facilities, allowing them to seamlessly maintain power in case of blackouts and instability of the power grid. Direct Relief is also looking into the supply of solar panels, also in coordination with the digital transformation ministry and a Kharkiv-based core partner the Yevhen Pyvovarov’s Charity Fund, or CFYP.

It all adds up to a buffer against the unthinkable — that patients may die on the operating table because lights or vital equipment suddenly powered off, urgently needed lab results are lost, or doctors cannot perform even basic procedures that require electricity.

“The Powerwalls provide a sense of security,” said Eduard Chekhovsky, a technician who installed and maintains 10 of the units donated to the National Cancer Institute in Kyiv. These now provide emergency lighting for 8 of its 17 operating theaters, as well as for equipment for anesthesia monitoring, the blood transfusion unit, an emergency laboratory, cold storage for genetic tissue samples, and three intensive care wards for 13 patients.

The hospital has generators as a secondary backup, but these are fuel-thirsty and prone to breaking down, unlike the Powerwalls, which are essentially large lithium-ion batteries that charge off the main grid and can instantly give several hours of power in emergencies. “For a generator to reach full working capacity it can take five minutes,” said Chekhovsky. “Our Powerwalls only have a fraction of a second delay [before activating.]”

Strategic Power Placement Where It’s Needed Most

Thanks to the efforts of CFYP, most of the units, each weighing 160 kg (352 lbs), have been distributed around the country, with an emphasis on frontline and border regions.

Of 2,519 units delivered, the largest number (1,231) was supplied to healthcare institutions. Educational institutions received 485 units, the State Emergency Service 349 units, the social sector 147 units, while 40 more comprise a reserve for replacing damaged units.

A major recipient (248 units) is the Chernihiv region, located north of Kyiv and sharing a highly vulnerable border with Russia and Belarus. At the Regional Children’s Hospital, two units were installed in its labyrinth-like basement, which is being converted to house small-scale specialized medical units during air alerts, with adjoining rooms with beds for children. The surroundings are spartan but at least brightly lit and reasonably safe in emergencies – direct hits notwithstanding.

Healthcare facilities have also been directly targeted. In September alone, 40 attacks on health facilities were verified, resulting in 12 deaths and 53 injuries, according to the Ukraine Health Cluster. Therefore, some recipients of Powerwalls used part of this capacity to make the hours spent underground during alerts less traumatic.

At the Medical Rehabilitation Center for Mother and Child in the southern port city of Odesa, as well as powering operating theaters and 19 small wards, Tesla units also work in the new basement bomb shelter. Close to completion when Direct Relief visited in November, the 300-square-meter premises were to include beds and a modest cinema hall so the children and parents are not in a state of fear during alerts.

“We are very grateful – this [donation of Powerwalls] has really helped us out in difficulty,” said hospital director Natalia Odariy-Zakharieva. “Now, as soon as the shelter is finished, we will be fully prepared for winter.”

Direct Relief has supported health services for Ukrainians with over $1.4 billion in medical and financial assistance since February 2022, including through resilient power systems.

The post Keeping Ukraine’s Healthcare System Running as Winter Energy Crunch Looms appeared first on Direct Relief.

“In the United States, while 93% of Teva’s inhaler medicines are generic products with access at lower prices – particularly for insured patients – there still remain uninsured patients who cannot access affordable generic inhalers,” said Chris Fox, Executive Vice President, U.S. Commercial at Teva. “The aim of this program is to help address an unmet need in underserved communities nationwide, enhancing patient access to safe and affordable medicines delivered via inhalers, including both maintenance and rescue inhalers.”

Teva will make two inhaler products available through this program: generic versions of the AirDuo®RespiClick® (fluticasone propionate/salmeterol xinafoate maintenance inhaler) and ProAir® HFA (albuterol sulfate rescue inhaler). Teva will donate the inhalers to Direct Relief for distribution by request to free & charitable clinics, to then be dispensed to uninsured patients served by these clinics.

“Direct Relief is deeply grateful to Teva for this critical donation which will connect patients with respiratory treatments they otherwise would not have access to,” said Katie Lewis, Regional Director, U.S. Programs for Direct Relief. “Free and charitable clinics offer quality care for underserved communities, and this donation will allow them to reach even more patients with these medications.”

The program will continue for a minimum of three years to ensure reliable and continuous supply to these patients. In addition to donating the inhalers, Teva will make a cash donation to Direct Relief to cover the costs of administering this program.

Direct Relief, Teva’s long-time partner on access to medicines programs in the U.S. and around the world, is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that provides medical resources to resource-poor communities. It operates the largest charitable medicine program in the United States. Through its network, Direct Relief supports the dispensing of high-quality, no-cost medicines to low-income, uninsured patients at the point of care, thereby facilitating patient access to necessary medicines.

The post Teva Announces New Patient Access Program with Direct Relief to Provide Access to Inhalers for Uninsured Patients appeared first on Direct Relief.

Cyclone Chido has been described as the most powerful storm to hit Mayotte in over 90 years. The French overseas department, located between Madagascar and Mozambique, was battered by wind speeds exceeding 140 miles per hour and storm surges as high as 28 feet, which wiped out entire neighborhoods, particularly informal settlements housing undocumented migrants. While the official death toll in Mayotte is currently reported as 22, casualty estimates are already in the thousands and expected to rise as assessments continue. 

In neighboring Comoros, Cyclone Chido delivered similarly devastating winds and heavy rainfall, leaving extensive destruction across the island chain. Comoros President Azali Assoumani declared a week of mourning for lives lost, noting the country’s infrastructure had sustained “enormous” damage. Mozambique, already vulnerable to severe weather, faced Chido’s full force as the storm made landfall in Cabo Delgado province. Winds of over 160 miles per hour and torrential rains damaged homes, infrastructure, and health facilities across the region. 

Direct Relief is working to assess the needs of affected communities. In Mayotte, the organization is in communication with French emergency first response agencies to address opportunities for supporting immediate healthcare needs. In Comoros, Direct Relief is working with its long-standing partner Santé Diabète, a French NGO focused on diabetes prevention and care, to assess the situation and provide support. Outreach to Mozambique’s Ministry of Health is ongoing, with Direct Relief offering emergency medical supplies and logistical support as damage assessments are finalized. 

Meanwhile, in the Pacific, the island nation of Vanuatu was struck by a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake. Though damage assessments are still underway, reports indicate widespread destruction to homes, public infrastructure, and healthcare facilities, with aftershocks posing continued risks. Direct Relief has begun coordinating with healthcare partners in Vanuatu to determine the most urgent needs and provide assistance, with a shipment of emergency medicines and medical supplies en route to the island nation this week. 

Why These Disasters Are So Dangerous to Human Health 

Disasters like earthquakes and cyclones present immediate and long-term threats to human health. Severe storms and earthquakes often cause mass casualties, injuries from trauma, and infrastructure collapse that can overwhelm local health systems. In the aftermath, communities face additional risks: 

• Disease Outbreaks: Flooding from cyclones contaminates water sources, increasing the spread of cholera, malaria, and other waterborne diseases. 

• Displacement: The destruction of homes and healthcare facilities forces people into overcrowded shelters with limited sanitation, increasing the risk of communicable diseases. 

• Chronic Health Disruptions: Access to care for chronic diseases, such as diabetes or hypertension, is often interrupted, putting vulnerable individuals at risk. 

• Maternal and Infant Health: Pregnant women and infants are especially at risk when health services are disrupted, as emergency obstetric care becomes harder to access. 

Direct Relief works to address these challenges by ensuring that essential medical supplies, from trauma kits to vaccines, reach healthcare providers on the frontlines. 

Direct Relief’s Ongoing Commitment to Disaster Response 

Direct Relief has a long history of responding to some of the world’s most devastating natural disasters, ensuring critical medical resources reach those in need.  Following Cyclone Idai in 2019, the organization delivered over 100 tons of medical aid to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. In Vanuatu, Direct Relief has supported health systems for years, delivering emergency medical supplies after both cyclones and earthquakes. By pre-positioning resources and partnering with frontline healthcare providers, Direct Relief ensures that when disasters strike, communities receive the timely medical assistance they need. 

Earthquakes: 

• In Türkiye and Syria, following the catastrophic 7.8-magnitude earthquake in February 2023, Direct Relief delivered more than 1,000 tons of medical aid, including field medical kits, trauma supplies, and cold-chain vaccines to frontline responders. Direct Relief also provided grants to support health facilities and organizations leading recovery efforts. 

• After the 2015 Nepal earthquake, which killed thousands and devastated infrastructure, Direct Relief partnered with local healthcare providers to deliver emergency medical supplies, including essential medicines and equipment for trauma care. 

• Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, one of the deadliest in recent history, Direct Relief supplied over $70 million in medical aid, supported Haitian health organizations and helped rebuild clinics and hospitals. 

Cyclones, Hurricanes, and Typhoons: 

• In 2019, Cyclones Idai and Kenneth tore through Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, destroying homes, crops, and health facilities, while causing a widespread cholera outbreak. Direct Relief provided over 100 tons of emergency medical aid, focusing on trauma care, infectious disease prevention, and maternal health. Direct Relief also provided analysis support to WHO and the Ministry of Health of Mozambique for their cholera vaccination campaign in Pemba. 

• After Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas in 2019, Direct Relief delivered medical supplies to clinics and hospitals, helping local providers care for displaced and injured residents. 

• In 2013, when Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines—one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded—Direct Relief responded immediately with emergency shipments of medical aid and long-term support to rebuild health systems in affected areas. 

• Direct Relief also has an ongoing hurricane preparedness program that pre-positions medical supplies in high-risk areas ahead of cyclone and hurricane seasons, including the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. 

Through these efforts, Direct Relief has delivered billions of dollars in medical aid and partnered with local organizations to rebuild healthcare systems, ensuring that disaster-hit communities have access to essential care both during emergencies and throughout recovery. 

As impacts from Cyclone Chido and the Vanuatu earthquake continue to unfold, Direct Relief remains committed to supporting healthcare providers on the ground, helping communities recover, and ensuring life-saving medical care reaches those most in need. 

The post Cyclone Chido, Vanuatu Earthquake Leave Devastation in Their Wake  appeared first on Direct Relief.

A licensed clinical social worker and certified clinical supervisor and substance abuse counselor, she’d worked in the mental health field for more than two decades, and she wanted to help. Navarro Ishiki wasn’t from Lāhainā — she was born and raised in Pāʻia, also in Maui — and she didn’t know what would be needed, but she knew the most important question: “How can I support Lāhainā?”

The most immediate answer had little to do with the mental health care she was trained to provide. People who’d evacuated were separated from their families, worried about missing loved ones, and urgently needed food, water, toiletries, and other basic necessities. While Navarro Ishiki and her fellow clinicians offered mental health support to first responders in the area immediately after the fire, most of their time was spent transporting requested supplies to hubs that distributed necessities to families.

As Navarro Ishiki distributed supplies and talked to people whose roots run deep in Lāhainā, or whose families had come to Hawaiʻi from Southeast Asia in search of a better life, she heard a repeated theme: Responders had traveled to Maui from all over during the wildfires to offer support — but it often wasn’t the support people most needed.

“They were well-intentioned, but not always culturally competent,” she said. “Especially as it relates to our historical trauma, well-intentioned people can sometimes hurt people.”

People displaced from the wildfires described a therapist who’d shown up on Maui to help, then grew upset when people didn’t seek out mental health services. Another pushed newly evacuated community members to talk about what they’d seen, and whether any of the dead or missing were loved ones.

“People were not ready to talk about it,” Navarro Ishiki explained. “They lost their community, they lost their identity, their livelihood, and for many, loved ones. They were just trying to wrap their minds around that, and wondering where their next meal would come from.”

She understood. For Navarro Ishiki, integrating her clinical training with her Native Hawaiian culture and knowledge of her people is vital.

“I am who I am because of the people who came before me: my kupuna — my ancestors — my community, my mentors, my ʻohana [family], my parents,” she said. Understanding the thousands of years of culture and way of life, and the historical trauma, that inform Hawaiʻi today is essential. “Our people need our people to do this work.”

Most survivors of the Lāhainā wildfire weren’t ready to talk about their experience until months later, Navarro Ishiki said. As a responder, she found the devastation she encountered — even the smells in the air — deeply unsettling. “I couldn’t work after what I saw,” she said. “If we could do it all again, we would wait for the call” for help to arrive.

When she began to work in-depth with wildfire survivors in January of 2024, she observed that the Western conventions of therapy — office setting, one-on-one appointments, rigid boundaries between therapist and patient — weren’t a good cultural fit for many people.

Instead, Navarro Ishiki said, the support she offered often took the form of kūkākūkā, a cultural practice she defines as “talk story.” Sharing personal stories and cultural history as a community is an important practice in the long Native oral tradition.

“We do it as a group, as a family, as a community,” she explained. “They may not be looking to find a solution. It’s just not to carry the weight of what’s in their minds, their hearts.”

In the aftermath of the wildfires, Navarro Ishiki founded Piha Wellness and Healing, a nonprofit focused on providing mental health support to Hawaiian communities, and in developing peer support specialists and mental health practitioners focused on providing culturally competent care. She’d seen the need for Piha’s mission well before the fires, she said, but had decided to put founding a nonprofit on hold as her private practice grew. The devastation on Maui made it an urgent priority.

Piha Wellness and Healing, which now serves approximately 400 people per year, will be supported by a $200,000 grant from Direct Relief.

Navarro Ishiki described speaking with Dr. Byron Scott and Annie Vu, Direct Relief’s chief operating officer and associate director of U.S. emergency response, about her plans for the nonprofit as kūkākūkā. “It felt like we were talking story and building pilina,” which means connection in Hawaiian, she said. “I didn’t feel like I had to sell myself…Culturally, I could be who I am, and I was seen for that. I felt it, and it was genuine.”

Young therapists of Native descent confide to Navarro Ishiki that they’re worried about building a client list, establishing a practice, and gaining experience. She tells them they’ll have the opposite problem: “We work within a system where we will never have enough of us, even though we work hard to put ourselves out of a job.”

As in many traditional societies, connection to place and ancestry is vital to Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiians), Navarro Ishiki said. For example, it would be nearly impossible to overstate the cultural and historical importance of Lāhainā, once the home of the Hawaiian monarchy, to its people — or the grief caused by the wildfire’s destruction. Navarro Ishiki, whose own family has belonged to a community for seven generations, understands this connection to place innately.

“It’s not my intention to speak for Lāhainā,” she said when asked about the community impact. She’s there to support, not to represent.

She also teaches peer support specialists and therapists in training the importance of asking, not telling. “We know not to put our biases on people,” she said. The most important question is still, “This is what I have, what I do: How can I help you?”

It’s also important that the often “sterile” therapy model — impersonal office, strict rules — isn’t what Piha represents.

“If we just do our session and then we’re done, then that’s not culturally appropriate, in my opinion,” Navarro Ishiki said. Her goal is “to shift the paradigm…we are not here to work in siloes.” If a patient doesn’t want to talk about their wildfire experience, but they need a box of food or a place to find financial support, then that’s what she hopes Piha’s peer support specialists and providers will do.

For Navarro Ishiki, that’s kākou effort — when everyone does the work together.

“The meaning of piha is to be full, filled,” she explained. “Our vision is for every home to be healed and be piha in their wellness and healing…for our kupuna, those who came before us, those who stand beside us, and those who come after us.”

In response to the Maui wildfires, Direct Relief has provided more than $2 million in medical aid and more than $2.3 million in financial support to health providers and community organizations, including Piha Wellness and Healing.

The post In Hawaiʻi, A Mental Health Support System Focuses on Cultural Competence and Connection appeared first on Direct Relief.

Lebanon’s healthcare system is under immense pressure due to the ongoing conflict, with pregnant women and new mothers bearing a disproportionate burden. Displacement, bombings, and lack of access to essential healthcare services have exacerbated the difficulties of childbirth and postpartum care.

Amid this crisis, Anera, with support from Direct Relief, donated 12 pallets of midwife kits to hospitals in Lebanon, set to be distributed by the Ministry of Public Health. These kits, which contain essential tools and supplies for midwives and doctors to conduct safe deliveries and provide critical postnatal care, ensure that healthcare workers, like midwife Rasha Koumayha, have the tools they need to provide care in a conflict zone.

Rasha, who also holds a minor in psychology, offered a unique perspective on the challenges faced by pregnant women in these turbulent times.

“Bombings affect pregnant women beyond just the scares and loud noises. The vibrations alone have proven harmful to babies in the womb. Shockwaves from explosions bring intense changes in air pressure that cause direct trauma, which can lead to premature labor, hinder fetal growth, or even lead to miscarriage.”

Her firsthand experience reveals the devastating impact of the war on maternal health and the importance of timely, proper medical intervention.

Challenges Facing Pregnant Women in Lebanon

Pregnant women in Lebanon are experiencing unprecedented challenges due to the ongoing conflict. The war has not only physically displaced families but also isolated many women from the support networks they would normally rely on. Rasha highlighted one such story:

“A close friend of mine, who was pregnant and displaced, lost her home. She ended up delivering her baby prematurely. Thankfully, the baby was healthy, and they didn’t need to stay in the hospital.

“But the hardest part was that she had to go through it all alone. War has broken up our social bonds — we’re all just trying to survive. Instead of being with her as a breastfeeding trainer, instead of her having all of us around, she’s left to navigate it alone.”

The psychological toll is immense, with many women feeling isolated and unsupported during one of the most vulnerable times of their lives.

“Imagine going through all this while pregnant,” Rasha said, emphasizing how the emotional strain is compounded by the physical dangers of war.

She said there has been a significant increase in cases of postpartum depression, exacerbated by the war.

“Baby blues are common, and they can lead to depression. We’re expecting more postpartum depression with everything that’s happening, the constant uncertainty. Some women even feel guilty about bringing a child into the world right now.”

The emotional weight of the situation is heavier for these mothers, who must contend with both the fear of the present and the uncertainty of the future.

The Role of Midwives in Challenging Times

In such a turbulent environment, midwives like Rasha play an essential role in ensuring safe deliveries and offering psychological support to new mothers.

“We need a collective effort to support these women. Physicians, midwives, psychologists, and social workers should combine their efforts to create support systems. But most of all, these women need the support of others in their community, especially from fellow women in the shelters. They’re the ones who can make the biggest difference.”

Rasha’s experience illustrates the vital role midwives play in providing care during times of displacement. Despite the challenges, she remains committed to supporting women, using her skills and training to help navigate the complexities of childbirth in a crisis.

“I’m a midwife with a minor in psychology, and I plan to continue my studies to become a therapist,” she said, illustrating her dedication to providing holistic care for women in need.

Direct Relief’s Midwife Kits Donation

Direct Relief’s donation of midwife kits will significantly enhance the ability of healthcare providers like Rasha to care for pregnant women in Lebanon. The kits, which include medical supplies like sterile gloves, disinfectants, other childbirth tools, and consumables, are a critical step in ensuring that midwives and healthcare workers can continue their work under challenging circumstances.

According to the United Nations Population Fund, around 11,000 pregnant women are currently in need of specialized care in Lebanon, though the real number is likely much higher and continues to grow due to the ongoing crisis.

The Ministry of Public Health will ensure that these midwife kits are distributed to hospitals across the country, prioritizing areas with the most urgent needs. This coordinated effort will help ensure that healthcare providers have the necessary tools to support pregnant women and newborns in the most challenging conditions.

As Lebanon faces its most challenging crisis in years, the need for support for pregnant women and new mothers has never been greater. This donation of midwife kits is a significant step in helping healthcare providers continue to deliver essential care in these trying times.

The post Equipping Midwives to Support Pregnant Women in Lebanon appeared first on Direct Relief.

Included in medications shipped this week were rare disease therapies, vitamins, personal protective equipment, insulin, and more.

Direct Relief CEO Awarded Highest Civilian Honor in Ukraine

In Kyiv earlier this week, Direct Relief CEO Thomas Tighe received the Honorary Diploma of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Ukrainian parliament’s highest civilian honor that is bestowed for exceptional contributions to Ukraine’s democratic development, civil harmony, and legislative progress. A 40-minute feature interview with Tighe regarding the award will air nationally across Ukraine.

Since 2022, Direct Relief has provided over $1.3 billion in medicines, medical supplies, and financial grants to support nonprofits serving the Ukrainian people.

During the visit to Ukraine and the surrounding region, Direct Relief representatives toured critical healthcare facilities of grantees, including the new Protez Foundation prosthetic clinic and the recently upgraded UNBROKEN facility. The renovations at UNBROKEN include a state-of-the-art prosthetics center, a training center, an eight-story residential housing unit, and significant enhancements to a 500-bed hospital.

According to UNBROKEN officials, the facility now handles an average of 250 emergency patients daily—a number that has doubled since the war began.

Direct Relief Ranked as a Top U.S. Disaster Response Nonprofit by Forbes

Direct Relief was profiled in a Forbes feature this week, which referred to the organization as, “one of the most respected and older organizations in the disaster relief business.”

From the article: Direct Relief may pump more aid into disaster relief in the U.S. and abroad than any other charity on the new Forbes list, depending on who’s counting and how. In the year ended June 30, 2024, it received $2.4 billion in medical supply and cash donations and reckons it used $775 million of that to aid victims of, among other tragedies, the Maui, Hawaii forest fires, the earthquake along the Syria/Turkey border, wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan, and hurricanes and floods in the U.S. and abroad. The rest went to providing non-disaster medical supply aid to ongoing projects in 50 countries on five continents.

The article goes on to profile how Direct Relief leverages existing relationships and pre-positioned aid shipments to respond quickly and effectively in the wake of disasters. Forbes also details the organization’s focus on the video gaming community as a source of support.

Forbes ranked Direct Relief as number five on its annual Top 100 Charities list.

Operational Snapshot

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Direct Relief delivered 592 shipments containing 1.8 million doses of medication during the past month to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 12.7 million defined daily doses of medication totaling 55,869 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 23,700 shipments to 2,406 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 89 countries. These shipments contained 393.6 million defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.6B (wholesale) and totaled 5 million lbs.

in the news

• When Disaster Strikes, These Top Charities Actually Deliver – Forbes
• Nonprofit Director and Future PA Delivers Critical Care During Natural Disaster – AAPA
• Teva Announces New Patient Access Program with Direct Relief to Provide Access to Inhalers for Uninsured Patients
• Direct Relief ranked No. 5 largest U.S. charity | Pacific Coast Business Times
• Direct Relief Ranked No. 5 Largest U.S. Charity

The post Direct Relief Earns Top Ukrainian Civilian Medal, Top Ranking from Forbes appeared first on Direct Relief.

The prolonged conflict resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and caused severe damage to Syria’s healthcare infrastructure. More than half of the country’s hospitals and primary care centers were destroyed or significantly damaged, while the majority of healthcare providers fled the country in search of safety. Factors such as malnutrition, winter exposure, and limited access to medical care and treatments contributed to excess deaths.

Humanitarian aid channels into Syria have long been fraught with challenges due to shifting military control, international diplomacy, and fluctuations in funding and supply chains. Nonetheless, Direct Relief has maintained close partnerships with partners working on the ground in Syria and a steady flow of funding and material medical aid into the country, even at moments when other aid was scarce. In the past six months alone, Direct Relief has provided 13 shipments of material medical aid, valued at more than $48 million, to Syrian medical partners.

In addition, 11 Direct Relief shipments to the Syrian American Medical Society, MedGlobal Syria, the Independent Doctors Association, and Syria Relief & Development are currently in process, including two shipments in Turkey awaiting last-mile transport. These shipments contain emergency medications and supplies, chronic disease medications, Midwife Kits, hygiene items, and other requested support.

Direct Relief’s established humanitarian channels remain operational, allowing aid to continue flowing. Although the organization’s emergency response team is still working to glean a larger sense of the logistics and need on the ground, partners in Syria are sending in specialized teams to assess healthcare facilities, prisons, and medical needs of the general public.

An ambulance and referral system in northwest Syria, run by Syria Relief & Development and supported by Direct Relief, has been actively responding to increasing hostilities over the past several days. The system, which includes eight ambulances and 10 patient transportation vehicles, connects patients to more than 100 healthcare facilities across Syria’s northwest. Over the past year, Direct Relief has provided more than $3 million in funding and 49 tons of medical material aid to this area of the country.

Large-scale population movement in the aftermath of the war, and new assessments of previously inaccessible areas, are likely to contribute to a changing picture of geographic distribution and health needs in the coming days and weeks. Syrian partners have communicated that high priorities include reestablishing public health facilities and providing medical first aid and emergency psychosocial support.

Because the Syrian war was so long-lasting, healthcare nonprofits working on the ground have focused additional efforts to improve specialty care and build resilient, up-to-date medical and training facilities, even against a backdrop of conflict. Direct Relief has long supported these efforts, providing material aid and funding for oncology, maternal health, and a simulation lab used for medical training, among other projects, in addition to the organization’s large-scale support for primary and emergent medical care.

Direct Relief is in close communication with partners on the ground to evaluate immediate medical needs and long-term strategy. The organization remains committed to supporting health care in Syria, and will continue to respond as needed.

Alexandra Kelleher, Holland Bool, and Dan Hovey provided reporting for this update.

The post A Stunning End to Civil War in Syria Brings Urgent Need, New Possibilities appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief has been ranked as the fifth largest charity in the United States and one of the most effective stewards of private donations, according to Forbes’ 2024 annual list of the 100 Top U.S. Charities, which ranks organizations by private donations.

“Direct Relief, No. 5 on this 26th edition of our list, is one of the most respected and older organizations in the disaster relief business,” Forbes stated.

Forbes awarded Direct Relief a perfect score of 100% for charitable commitment, reflecting the proportion of expenses allocated directly to its charitable mission, and 100% for fundraising efficiency, highlighting the organization’s minimal fundraising costs relative to private donations.

In fiscal year 2024, which ended on June 30, Direct Relief mobilized more than $2.4 billion in humanitarian aid, including $770 million in medical aid for victims of natural disasters, war, and civil conflicts in locations such as North Carolina, Maui, Ukraine, the Middle East, Haiti, and Sudan.

Direct Relief’s impact also included providing targeted financial support for projects such as funding mobile medical clinics, prosthetics clinics in Ukraine, and search and rescue teams in California.

Forbes highlighted Direct Relief’s leadership role in disaster response, noting that it “may pump more aid into disaster relief in the U.S. and abroad than any other charity on the new Forbes list.”

Top Ten Charities in the US – 2024

Leading Position Among California and International Charities

Among the 100 largest U.S. charities recognized by Forbes in 2024, Direct Relief stands out as the largest among the six headquartered in California, emphasizing its leadership in a state renowned for philanthropy.

Top California Charities by Size – 2024

Globally, Direct Relief is ranked as the second-largest charity in the “International Needs” category, underscoring its ability to address complex global challenges and deliver impactful humanitarian aid across diverse regions.

Top International Charities by Size – 2024

2024 Charity Ratings

Beyond its Forbes ranking, Charity Navigator, the nation’s leading nonprofit evaluator, awarded Direct Relief an overall 100% charity rating for 2024, marking its 14th consecutive Four-Star rating. This distinction underscores the organization’s commitment to excellence, accountability, and measurable impact.

Charity Navigator also recognized Direct Relief as one of the Best Humanitarian Relief Charities of 2024, highlighting its responses to Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton, and humanitarian crises in Sudan and Ukraine. These lists identify organizations that are “extraordinarily effective at what they do, giving you the chance to support a cause where you’ll have an impact.”

Direct Relief has also earned an A+ rating from CharityWatch, the highest grade awarded by the independent watchdog.

Humanitarian Impact in 2024

In 2024, Direct Relief advanced its global humanitarian mission with the following accomplishments:

• Delivering Lifesaving Medicines: Distributed over 380 million defined daily doses of medicine to more than 2,300 healthcare facilities across 90 countries and all 50 U.S. states.
• Hurricane Responses: Responded to Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton, providing financial support and essential medicines to over 90 healthcare providers across impacted states, including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
• Middle East Humanitarian Aid: Provided $299 million in medical aid to regions including Gaza, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. This included nearly 150 tons of medical supplies, valued at more than $32 million, addressing critical health needs such as cancer treatment, diabetes care, cardiac conditions, and water purification.
• Support for Ukraine: Delivered $322 million in medical aid to Ukraine in 2024, bringing the total since 2022 to 2,600 tons, valued at $1.4 billion. Current initiatives focus on rehabilitation, mental health, mobile care, and energy resilience for healthcare facilities.

Policies on Donor Funds and Valuation of In-Kind Donations

Direct Relief ensures that no donor funds are used for fundraising expenses. Such costs—averaging just 2% of cash revenue—are covered entirely by earnings from a generous bequest, ensuring that 100% of donor contributions directly support humanitarian programs.

As an organization funded exclusively by private charitable contributions, Direct Relief does not accept government support. Its operational efficiency is bolstered through strategic partnerships with businesses and nonprofit organizations.

The majority of donations received and distributed by Direct Relief are in-kind contributions of medicine and medical supplies, valued at wholesale cost. These contributions form the largest share of the organization’s annual revenue.

Direct Relief’s long-standing support for locally run facilities providing essential health services to underserved communities has enabled it to expand its reach and strengthen fragile health systems globally, marking an unparalleled level of impact in its 76-year history.

The post Direct Relief Ranked Among Forbes’ 2024 Top U.S. Charities for 100% Efficiency and Global Humanitarian Impact appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief, headquartered approximately 60 miles northwest of Malibu, is well-positioned to respond swiftly to the evolving crisis. With a longstanding history of aiding communities affected by California wildfires, including the recent Mountain Fire in Camarillo, Direct Relief is once again mobilizing to provide critical support. During the Mountain Fire, the organization supplied essential items like N-95 respirators to combat hazardous air quality and delivered medical supplies to those displaced by the disaster.

As the Franklin Fire continues to spread, Direct Relief is actively coordinating with local authorities and emergency responders to assess immediate needs. Resources are being prepared to ensure that affected individuals receive timely and effective assistance during this critical time.

Direct Relief will continue to provide updates as information becomes available.

The post Franklin Fire Scorches 2,200 Acres in Malibu, Direct Relief Mobilizes Wildfire Response appeared first on Direct Relief.

The Alaska Art Alliance provides space for these men, many of whom are experiencing homelessness, to come inside and out of the harsh elements and connect with their culture.

The Utuqqanaatmiñ project, or “From Our Elders,” seeks to overcome generational trauma by connecting Alaska Native people with cultural practices. The Alaska Native Heritage Center, or ANHC, in Anchorage, serves as a cultural and educational hub established 25 years ago by the Alaska Federation of Natives. The cultural center works to share the heritage of Alaska’s diverse Indigenous cultures and support them with programming that spurs social change and community healing.

“Trauma can be very personal, but it’s also collective,” said Emily Edenshaw, President and CEO of the Native Alaskan Cultural Heritage Center. Native children separated from family and culture in boarding schools, relocation from climate change, and the erasure of cultural practices all contribute to that collective trauma, she said.

ANHC works with partner organizations, including the Alaska Art Alliance, to provide the necessary infrastructure for more than 25 Alaska Native men who are experiencing homelessness. The program uses the cultural practice of ivory carving to create a safe space for healing via the art form.

A high percentage of homeless individuals in Anchorage identify as Alaska Native, Edenshaw said, and the program offers them a space to create work that they can then sell, including at the Native Alaskan Cultural Heritage Center.

Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity supported the Alaska Art Alliance, through the Native Alaskan Cultural Heritage Center, with a $150,000 grant.

Connecting to culture is a beginning to healing from trauma, which has real health impacts on Native people, Edenshaw said.

“A lot of the health issues we see today, whether it’s substance abuse, whether it’s suicide rates, whether it’s domestic violence rates… We have to understand that these are symptoms of a root cause.”

“We know that the strongest form of medicine is connection to culture,” she said. “We are in a generation of healing. This has really allowed us to operationalize our unconditional love for our community. We want to find ways to help our people become more whole.”

Since 2021, Direct Relief, through its Fund for Health Equity, has granted more than $50 million to 163 organizations across the U.S.

This video was directed, produced, and edited by Oliver Riley-Smith Cinematography.

The post Healing Generational Trauma through Cultural Connection in Alaska appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this month included anesthesia medications for surgery, cancer therapies, insulin, rare disease medications, and more.

Medical Support Arrives in Haiti

Critical medical aid from Direct Relief arrived recently in southern Haiti to support healthcare providers working to reach patients.

A medical shipment containing antibiotics, oral rehydration salts, IV fluids, personal protective equipment, and more was received by staff from NGO Hope for Haiti. The organization runs Infirmary St. Etienne, a healthcare facility in Les Cayes, Haiti, which provides primary care, referrals, and medication for patients in need.

Shipping medical donations into Haiti continues to be challenging, particularly as the main international port in the capital of Port-au-Prince is regularly disrupted by gang violence. Recently, commercial flights have been suspended due to attacks on airlines looking to land at the capital city’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport.

Direct Relief has been working with local organizations in Haiti to support medical needs dynamically as shipping routes and roadways change due to the country’s security situation.

The supplies from Direct Relief will support Infirmary St. Etienne, as well as mobile clinics and other partner healthcare facilities in southern Haiti.

Direct Relief Awarded for Earthquake Response in Turkey

Direct Relief staff were in Ankara, Turkey, this week to meet with local organizations supported as part of the recovery from the 2023 earthquake that devastated large portions of the country.

Direct Relief CEO Thomas Tighe spoke at the National Congress of Public Health, where Direct Relief was given several awards, from the Association of Public Health Specialists of Turkey. Direct Relief supported the organization in the efforts to strengthen women’s health in Hatay after the Feb 23 EQs.

Direct Relief also received an award from the Psychiatry Association of Turkey and the Emergency Medicine Association of Turkey for support during earthquake response and recovery.

Critical Medical Aid Supports Lebanon’s Health System

Six tons of medical aid, including medications, vitamins, and field medic packs for triage care recently arrived in Lebanon. The shipment, received by Anera, will be distributed to public hospitals and other healthcare facilities in the country, in coordination with Lebanon’s Ministry of Health.

YemenAid CEO Visits Direct Relief

This week, Direct Relief hosted YemenAid CEO Summer Nasser, who spoke about the organization’s work in Yemen and Direct Relief-supported efforts to strengthen health services in the country.

Nasser spoke about the challenges of strengthening medical care amid conflict and lack of infrastructure, including limited electricity and clean water access. Direct Relief has supported the organization with more than $12.5 million in medical aid since 2017, including cancer treatment therapies for breast cancer clinics in the country.

The organization has also received more than $360,000 in financial aid, including funds that supported two oxygen plants that strengthen hospital capacity for critical services.

Humble Bundle Selects Direct Relief as Charity of the Month

Humble Bundle announced this week that Direct Relief will be its featured charity of the month for December, continuing a partnership that has raised more than $10 million to support health and humanitarian efforts worldwide. Contributions from Humble’s community have been instrumental in funding disaster response efforts, including recent support for communities impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, wildfires, and global crises.

As Dr. Byron Scott, Direct Relief COO, shared: “For more than a decade, Humble Bundle has stood alongside Direct Relief, helping ensure people in crisis have access to the care they need. With support from the Forward Fund, Direct Relief is ready for disasters before they even happen and able to respond whenever they occur. We are profoundly grateful for Humble Bundle’s partnership and to the Humble community.”

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 373 shipments containing 709,279 doses of medication during the past month to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 1.6M defined daily doses of medication totaling 26,291 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 23.1K shipments to 2,392 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 89 countries. These shipments contained 379.9M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.5B (wholesale) and totaled 4.9M lbs.

in the news

• At the Top! International Relief Agency Based in Santa Barbara Gets 100% Charity Navigator Rating – KCLU
• Santa Barbara Nonprofits Say “Giving Tuesday” Can Change the World – KEYT
• Global Impact, Local Roots: The Mission of Direct Relief – Noozhawk
• Philanthropy in the 21st Century – Civil Dialogues Podcast – Pacific Coast Business Times
• Direct Relief Supports First Responders in Spain After Devastating Floods – Angels in Medicine
• In Yemen, Midwives Learn New Skills to Support Women and Babies – ReliefWeb
• Direct Relief Earns Top 100% Rating by Charity Navigator for 2024 – 3BL

The post Strengthening Healthcare Services in Haiti appeared first on Direct Relief.

These projects, funded through a $464,115 grant from humanitarian aid organization Direct Relief, were completed as part of its Power for Health Initiative, designed to help healthcare facilities stay operational during emergencies and reduce their environmental impact.

Strengthening Local Healthcare Resilience

The communities of Clinton and Tabor City face unique challenges, including frequent power outages caused by hurricanes and severe weather. This year’s active hurricane season demonstrated the need for resilient power systems that allow clinics to continue serving patients during emergencies.

• At the Fairview Clinic in Clinton, which serves over 5,000 patients annually, the new solar and battery system provides full building backup power. On its best days, it offsets more than half of the clinic’s energy usage while reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking 54,000 miles of vehicle traffic off the road.

• At the Tabor City Clinic, which serves nearly 3,000 patients annually, a similar system delivers critical backup power and offsets 61% of the clinic’s energy usage. During Hurricane Helene in October 2024, when the area lost power for two hours, the clinic seamlessly transitioned to backup power, ensuring no interruptions in care.

“The very generous grant funding for solar panel projects provided by Direct Relief ensure that we can maintain operations in rural areas to serve needy populations in a section of the country highly susceptible to hurricanes,” said Greg Bounds, PhD, Executive Director of Goshen Medical Center. “We very often, and increasingly in recent years, have lost electrical power due to hurricane damage along the flood plains of eastern North Carolina. We are very grateful for the assistance that enabled such very important investments.”

Supporting Those Who Need It Most

As part of North Carolina’s largest community health center network, Goshen Medical Center prioritizes care for rural, low-income, and underserved populations, including migrant farm workers, public housing residents, and the uninsured.

“These new systems provide peace of mind for communities and their healthcare providers,” said Sara Rossi, Managing Director of Direct Relief’s Health Resiliency Fund. “They ensure that people in Clinton, Tabor City, and beyond can access the care they need, and that Goshen Medical Center can continue to provide that care, even during the most challenging circumstances.”

Building a Sustainable Future for Community Health

In addition to bolstering resilience, the solar and battery installations contribute to a more sustainable future:

• Both systems are fully green, requiring no diesel generators, and reduce carbon emissions equivalent to the impact of planting 26 acres of forest.

• The energy cost savings – estimated at $3,500 annually for Fairview and $3,800 for Tabor City – can be redirected toward patient care.

The installations were developed in partnership with American Microgrid Solutions, with Eagle Solar & Light handling procurement and construction. Additionally, both clinics have applied for rebates from Duke Energy, with Tabor City already receiving $13,500.

A Community Investment That Pays Dividends

Direct Relief, a global humanitarian organization, has been a longstanding partner of Goshen Medical Center. Since 2016, the organization has provided over $1.2 million in support to help the health center network deliver care to more than 52,000 patients annually.

The completion of these projects underscores the importance of investing in community resilience, particularly for healthcare facilities serving those who rely on them most.

“We’re thrilled to bring this critical resource to the communities of Clinton and Tabor City,” said Rossi. “Together, we’re making sure that healthcare access is one thing people can count on, no matter what challenges arise.”

The post Powering Healthcare Access in Eastern North Carolina: New Solar and Battery Systems Bolster Community Clinics appeared first on Direct Relief.

The earthquake’s epicenter was located in the Pacific Ocean, about 50 miles southwest of Eureka, California. Damage was still being evaluated across the northern part of the state, with power outages reported in some areas, including Humboldt County, where more than 10,000 customers were without power as of noon on Thursday, according to Poweroutage.us.

An initial tsunami warning for a portion of the state’s coastline was canceled shortly after it was issued.

Direct Relief is coordinating with state and regional agencies regarding any medical needs that may arise. The organization is in contact with the California Office of Emergency Services, as well as emergency responders in Humboldt County, and search and rescue crews in the region.

Direct Relief will continue to respond as needs become known.

The post Earthquake Reverberates Through Northern California appeared first on Direct Relief.

Scenes of devastation, including damaged infrastructure and improvised graves, marked the city, according to Dr. Christian Carrer, co-founder of the Association Internationale de Coopération Médicale, or AICM.

“Since the beginning of the fighting, we were the first NGO to bring medicines and food to a population that had resisted the unthinkable. Many hospitals were devastated and hundreds of thousands of patients from the surrounding villages no longer had access to healthcare.”

Little did his team realize that this was the start of a unique relationship with hospitals in this frontline region bordering Russia and its ally Belarus. While continuing to deliver medical supplies and other essentials to Chernihiv city and region, AICM, supported by Direct Relief, has also been expanding one of its most innovative projects in Ukraine.

For the past two years, AICM has been working not just to restore destroyed ultrasound capacities in Chernihiv’s hospitals, but to rethink the paradigm altogether, providing fast access to specialists in other locations and slashing treatment timeframes.

The key to this is a portable ultrasound probe called Butterfly, designed by French doctors in 2021 for the company Santé Intégrale. Coupled with a smartphone or tablet, the handheld device enables medical staff to comprehensively screen patients anywhere, including in an ambulance, with real-time imaging on their phone or tablet screen.

Images can be shared with specialists in the regional capital for further examination and guidance on referrals if needed. This is a game-changer in Chernihiv, which is about the size of the U.S. state of Maryland and had a pre-war population of around one million. Tens of thousands fled for safety after the war began, especially young families, leaving many elderly people isolated in villages with limited access to medical care.

With bus services to Chernihiv city sometimes running just once a week, the Butterfly affords great savings in time and expense for patients whose local medical station can be up to 65km (40 miles) from the nearest hospital, said Oksana Logvynchuk, the director of 14 state-run ambulatory medical centers across the region.

A Pocket-Sized Lifesaver

The probe also proved to be a lifesaver for some patients, revealing serious issues during regular check-ups.
“This way we manage to catch many things before they get catastrophic,” said Logvynchuk. “Previously, there were delays of 2 weeks to 3 months when patients were sent for ultrasound screening. Now, it usually takes 2-3 days.”

“This was a discovery for us and we jumped on [the possibilities],” said the doctor, praising the device as a force multiplier in medically underserved areas. Currently, 130 doctors share a dedicated Telegram group – patient confidentiality is of course still paramount – where pathologies and paths of treatment are discussed by experts in a particular field.

Fifteen local doctors under her supervision have been trained so far. Another 20 are in line for training as this component of the project grows steadily, as do overall hospital capacities in Chernihiv, despite the constant military pressure on the region. All hospitals have air raid shelters in their basements.

Multiple Applications

AICM began the Butterfly project in 2022 in conjunction with its French partner, distributing 47 units in Chernihiv with accompanying training of scores of medical staff. Direct Relief supported the project’s expansion this year with a $110,000 grant to supply 25 more probes and conduct training. In addition to the units provided to AICM, Direct Relief also conducted a 2023 training that equipped first responders with ultrasound training and portable devices.

The device, which is designed in France and manufactured in China, can quickly detect situations like internal bleeding and is used in such specialties as cardiology, oncology, nephrology, and endocrinology. It also enables preliminary screening at busy health facilities, freeing up larger stationary ultrasound equipment for more detailed analysis.

At Chernihiv’s impressive Medical Center of Modern Oncology, the Butterfly is often used for essential but simpler tasks like measuring stomach liquid levels, a key indicator of oncological conditions, said medical director Dmytro Tsvir. “But it also has applications like establishing the presence of tumors.”

“It has been useful in many diagnoses,” agreed Nataliia Serhiichyk, medical director at the Regional Children’s Hospital, where three donated Butterflies are in service. “We have one that is jointly used by four doctors and they all want one now,” said Serhiichyk, who recalled the device’s effective use by two surgeons trying to extract an air-gun pellet moving around inside a boy’s knee.

‘Risky Bet’ That Paid Off

AICM, which is based in the east-central Ukrainian city of Poltava, began its ultrasound project in Chernihiv by donating four stationary machines from an American donor, but that was not enough. It then worked with its French partner to deploy the probe as close as possible to patients in small local medical stations.

“It was a risky bet because family doctors had never used such devices,” said Dr. Carrer. “But we were helped by the specialized hospitals of Chernihiv in oncology, pediatrics, cardiology, and surgery.”

Therein lies the success of this project, he believes. “The war brought to the medical network of this region a fundamental social element: solidarity. There is no more hierarchy or rivalry between specialists and general practitioners. They now work together for their patients.”

In 2023, AICM also donated three of the probes to the state ambulance service in the Poltava region. Funds allowing, it plans to roll out the project there and in other Ukrainian regions in the future.

Direct Relief has supported health services for Ukrainians with over $1.4 billion in medical and financial assistance since February 2022, including through partnerships with organizations like AICM and the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

The post How Portable Ultrasound Devices Strengthened Medical Expertise in a Frontline Ukrainian Region appeared first on Direct Relief.

Charity Navigator, America’s top independent nonprofit evaluator, has awarded Direct Relief an overall 100% charity rating for 2024. This achievement marks Direct Relief’s 14th consecutive Four-Star rating, underscoring its commitment to excellence, accountability, and measurable impact in delivering on its humanitarian mission.

In addition to its perfect score, Direct Relief was also named one of Charity Navigator’s Best Humanitarian Relief Charities in 2024. The organization also earned top rankings for its responses to Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton, and the humanitarian crises in Sudan and Ukraine These lists, according to Charity Navigator, recognize charities that are “extraordinarily effective at what they do, giving you the chance to support a cause where you’ll have an impact.”

Direct Relief’s Charity Ratings

Direct Relief achieved top scores across Charity Navigator’s evaluation criteria:

Within the charity watchdog’s evaluation “beacons,” Direct Relief earned a 100% rating in Accountability & Finance, Leadership & Adaptability, and Culture & Community. Within the Impact & Measurement Beacon, Direct Relief earned a 100% rating in Impact and 97% in Measurement.

Michael Thatcher, President and CEO of Charity Navigator, recognized Direct Relief for its performance, stating:

“We are delighted to provide Direct Relief with third-party accreditation that validates their operational excellence. The Four-Star Rating is the highest possible rating an organization can achieve. We are eager to see the good work that Direct Relief can accomplish in the years ahead.”

Humanitarian Impact in 2024

In 2024, Direct Relief made significant strides in advancing its global humanitarian mission, including:

• Delivering Lifesaving Medicines: Distributed 377 million defined daily doses of medicine to more than 2,300 healthcare facilities across 90 countries and all 50 U.S. states.
• Hurricane Responses: Mobilized disaster responses to Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton, providing financial support and essential medicines to over 90 healthcare providers across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
• Middle East Humanitarian Aid: Provided $299 million (wholesale value) in medical aid to regions including Gaza, Egypt, Israel, and Syria, among others. This included nearly 150 tons of medical supplies valued at $32 million to Gaza, addressing cancer treatment, diabetes care, cardiac conditions, and water purification needs.
• Support for Ukraine: Delivered $322 million in medical aid in 2024 alone to Ukraine for the benefit of people affected by war, bringing the total to 2,600 tons of aid valued at $1.4 billion since the war began in 2022. Current efforts focus on rehabilitation, mental health, mobile care, and resilient energy solutions for healthcare facilities.

Stewardship and Financial Transparency

Direct Relief is committed to maximizing the impact of every donation, ensuring funds are used responsibly and effectively to support those in need:

• 100% Allocation of Donor-Designated Funds: Every contribution earmarked for specific programs or emergencies is applied exclusively to those purposes, giving donors full assurance that their intent is honored.
• Independently Funded Operations: Direct Relief operates solely on private charitable contributions, declining government funding to maintain independence and focus on its mission.
• No Fundraising Costs Paid by Donors: Fundraising expenses, which average just 2% of total cash revenue, are entirely covered by a private bequest. This means 0% of donor contributions are used for fundraising and instead support Direct Relief’s humanitarian mission.
• Operational Efficiency: Approximately 99.5 cents of every dollar (including in-kind donations) go directly to program services, with 0.3 cents allocated to administrative costs and 0.1 cents to fundraising.
• Leveraging In-Kind Contributions: Strategic partnerships with businesses and organizations amplify the impact of donations. Contributions of medicine and medical supplies—valued at their wholesale cost—constitute the majority of Direct Relief’s revenue, allowing cash donations to stretch even further.

For a detailed overview of how Direct Relief uses its resources to advance its humanitarian mission, visit Direct Relief’s donation policies.

The post Direct Relief Earns Top 100% Rating by Charity Navigator for 2024 appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this month included vitamins, personal protective equipment, personal hygiene essentials, and more.

Ultrasounds, Essential Care Included Midwifery Training in Yemen

In an effort to build resilience and foster sustainable healthcare solutions in Yemen, local NGO MedGlobal, supported by Direct Relief, recently conducted a training program aimed at strengthening healthcare systems and empowering local healthcare providers in Yemen to deliver life-saving care in resource-limited settings.

Hosted at MedGlobal’s newly established training center at Al-Tawahi Health Facility in Aden, Yemen, the training involved 30 midwives and doctors who gained advanced skills to overcome the challenges of providing maternal and newborn care in underserved areas.

Providers took part in several courses, including training on point-of-care ultrasounds, and essential care for more mothers and newborns.

Expanding Substance Abuse Treatment in Puerto Rico

Recently, Direct Relief participated in the inauguration of a medication-assisted treatment clinic of the health center, SANOS, located in Caguas, Puerto Rico. The new building provides integrated physical and mental healthcare services as well as buprenorphine treatment for patients recovering from substance abuse.

In 2021, SANOS received a $765,000 grant from Direct Relief to expand clinic space that would house the medication-assisted treatment clinic. Since 2018, Direct Relief has awarded $1,096,400 in grant funding to SANOS, including funds for a medical mobile unit, telehealth efforts, equipment for a women’s clinic, and support of donated medications.

The clinic will provide integrated services for people in recovery with a multidisciplinary team, and the SANOS space will soon house a dental clinic for patients as well. SANOS incorporated a multipurpose room that will serve as a community hub and shelter during emergencies.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 1,800 shipments containing 5.6M doses of medication during the past month to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 18.5M defined daily doses of medication totaling 411,724 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 22.6K shipments to 2,375 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 88 countries. These shipments contained 376.1M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.5B (wholesale) and totaled 4.8M lbs.

in the news

Civil Dialogues – Philanthropy in the 21st Century, with Thomas Tighe – Pacific Coast Business Times

A New Generation of Doctors Looks to Health Centers for Residency – Community Health Forum

The post In Yemen, Midwives Learn New Skills to Support Women and Babies appeared first on Direct Relief.

They are veterans who overcame the loss of limbs and found a new vocation after regular soldiering became hard or impossible. Today, the life-changing events they endured enable them to help others with similar injuries, both military and civilian, along the road to recovery and a fresh start.

“When we started our work, we realized that for the guys who are new amputees, it’s very difficult to adapt and understand what’s going on and what they can expect from life going ahead,” said Kyiv-based surgeon Oleksandra Mostepan.

Her NGO, U+ System, an emerging partner of Direct Relief, has trained and employed two amputee veterans to great effect, with two more now starting the process: “When a technician is an amputee himself it’s easier to share this negative experience and [help the patients] realize how he or she can recover after such a trauma.”

Mostepan, who works at a large hospital in the capital, operated on some future trainees herself after their evacuation from the front. Through frequent doctor-patient interaction she not only saw their potential as individuals, but also for the sector’s overall development if they are integrated into existing teams of prosthetists.

After all, no one understands the issues of functionality and comfort of an artificial limb like a user, as her team found while fitting more than 350 prosthetics for war-injured patients.

“This cooperation between amputee technicians and experienced technicians working together will be a great achievement in prosthetics fitting,” said the surgeon. “I think it’s the future of prosthetics in Ukraine.”

A Growing Trend of Inclusivity

Other organizations supported by Direct Relief seem to have come to the same realization. The U.S.-based Protez Foundation, established in 2022 by Ukrainian surgeon Yakov Gradinar and its CEO Yury Aroshidze, has launched a new “veteran direction” at its two prosthetics clinics in Ukraine.

“We are attracting military veterans to the project to work as points of contact and event organizers for veterans,” said Aroshidze. “We already have two veterans working, Danyl and Mykola. Danyl had four amputations and was in [Russian] captivity. Also, in our new clinic project, we are equipping workplaces for the disabled so that our military personnel who have undergone prosthetics can become prosthetists.”

The gravitation of amputees to the prosthetics field will quickly become the norm in Ukraine as patient numbers continue to soar, predicts Lasse Madsen, founder of the Danish prosthetics company Levitate: “I’ve been in more than 600 clinics globally. And I’ve never in my life anywhere seen anything like this in terms of the amount of people [needing prosthetics].”

“We’ve been visiting other clinics as well in Ukraine and it’s not uncommon that you see that one of the technicians doing sockets or something similar who is an amputee,” said Madsen, who lost a leg in an accident at the age of 14 and went on to work within the prosthetics industry. “You can see they’re so fired up to learn more and train and go to different places to learn.”

A Bigger Challenge Than Just the Prosthetics

At the same time, Madsen stresses the need to build networks for all of Ukraine’s new amputees, having gone through a profound sense of solitude following his injury two decades ago.

“Having a network of people that you can talk to who are in the same situation as you can be equally as important as actually talking to a specialist,” said Madsen, whose enterprise helps to build such resources through its regular sporting events for amputees in Ukraine.

Someone he sees as a great fit is Volodymyr Rudkovskyi, a 32-year-old infantryman who lost his right leg below the knee in combat in June 2023. Volodymyr became the second Ukrainian to receive a prosthetic from Levitate when it came to the country later that year, and he regularly participates in events organized with local partners.

As well as being a motivator for amputees at the Unbroken National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv, also a partner of Direct Relief, Volodymyr is a voluntary ambassador for this area of disability, performing various types of advocacy work.

“This includes trips to different forums, not only in Ukraine but also abroad, to different events, where people who are not involved in military matters would like to hear about how to treat veterans, military personnel, and their families,” Volodymyr said of his new role.

“We also take part in sporting events to promote the idea that everything should be barrier-free, that we should think about veterans, about the boys and girls who experienced the worst of this war.”

Painful Experience Shared

Two other injured veterans shared detailed accounts of their journey from combatant to casualty to prosthetist. Oleksandr Kushnerenko, 21, joined the army after school in 2020 and fought against Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine before the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. He was then sent east again and was injured in heavy fighting for the city of Bakhmut.

On September 27 of that year, a Russian tank that his unit had observed in the distance suddenly reappeared at close quarters and began shelling their position. Oleksandr suffered fragmentation injuries to his lower left leg and his right arm and was evacuated first to the city of Dnipro and then to Kyiv. There, Mostepan operated on his leg, which had to be amputated below the knee. She was able to save his arm, which has since regained full function.

In 2023, Oleksandr met his surgeon again in Lviv at an event hosted by U+ System and Levitate. At the time, he was considering returning to active duty. Seeing his suitability for a different role, Mostepan invited him to train as a prosthetist with her NGO.

“I wasn’t against the idea and a month later I was already working in Oleksandra’s team,” he said. “I studied and went on some prosthetics courses and started my practicals at various prosthetic centers, and now I work at U+ System.”

Oleksandr has since helped fit sports prosthetics for more than 100 male and female amputees. “I have simply found the thing that I love doing,” he says of this change of course. “As for what happened to me, I almost don’t think about it now.”

His advice for others facing life after amputation: “Keep moving and don’t get fixated on the thought that you lost a limb.”

Elyor Abdulaev, 27, completed his two-year military service in 2021, after which he worked briefly according to his earlier training as a chef’s assistant. When Russia invaded, he served as an infantry squad commander in eastern Ukraine. He was injured on December 3, 2022, near Kreminna, where an anti-personnel mine blew off his left foot.
“I remember everything up to the point when they got me in an ambulance, where I could finally relax. From the loss of blood, I just wanted to sleep,” he said.

Two months of surgeries ensued as doctors at different hospitals battled a persistent infection that could have resulted in the loss of his knee. Finally, in Lviv, after the sixth surgery to open and cleanse the wound, the limb was ready to receive a prosthetic.

When Elyor was sufficiently healed he returned to his family in Dnipro, where he chose a local organization, Bez Obmezhen’ (Without Limits), to manage his prosthetic treatment. Two weeks later he received his first artificial limb and an hour later he was standing again.

“I thought it would be painful,” he said. “I took my first steps while supporting myself against some logs and found that it didn’t hurt. I can’t describe that feeling of knowing that you are on two legs again and can move without hopping or using a wheelchair.”

After building up resilience he can now wear a prosthetic almost all day long. In March, Elyor received a running blade from Levitate as well as an upgraded daily wear foot. “I’m very grateful that they decided to donate two prosthetics to me. The first time I used a sports blade I was over the moon that I could run again,” he said.
Then it was time to find his new path in life. He already knew that he would not work again as a chef’s assistant.

Despite his newfound agility, it would be “too much running back and forth for 12 hours.” In spring 2024, after six months of assembling children’s furniture, he was also thinking of returning to the army when Bez Obmezhen’ invited him to work for them. Elyor has since been learning to make artificial limb sockets and will soon start formal training as a prosthetic technician.

“In the future, I will be a prosthetist, there is a big demand, and I will study and work – there’s a lot to learn,” he said.

For now, he is focusing on the intricacies of his own artificial limb type and will progress from there: “When I understand that fully I will progress to the upper leg, then to the arms and on to sports prosthetics.”

His advice to other amputees: “I told myself then and I tell everyone now, don’t give up, life goes on, prosthetics are growing and improving all the time. People live with this, do sports and even win in Olympic events. Do not give up!”

Direct Relief has provided over $1.4 billion in medical and financial assistance to Ukraine since Feb. 2022. The organization has supported rehabilitation efforts, including those of U+System, the Protez Foundation, Levitate, and Unbroken National Rehabilitation Center, the four groups mentioned in this story. Read more about Direct Relief’s work in Ukraine.

The post Wounded by War, Ukrainians Living with Amputations Find New Purpose as Prosthetists, Advocates appeared first on Direct Relief.

But across the Caribbean, carefully coordinated plans were in full swing. Officials and leaders had been running scenarios and making arrangements for months. Public messages focused on proactive measures and public safety. If potable water supplies were damaged, more would be brought in by barge.

“When we heard the prediction that 2017 was likely to be one of the worst possible years on record, we immediately went into scenario-planning mode and have maintained that level of preparedness since,” said Dr. Didacus Jules, the Director General of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.

Weather agencies had predicted that 2024 might bring as many as 25 named storms. Beryl, the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, was an ominous confirmation of their fears, killing 33 people in the Caribbean alone and causing near-total devastation on islands in Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The OECS is an intergovernmental organization focused on regional integration, economic development and collaboration, protection of human rights, good governance, and environmental resilience. In recent years, the organization has deepened its emphasis on planning for natural disasters, working with state governments in the Eastern Caribbean and regional specialized agencies such as the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, or CDEMA.

In partnership with Direct Relief, which is providing $3 million in grant funding to projects in nine member states, the OECS has been able to bolster medical infrastructure and the response capacity of member states as part of this work.

This growing focus points to a disturbing truth: The people of the Caribbean are on the frontlines of climate change, facing an increasing number of monster storms, droughts, extreme heat events, and other ecological threats. Sea level rise and habitat loss further impact their safety, economies, and natural resources.

Category 5 storms — including Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Irma and Maria in 2017, and Beryl in late June and early July — have caused direct and indirect deaths, destroyed vital infrastructure and many homes, and created severe financial hardship, among other impacts.

This disproportionate threat is especially unjust because the Caribbean States are among the world’s lowest contributors to climate change. Small island states across the globe — including those in the Caribbean — contribute less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Among other projects in partnership with OECS Member States, the OECS Commission, and Direct Relief will procure solar-powered cold-chain storage and mobile medical units in Montserrat, develop a centralized medical oxygen system for Anguilla’s Princess Alexandra Hospital; and support vector-borne disease surveillance and prevention work in Antigua and Barbuda.

Dr. Jules spoke with Direct Relief about Hurricane Beryl’s impact, the growing impacts of climate change, and building a resilient future in a warming world.

Direct Relief: Let’s start with the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. Tell me about the impacts, and what the response and recovery process has looked like in the months since.

Dr. Jules: The impact has been nothing short of cataclysmic, especially for Carriacou and Petite Martinique [in Grenada], and the Grenadine islands, like Mayreau and Union Island. These islands were devastated, and we immediately moved into gear with the support of Direct Relief, one of our early response partners. Before every hurricane season, Direct Relief assists us by having pre-hurricane packs located at strategic points in each country across the region. When Beryl hit, we all pitched in to provide some of the emergency supplies needed.

The first order of business was to be part of the team doing an assessment on the ground of the impact of the damage. The other lengthy part of that process has been the collection and clearance of all the debris that has been generated by the hurricane.

Our heads of government have been very central to this effort. Prime Minister Gonsalves [of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines], in a recent meeting, described the painstaking process involved in that recovery. Here you have more than 5,000 people with nowhere to sleep or to stay, having to be accommodated in tents and makeshift accommodations.

If you live in the Caribbean now, you would know how hot it is on an ordinary day. Having to live in tents in a post-disaster scenario can be unbearably uncomfortable, given the levels of heat experienced on an ordinary sunny day. To have a tent as your temporary, indefinite living quarters until recovery is completed is no longer a reliable option. Additionally, in post-disaster situations, there are sanitation problems, and challenges with the provision of meals and food to the affected population.

The clean-up is a massive effort. Now, it’s not a question of simply scouring the island and picking up galvanize [steel sheeting]. There has to be sorting of different kinds of debris.

Importantly, a lot of that stuff was blown out to sea, and a significant area of mangrove and seagrass beds was destroyed. Whatever was blown from land into the sea also needs to be recovered.

Direct Relief: What have the health impacts been?

Dr. Jules: Health impact was a whole different ball game because people are homeless: no shelter, no sanitation, and no food. Thankfully, we have partners who have been able to provide daily meals. We’ve been able to get some makeshift accommodation for them, but then the heat is stifling, and the supply of water is compromised.

Sanitation is a big thing because most of the sanitation infrastructure has been destroyed. How does one deal with human waste? Many animals have been destroyed as well, requiring the disposal of dead wildlife.

To compound it, there have been mosquito infestations in several of the islands, so the threat of dengue and other vector-borne diseases has intensified.

Direct Relief: Because of climate change, the Caribbean faces a steeply increased and extremely disproportionate threat. I’d like to hear a little bit about how the awareness of that growing threat has informed your preparedness and your resiliency work.

Dr. Jules: We have tried to digest the lessons of the previous devastations that we’ve experienced, from [Hurricanes] Ivan right up to Irma and Maria, and now Beryl. We have been discussing with our partners, including Direct Relief, how we can be more strategic in preparing for those events because it’s clear that these events will happen with greater frequency and increased ferocity.

We have a partnership agreement with Direct Relief that looks at the provision of photovoltaic systems; helping critical government infrastructure transition to green energy; solar power as back-up for public health care infrastructure in particular; strengthening the cold chain so that medical supplies can be safeguarded; looking at medical oxygen generation; and the training of personnel in the utilization of that type of equipment.

In the process of building back better, we are also looking at the architecture of the buildings and what needs to be done to ensure that they’re more resilient, able to withstand storms of the category that we’re now seeing, Category 5, and maybe even beyond. The use of concrete roofing, and hurricane-proofing of the buildings will be vitally important.

Our building codes have to be revised yet again and serious standards established. For example, water storage. We’re at a stage where we may have to mandate that every house constructed has its water storage beneath the foundation so we can have adequate supplies of utilizable water. Don’t forget, besides the storms, we have an increasing frequency of other disasters like drought.

The drought during the dry season is extremely deleterious to crops, and agriculture, and also to human water needs. We’re experiencing extreme heat, from extreme heat to extreme weather conditions with flooding, followed by periods of extreme drought, and sometimes these things happen out of season. The distinction between seasons, and the preparation for seasons, is becoming increasingly muddled.

Direct Relief: What do you most want readers to know about the impacts of tropical storms on Caribbean states and communities?

Dr. Jules: I think it’s very difficult for people in large countries with huge demographics to understand the scale of human suffering these disasters bring to small states. When you hear, for example, that maybe 20-odd people died in a hurricane in Dominica, this may seem inconsequential to most people who live in a large metropolitan city of millions, and they may [not] be sympathetic to that news unless it is put in the context of scale. For the population of Dominica, what is the impact of this disaster placed in the context of size and scale?

One has to put those things in context: twenty people dying in Dominica from a hurricane [out of a national population of about 66,000]. If there was a hurricane in New York City or Tokyo and the same percentage of the population were to die, that would definitely get the attention of the world. To the rest of the world, that would be a huge disaster.

Twenty people dying is a major disaster in the Caribbean must therefore be placed in its contextual proportion in the scale of human suffering.

Direct Relief: In terms of storm resiliency and awareness, what is the next thing that needs to happen?

Dr. Jules: I think we need to do a lot more about is building public awareness. Disaster cycles are becoming shorter and shorter, and their intensity is increasingly larger and greater. Messaging to the population about what needs to be done in the event of a disaster is something that we need to take very seriously as a priority.

We need to prepare people through disaster drills. I believe our schools have an important role to play in that because it’s easy to sensitize kids to what needs to be done. Just as they do in Tokyo, sensitizing kids about earthquakes, we need to sensitize our children and our communities so that these precautions are taken.

Just as you do a fire drill, we need to begin to do hurricane drills, tsunami drills, and disaster drills in general so that awareness is heightened, and, rather than panic when something happens, people know the correct thing to do.

We need to better prepare ourselves, psychologically and in terms of readiness to disasters, as they will happen more with greater frequency.

This interview has been edited for length. Dan Hovey and Genevieve Bitter contributed to the reporting.

The post After Hurricane Beryl’s Cataclysmic Impact, a Caribbean Leader Envisions a Resilient Future appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included prenatal vitamins, cancer treatment therapies, personal protective equipment, field medic packs for triage care, diabetes management medications, and more.

Continued Response to Historic Flooding in Spain

Earlier this month, the Spanish province of Valencia experienced unprecedented rainfall and flooding, causing widespread damage and displacing thousands of residents. In response, Direct Relief provided a $135,000 emergency cash grant to Bomberos Unidos Sin Fronteras, or BUSF, a Spanish search and rescue organization, to support their deployment to the affected region.

The 17-member BUSF emergency response team recently concluded its operations, which focused on search and rescue efforts, medical evacuations, and clearing critical infrastructure to restore emergency logistics. The grant from Direct Relief enabled the team’s mobilization and funded essential equipment, including water pumps and generators.

In the aftermath of the acute response phase, BUSF is planning to collaborate with the local Red Cross and other agencies to address ongoing health and water, sanitation, and hygiene needs. To support these efforts, Direct Relief is preparing a shipment of 36 field medic backpacks and 200 personal care kits with hygiene items such as soap and shampoo.

Direct Relief remains committed to supporting those impacted by these disasters and adapting its response efforts to meet evolving global needs.

Protective Equipment Departs for Health Workers Battling Mpox

As part of its ongoing efforts to combat the mpox outbreak in Africa, Direct Relief is preparing to ship mpox response kits to support health efforts as cases surpassed 50,000 across the continent last week.

Since the outbreak began, Direct Relief has partnered with Jericho Road and the Wellness Clinic at New Hope Center in Goma to provide critical support. This has included grant funding that enables Jericho Road staff to treat patients in internally displaced persons camps and curb the disease’s spread.

Direct Relief’s mpox response kits contain essential medical resources, including personal protective equipment such as gloves, gowns, N-95 masks, goggles, and shoe covers to protect up to 100 healthcare workers. Each kit also contains medications for pain management and skin irritation, wound care supplies, and disinfectant wipes for up to 1,000 patients.

Bomb Cyclone Slams Pacific Coast

Northern California and the Pacific Northwest are experiencing heavy rain, damaging winds, and rising snow levels from a strong atmospheric river and bombogenesis (“bomb cyclone”), lasting through Friday and possibly lingering through the weekend. Storm-impacted communities in the region are expecting power outages, flash floods, and potential mudslides.

Direct Relief has been in touch with the California Office of Emergency Services, state and regional primary care associations, health centers, and clinics in impacted areas.

When It Matters Most, Direct Relief Delivers

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 438 shipments containing 577K doses of medication during the past seven days to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 2.7M defined daily doses of medication totaling 31,246 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 22.3K shipments to 2,313 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 88 countries. These shipments contained 374.9M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.5B (wholesale) and totaled 4.8M lbs.

The post Recovery Continues in Spain After Deadly Flooding appeared first on Direct Relief.

NEW YORK — As famously portrayed on scripted TV shows, medical residencies are a critical stage of training where newly minted doctors gain hands-on experience in their chosen specialty. Faced with such a weighty decision, some rookie doctors might struggle to choose which specialty and hospital to select. But Dr. Joronia Chery knew exactly what she wanted — and it wasn’t in a hospital.

“I came here because this is where I see myself making the most difference. It feels like treating my grandmother or my mother,” said Dr. Chery, a first-year resident at the Institute for Family Health’s Harlem location. Her voice brims with conviction, a result of years of witnessing, as a child, the healthcare gaps in her Brooklyn community, where she had to travel 30 minutes by bus to the closest community health center. Chery’s words echo a shared mission among the residents and faculty of this federally qualified health center, or FQHC, residency program, to address the inequities in American healthcare, one patient at a time.

While the overwhelming majority of doctors complete their residencies in a hospital setting, for over a decade, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program has trained physicians at FQHCs. To date, 2,027 new primary care physicians and dentists have entered the workforce after completing an FQHC-based residency, more than 80% of whom are family or internal medicine doctors. Reflecting their mission to treat everybody who comes through the door, regardless of means, FQHC residencies place a focus on delivering comprehensive, culturally competent care in underserved communities. Its mission, rooted in the Affordable Care Act, aims to meet the pressing need for primary care doctors while reshaping how and where they are trained.

Dr. Robert “Red” Schiller, who is president of academic affairs at IFH and vice chair of the Engelberg Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, leads the Institute for Family Health’s residency programs. IFH has over a dozen locations across New York City and the Hudson Valley and sees over 100,000 patients across about 450,000 visits annually. Noting the initiative’s bipartisan support, he said, the goal is “to get the workforce needed to work in community health centers and take care of people who are marginalized by racism and poverty. It is to create training capacity in these sites so that they learn the skills that are necessary to make a difference.”

Teaching health centers like this one stand in contrast to traditional hospital residencies. They immerse trainees in outpatient, community-based settings, prioritizing preventive, collaborative, and comprehensive care. Residents develop skills ranging from managing chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension to navigating the intricate social determinants of health, such as housing and food insecurity. FQHC-based residencies also embody one of the many ways safety net clinics in the U.S. serve a wide variety of needs in their respective communities in addition to offering primary healthcare visits for all.

Schiller said traditional training programs prioritize work within a resident’s rotation. If there is a complex outpatient case, that patient would “get basically seen by anybody else and it’s a fragmented system,” At his FQHC, it’s the opposite. “We would figure out how to cover that patient with the same team,” he said.

“At the end of the day, FQHCs are the ones that actually take care of the community,” Chery said. “The cancer centers are nice, but how can you prevent cancers if you’re not doing the underground work of helping stop smoking and helping people get colon cancer screenings on time… It felt like to get to the root of the problems that we’re shuttling money to, we needed to go down to the basics, and this is where that happens,” she said.

Dr. Esha Mehta, a third-year resident, described the program’s impact on her practice. “We do so much within these walls. Patients come here for everything — procedures, mental health support, even prenatal care… This really feels like a true medical home for patients,” she said. “I love that about this space, because I never experienced it in medical school.”

Mehta said that in assessing which residency program she wanted to attend, her choice came down to emergency medicine and the FQHC program. Noting the overlap, in terms of acting as a safety net and treating patients who aren’t otherwise able to access care, she said FQHCs are able to do follow-up visits for additional health care issues, which does not exist in an emergency room setting. “We’re able to really work with them and connect these patients to care,” she said.

Situated in Harlem and serving patients from across New York City, the residency reflects the diversity of its community. Many residents, like Chery, intentionally choose the program because they see themselves in their patients. Fluent in French and Haitian Creole, she has bridged language gaps that might otherwise complicate care. “When a patient hears someone speaking their language, their shoulders relax. They know they’re in the right place,” she said.

The program’s reach extends beyond the exam room. Residents participate in community walks to understand local resources and challenges, from grocery store prices to housing conditions. They also lead initiatives like the CenteringPregnancy program, which brings together expectant mothers for shared support and education.

Dr. Sarah Duncan, a faculty member who completed her residency at IFH emphasized how personal connections enhance trust. “Patients know we’re here for the long haul. They come to see the same doctor year after year. That continuity makes all the difference,” she said. Added Schiller, “Continuity is a cornerstone of primary care, specifically in family medicine.”

Despite its success, the program continues to face an uncertain future. Federal funding for Teaching Health Centers is minimal, totaling less than 1% of the multi-billion dollar budget allocated to hospital-based residencies. Additionally, FQHC residency programs are funded by annual congressional appropriations and grant awards, compared to the stable, long-term Medicare-funded programs for traditional hospital-based programs.

The FQHC-based program trained 1,096 residents in 81 locations from 2023 to this year. These young doctors cared for over 792,000 patients in more than 1.2 million visits.

Schiller voiced his concerns bluntly. “If funding were cut, it would be devastating. These centers provide care for communities that hospitals often overlook. Without them, we’d see more preventable illnesses and deaths.”

The stakes are high. By 2035, the U.S. is projected to face a shortage of between 35,000 to 68,000 primary care physicians according to HRSA’s Bureau of Health Workforce. Teaching Health Centers have been uniquely effective in addressing this gap, with the majority of graduates continuing to serve in underserved areas. Losing funding, faculty say, could not only jeopardize patient care but also dismantle a successful pipeline for the next generation of doctors.

Still, the residents in the program see wins each day.

Mehta shared a recent patient story that underscored her commitment to community health. “A young woman came in for a routine visit but opened up about her fears around HIV. I spent time educating her about prevention, and she decided to start PrEP (medication that can prevent HIV infection). It was a small win, but it felt huge. It’s moments like that that remind me why I chose this path.”

Direct Relief supports health centers across the United States, including the Institute for Family Health, with medical and financial aid.

The post A New Generation of Doctors Looks to Health Centers for Residency appeared first on Direct Relief.

In its 76 years, Direct Relief has become a leading provider of humanitarian medical assistance globally, and the largest supplier of charitable medicines in the U.S. Healthcare providers in medically underserved communities rely on Direct Relief to deliver requested medicines rapidly during emergencies and throughout the year to care for those most in need. This report provides an overview of how and where Direct Relief has leveraged support from generous individuals, companies, and foundations to improve the health and lives of millions of people in 2024.

A PDF version of this report can be found here.

2024 AID TRACKER
Unaudited totals through November 1, 2024

• $1,401,106,147 in medical assistance
• $68,373,645 in financial assistance
• 340,028,119 Defined Daily Doses of medicine
• 4,384,844 pounds of medicine and supplies
• 20,802 deliveries
• 2,283 healthcare providers supported
• 89 countries

Thank you for being part of Direct Relief.

Responding to the Health Impacts of Climate Change

Climate change has profound effects on public health in vulnerable communities. Poverty and poor health reinforce each other, and natural disasters increase the effect. People who live with economic hardship, inadequate housing, or limited healthcare access are hit hardest as they have fewer resources to recover and adapt.

Disaster Preparedness and Response

Each year, Direct Relief pre-positions hurricane preparedness packs with essential medications and supplies with community health providers in secure locations near vulnerable areas. Priority is given to safety-net clinics that support low-income and displaced individuals. In 2024, Direct Relief pre-positioned 30 packs with health facilities in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Responding to Hurricanes Helene and Milton

Direct Relief mobilized quickly, providing $700,000 in financial assistance and delivering 175 shipments of requested medicines and supplies valued at over $74 million (wholesale) to more than 90 healthcare providers in Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Shipments included emergency medical backpacks, respiratory relief, antibiotics, chronic disease medicines, vaccines, personal protective equipment, and water purification tablets.

Building Resilience

Severe weather and climate-related power outages threaten access to essential health services, putting vulnerable populations at risk. In 2024, Direct Relief expanded its support for off-grid, renewable power systems at community health clinics, ensuring uninterrupted care and protecting cold chain infrastructure for the safe storage and distribution of vital medications like vaccines and insulin.

Delivering Aid in Hard-to-Reach Places

People living in remote areas, with poor infrastructure, or affected by violent conflict often face a disproportionate burden of disease. Reaching these communities is crucial, as conflict and lack of infrastructure reinforce the preexisting burden of disease. In 2024, Direct Relief delivered critical resources to these vulnerable areas, improving health equity and ensuring lifesaving support reached those most in need.

Exceeding $1 Billion in Medical Support to Ukraine

Direct Relief’s response to the war in Ukraine is the largest effort in the organization’s history. This year, Direct Relief provided $42 million in financial assistance, and delivered 138 shipments of medical supplies, bringing the total to 2,480 tons, valued at $1.4 billion (wholesale). Continuing efforts focus on rehabilitation, mental health, mobile and emergency care, and resilient power for health services.

Bolstering Health Care in Papua New Guinea

After a series of natural disasters in Papua New Guinea this year, Direct Relief delivered emergency medical backpacks, an emergency health kit, and a range of other requested medicines and supplies to community health providers.

Delivering Insulin to Haiti

Haiti has a high prevalence of diabetes, yet poverty and civil disorder have made it difficult for Haitians to access life-saving insulin. Insulin must be kept within a specific temperature range to be safe, and poor cold-chain infrastructure makes deliveries to Haiti particularly difficult. In 2024, Direct Relief overcame these obstacles and successfully delivered two shipments of insulin.

Providing Medical Aid in the Middle East

In 2024, Direct Relief provided over $255 million (wholesale) in requested aid across Egypt, Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen. Nearly 179 tons of medical aid valued at $35.5 million was delivered to Gaza, including cancer treatments, diabetes supplies, cardiac medications, wound care, and water purification supplies.

Improving Cancer Care in Mongolia and Yemen

Mongolia has the world’s highest rate of cancer mortality per capita. In 2024, Direct Relief delivered its first-ever shipment to a healthcare provider there, providing cancer treatments aiming to improve survival rates. In Yemen, years of conflict, poverty, and damaged infrastructure have weakened the country’s health system. In 2024, Direct Relief delivered medication for breast cancer and gastric cancer in Yemen, where shortages are widespread.

The post 2024: The Year in Review appeared first on Direct Relief.

Community health centers provide access to critical healthcare services by reducing barriers such as cost, lack of insurance, distance, and language for the more than 32.5 million people they serve. The funds from Direct Relief will broadly support initiatives focused on the diversification of the healthcare workforce, elimination of health disparities, and support of technology and/or innovation. 

The announcement was made during the NACHC Partnership Conference in Seattle, Washington, on Nov. 19.

“Health centers are deeply committed to serving patients in culturally sensitive and community-specific ways,” said Thomas Tighe, Direct Relief President and CEO. “Dating from their establishment as an outgrowth of the U.S. civil rights movement, they have a long and rich history, which continues to this day, with innovative care that aims to reach all people. Direct Relief is privileged to support their work.”

“We are grateful for our longstanding partnership and collaboration with Direct Relief to support community health centers as they carry out their mission to advance health equity as the first and last responders to the nation’s emerging public health challenges – hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and a devastating Covid-19 pandemic,” said Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP, President and CEO of NACHC. “Direct Relief has been there every step of the way, providing essential medicines, medical supplies, and grants to ensure that health centers can continue their vital mission of care and support.”

In addition to this week’s funding announcement, Direct Relief has provided more than $870 million worth of medications to more than 1,000 community health centers since 2008. Direct Relief has also provided more than $114 million in funding to 600 community health centers. Those funds have supported health centers through disaster preparedness and response, chronic disease management, mental health, women’s health, health equity, and resilient power and infrastructure.

Direct Relief has also donated more than 95,000 deliveries of medicines, medical supplies, and over-the-counter items to free clinics and charitable pharmacies across the country, which utilize a volunteer/staff model to provide care to people who are experiencing vulnerabilities.

The post Direct Relief Commits $1 Million to the National Association of Community Health Centers, Supporting Care for Underserved People Across the U.S. appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included prenatal vitamins, cancer treatment therapies, personal protective equipment, field medic packs for triage care, diabetes management medications, and more.

Critical Medications Equip Medical Responders Treating Patients with Cholera

Medications and supplies for the treatment of cholera recently arrived in Juba, South Sudan, where a cholera outbreak presents a threat, particularly for children.

South Sudan, formed in 2011, is the world’s newest country and faces multiple converging challenges, including ongoing domestic ethnic conflict, economic instability, and unprecedented flooding. These issues have been further exacerbated by the civil war in Sudan, which has led to an influx of over 684,000 Sudanese refugees flowing over the border into South Sudan.

A cholera outbreak was recently identified at a location where many people had fled from Sudan into South Sudan, and health authorities are working to contain the spread, which can be exacerbated in areas without access to clean water and sanitation services. Cholera can be particularly dangerous for children, who can become dehydrated rapidly from the disease.

Recently, a Direct Relief-donated cholera treatment kit was received in Juba by the International Organization for Migration South Sudan. The organization provides essential services such as shelter, healthcare, and sanitation in camps for people who have been displaced within the country. This includes camps in Bentiu, which host between 100,000 to 160,000 displaced people.

Direct Relief’s shipment included a wide variety of essential medications for IOM’s work in IDP camps throughout the country. With cholera cases on the rise in South Sudan and regionally, Direct Relief’s shipment of a cholera treatment kit, designed to treat up to 280 patients, as well as field medic packs for use by first responders in the IDP camps, arrives at a critical time for medical providers in South Sudan.

Direct Relief’s partnership with IOM in South Sudan will facilitate medical aid for patients at border crossings, IDP camps, and IDP centers, supporting care in high-need humanitarian settings.

Honduras Braces for Rain, Flooding as Tropical Storm Sara Barrels Through Region

Tropical Storm Sara was drenching Honduras with heavy rains on Friday, and authorities were warning residents of possible landslides and flash flooding.

Direct Relief has been in communication with local organizations and health facilities in Honduras and across the region this week as they prepared for the tropical storm. The organization has also been coordinating with the Pan American Health Organization on regional needs.

On Friday, a dengue treatment kit, which contains items for the prevention of the spread of the mosquito-borne illness, was staged for shipment to Honduras.

The kit is bound for Ruth Paz Hospital in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, a facility that offers care for people unable to pay for services. Dengue has claimed more than 100 lives this year in Honduras, according to the country’s ministry of health, and total cases were around 100,000 in August of this year. Flooding and standing water resulting from Tropical Storm Sara could create ideal conditions for more mosquito-borne diseases.

In response to increased cases of dengue fever across Latin America and the Caribbean, Direct Relief developed the dengue treatment kit, which contains mosquito repellant, repellant wipes, oral rehydration salts, acetaminophen for adults and for children, and thermometers. There is no cure for dengue fever, but the items in the kit aim for prevention of the disease and supportive care of a person experiencing the illness.

Earlier this year, Direct Relief shipped field medic packs, packed with items for triage care outside of clinic walls, as well as a hurricane preparedness pack to the Honduran Red Cross, located near Tegucigalpa, the country’s capital city. The hurricane preparedness packs, which are shipped each year in advance of Atlantic storm season, are pre-positioned in hurricane-prone areas and stocked with medicines and supplies commonly requested after large storms. Medications include first aid items, chronic disease medication, water purification supplies, and more to keep health facilities operational after a disaster.

Midwife Kits Arrive in Nigeria

Midwives supporting healthy births in Nigeria recently received tools and supplies to help mothers and babies. Direct Relief-donated midwife kits, which contain items to support up to 50 facility-based births, recently arrived at the St. Charles Hospital and Maternity Wing in Adoka, Nigeria.

The country has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, according to the World Health Organization. The U-VOL Foundation received the kits and will be distributing them to midwives at the facility.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 509 shipments containing 1.7M doses of medication during the past seven days to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 5.3M defined daily doses of medication totaling 54,570 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 21.8K shipments to 2,299 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 88 countries. These shipments contained 371.6M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.5B (wholesale) and totaled 4.8M lbs.

In the News

Calmer winds help firefighters make progress against California’s Mountain Fire – NBC News

How victims of California’s Mountain Fire can find help — and how others can donate or volunteer – CBS News

Direct Relief responds with thousands of masks for those who are inhaling ash in Ventura County – KEYT

IMSS recibe donativo de 30 mochilas tácticas para atender emergencias – MSN

Twitch Streaming Isn’t Just For Gamers Anymore – Yahoo Entertainment

The post As Outbreak Rages, Cholera Treatment Kits Arrive in South Sudan appeared first on Direct Relief.

This agreement will enable Direct Relief to supply critical medical and emergency resources in collaboration with NJ OEM, supporting the agency’s statewide response efforts as well as the New Jersey Task Force, or NJ-TF1, one of 28 federal FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams. This partnership comes at a critical time, as wildfires continue to burn across parts of New Jersey and New York, heightening the need for timely and effective response.

NJ OEM has already requested 100 field medic packs and 200 personal care kits stocked with hygiene items from Direct Relief. These essential supplies will be distributed by impacted county emergency management offices to support those directly affected by the fires. This collaboration with NJ OEM exemplifies Direct Relief’s focus on enhancing preparedness and response capabilities in states facing urgent crises.

Supporting Emergency Management Agencies

This agreement is Direct Relief’s second formal partnership with a state emergency management office.

Since 2010, Direct Relief has collaborated closely with the California Office of Emergency Services to deliver targeted aid during emergencies, allowing for critical support to communities in need beyond Direct Relief’s traditional free and charitable clinic network.

Through the partnership with NJ OEM, Direct Relief aims to expand this model, extending its support for local and regional disaster response, and specifically aiding NJ-TF1, which deploys nationwide to assist communities in crisis, as demonstrated in past hurricane responses in North Carolina and Florida.

Direct Relief’s collaboration with NJ OEM underscores the organization’s mission to be a ready and proactive partner in emergency preparedness and response, empowering local agencies and ensuring swift, efficient aid when disaster strikes.

The post As Wildfires Blaze in New Jersey, Direct Relief Equips First Responders appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included personal protective equipment for those impacted by wildfire smoke, field medic packs for triage care, rare disease therapies, and more.

Direct Relief Responds Locally to California’s Mountain Fire

As the fast-moving Mountain Fire tears through large areas of Ventura County, it is destroying dozens of homes, filling the air with smoke and particulates, and forcing more than 10,000 people to evacuate. Direct Relief staff are on the ground in the county this week to distribute N95 respirators — more than 12,000 thus far — and other emergency support to residents and responding partners, including the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services.

At Direct Relief’s headquarters in Santa Barbara, about an hour north, staff have loaded additional respirators and supplies for transport to the Ventura Family YMCA, Camarillo Family YMCA, Ventura County Health Care Agency, and the Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project. Shipments of emergency medical packs, developed for field medics responding to disasters, personal care kits for displaced communities, and a wildfire kit are being prepared in Direct Relief’s medical warehouse for the Westminster Free Clinic and Planned Parenthood Central Coast, both local health providers.

To support disaster response and containment, Direct Relief provided funding to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, which is using a helicopter retrofitted for large water drops to fight the Mountain Fire from above.

Because Ventura County is an agricultural center, impacts on farmworkers laboring outdoors are a particular concern. Local agencies and groups, including the Ventura County Farm Bureau, have received respirators for distribution to agricultural workers.

Direct Relief staff members, distributing N95 respirators to county residents at the Ventura Family YMCA, heard concerns that protective masks have been difficult to find, and that people with respiratory health conditions are concerned about impacts from poor air quality.

The scale and speed of the Mountain Fire’s destruction indicate that additional medical support, from respiratory treatments like inhalers to chronic disease medications, is likely to be called for. Direct Relief will continue collaborating with partners to assess and respond to medical needs.

After Hurricanes Helene and Milton, A Long Road to Recovery

Despite large-scale recovery efforts, hurricane-affected communities across the southeastern U.S. still confront threats from contaminated water, widespread displacement, housing shortages compounded by many thousands of damaged structures, and financial hardship. Health impacts are widespread, as is the need for medical resilience and long-term care access.

As of November 7, Direct Relief had awarded $750,000 in emergency operating grants to 30 healthcare provider partners in Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee, enabling them to safeguard and expand health care access, including mobile clinic services and mental health care, to storm-impacted communities.

Direct Relief had also dispatched more than 180 shipments of specifically requested emergency medical aid valued at nearly $3.1 million to 35 healthcare providers responding to the needs of storm-affected communities in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Antibiotics, emergency medical backpacks, hygiene kits, over-the-counter products, personal protective equipment, and medications to manage chronic diseases were urgently requested and provided. Direct Relief also delivered epinephrine, oral rehydration salts, re-entry kits, water purification tablets, and vaccines for Covid-19, hepatitis A and B, influenza, and tetanus. Covid-19 vaccines, epinephrine, hepatitis A and B vaccines, influenza vaccines, naloxone, oral rehydration salts, re-entry kits, tetanus vaccines, and water purification tablets to responding organizations.

Cumulatively, the organization prepositioned 30 Hurricane Preparedness Packs with safety net providers in states affected by the hurricanes ahead of the 2024 Atlantic storm season. At least three health facilities in Florida and Georgia opened their prepositioned packs in response to the hurricane.

In addition, Direct Relief has committed more than $4.8 million for the design, installation, and maintenance of clean, resilient power systems at 11 community health centers in Florida and North Carolina through its Power for Health Initiative. Installation was recently completed at two facilities within eastern North Carolina’s Goshen Medical Center network, one of which would have lost power following Hurricane Helene but for its newly installed system. In 2025, Direct Relief plans to partner with at least six additional health facilities along the Gulf Coast for new projects.

As part of its ongoing support programs, Direct Relief has delivered more than 650 shipments valued at more than $7.2 million to more than 220 healthcare providers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia since Hurricane Helene made landfall.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 529 shipments containing 2.5M doses of medication during the past seven days to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 10.1M defined daily doses of medication totaling 48,234 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 21.3K shipments to 2,290 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 88 countries. These shipments contained 364.6M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.4B (wholesale) and totaled 4.4M lbs.

In the News

Mountain Fire burns over 20K acres; 132 structures, mostly homes, destroyed, 88 damaged – Ventura County Star

CRE: Community Health Center unveils new battery system – Pacific Coast Business Times

At Florida Health Centers, “A Rush of Folks” Seek Mental Health Care in Hurricane Aftermath – Community Health Forum

The post As Mountain Fire Exceeds 20,000 Acres, Response Continues appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief staff were in Ventura County on Thursday distributing respirators and other requested medical aid to support people who have been evacuated by the fires, as well as those impacted by poor air quality.

According to the Air Quality Index, “unhealthy” levels of particulates in the air were measured in the Oxnard and Camarillo areas of Southern California on Thursday, and many communities downwind from the blaze were inundated with high levels of smoke from the Mountain Fire.

Direct Relief staff distributed 3M-donated N-95 respirators from a distribution point at the YMCA in Ventura for the public to pick up throughout the day, and Direct Relief staff also made deliveries across the county to agencies and organizations serving impacted communities.

The Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project, or MICOP, works with indigenous migrant communities, many of whom work in agricultural industries in the county. The group received N-95 respirators to distribute to people exposed to poor air while working outdoors.

Respirators were also delivered to the Ventura County Farm Bureau to support farmworkers potentially impacted by poor air quality, as well as to the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services.

The Westminster Free Clinic, which is located several miles from a mandatory evacuation zone, also received N95 respirators and hygiene items to distribute to people who have been evacuated from their homes.

On Thursday, Santa Barbara County Fire Department was providing aerial support with the country’s helicopter that was retrofitted for large water drops. Direct Relief provided financial support to outfit the helicopter with the ability drop about 1,000 gallons of water, and the helicopter is used frequently to douse wildfires in the county, and is also deployed to nearby counties, including Ventura, to support air operations.

Dry conditions and high winds also prompted a smaller 50-acre fire to break out near Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc in Santa Barbara County, and Direct Relief will respond to any needs that become known from that fire as well.

Direct Relief has a long history of responding to wildfires throughout the state, as well as across the U.S. The organization maintains a medical inventory, including medications often requested during fire events. Those items include respiratory medications, including inhalers and nebulizers for people with asthma, ophthalmic medicines, and medications for chronic diseases, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which can create emergency situations if unmanaged. Medical support requested in the recovery phase often include tetanus vaccine to protect people clearing debris from their properties.

Direct Relief also maintains an inventory of personal protective equipment for people returning to their homes to begin cleanup in areas that are often filled with hazardous ash. During past fires, including the 2023 Maui wildfire, Direct Relief equipped people returning to their homes with protective respirators, coveralls, goggles, gloves, and shoe covers to protect them from ash that can contain heavy metals and other harmful chemicals.

The organization is in contact with the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, California Primary Care Association, and California Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, and will continue to respond to medical needs as they become known.

The post Thousands Evacuated as Mountain Fire Threatens Homes in California appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief’s Response to California Wildfires

Direct Relief is headquartered approximately 45 miles north of the fire, and is deploying staff and resources to assist residents, emergency responders, and firefighters battling the blaze. Direct Relief is in the process of delivering 3M-donated N95 respirators to help people at risk from wildfire smoke, essential hygeine items for evacuees in shelters, and emergency medical supplies to support first responders and healthcare professionals in the affected area.

Direct Relief is in frequent contact with state and local organizations to gauge needs and offer support, including to the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, California Primary Care Association, and California Association of Free and Charitable Clinics. Offers have also been made to local safety clinics and partners to provide assistance as needs arise, and the organization stands ready to make more masks available to residents should air quality deteriorate further.

Support for Healthcare Facilities in Emergencies

As part of Direct Relief’s commitment to enhancing resilience in the face of natural disasters, the organization’s Power for Health initiative has equipped healthcare facilities across California with solar and battery storage systems. This initiative ensures that health centers and free clinics can continue operating during power outages, allowing them to provide uninterrupted care to vulnerable populations during wildfire events and other emergencies. Direct Relief’s recent projects include installations at community health centers in Santa Maria and Simi Valley, strengthening critical healthcare infrastructure when it is most needed.

Wildfire Response Expertise

Direct Relief has a long history of responding to wildfires in California, from the devastating Camp Fire to recent fires across the state. Through partnerships with local agencies and healthcare facilities, the organization has provided personal protective equipment, medical supplies, and financial support to aid communities impacted by wildfires. Direct Relief remains ready to respond to the ongoing Mountain Fire and to continue supporting impacted communities.

The post Direct Relief Responding as Mountain Fire Explodes in Ventura County, Calif., 0% Contained appeared first on Direct Relief.

Continued rainfall and widespread damage have hindered initial relief efforts and limited access to the hardest-hit areas. On Saturday, BUSF deployed an initial team of emergency responders and medical personnel to assess the situation, and they have since proposed a larger, coordinated response scheduled to begin on November 5. Over the coming week, this expanded team will work closely with the Provincial Valencia government, local fire departments, and other civil protection agencies to deliver urgently needed assistance to affected communities.

Direct Relief and BUSF have a strong history of collaboration in response to disasters. In 2023, Direct Relief provided emergency cash support to BUSF during their response to the Morocco earthquake, enabling BUSF to provide critical assistance in Morocco’s hardest-hit areas. This new grant builds on that shared commitment to providing rapid, lifesaving aid when and where it’s needed most.

As rescue efforts continue in Valencia, Direct Relief and BUSF will work together to ensure that essential resources reach affected communities swiftly, helping residents recover and rebuild from this devastating event.

The post Direct Relief Supports First Responders in Spain After Devastating Floods appeared first on Direct Relief.

In the aftermath of the storm, officials confirmed at least 52 storm-related deaths, as well as considerable damage to critical infrastructure, such as bridges and roadways, nearly 275,000 houses, and 120 health facilities. In addition, the storm caused extensive disruptions to essential services, including communications, power, medical and other supply chains, as well as municipal water supply systems, leaving Guerrero’s population among the poorest in the country with more than 66 percent of residents living in poverty and more than 25 percent living in extreme poverty with limited access to food, essential medicines, and safe drinking water.

In response, Direct Relief immediately deployed a team of emergency response personnel to Guerrero to assess the humanitarian situation and coordinate and deliver requested aid, including emergency health kits, field medic backpacks, and fuel, to healthcare providers and first responders. Direct Relief also provided financial assistance to Medical IMPACT, a Mexico-based nonprofit that provides medical care for those in disaster situations and low-resource settings, to augment mobile health services and community outreach in hard-to-reach rural communities, including the mountainous regions surrounding Acapulco.

With cleanup and recovery efforts continuing months following Hurricane Otis, the region faced a new, growing public health threat a spike in cases of dengue fever, a viral infection transmitted by mosquitos that can cause high fevers, body aches, and other symptoms, with severe cases requiring hospitalization. Though dengue is endemic in Mexico and the country, like many others across Latin America and the Caribbean, was already grappling with a nationwide surge in 2024 compared to previous years, dengue cases nationwide had begun to drop following a late September peak, according to the Government of Mexico Ministry of Health. In Guerrero, however, epidemiological data indicated a secondary spike starting in mid-November, weeks after the storm’s passage, attributable to the lingering debris and standing floodwaters that had become a breeding ground for mosquitos.

As the acute phase of the emergency transitioned to longer-term recovery, Direct Relief continued to augment capacities to respond to the health needs resulting from Hurricane Otis, while bolstering state-level preparedness for future emergencies. Meanwhile, Direct Relief increased support for dengue prevention and treatment and helped to reestablish the state’s cold chain capacity, ensuring healthcare providers across Guerrero have the capacity to receive and store temperature-sensitive medications and vaccinations.

Direct Relief’s Response – By the Numbers

The information included in this report, by necessity, includes unaudited figures because the organization’s formal audit coincides with its fiscal year, which is from July 1 to June 30. Audited figures for this period will be included when that audit and report are completed. Numbers are as of October 30, 2024.

In the year since the hurricane, Direct Relief has provided nearly $1.65 million in medical aid and $185,000 in financial assistance to support the restoration of essential health services in Guerrero.

Augmenting Capacities to Respond to Hurricane Otis and Future Emergencies

To augment capacities to meet the increased needs following Hurricane Otis and bolster preparedness for future emergencies, Direct Relief delivered 14 Emergency Health Kits, each containing sufficient medicines, medical supplies, and equipment to meet the critical healthcare needs of as many as 1,000 patients for one month following an emergency, to local and national government agencies, as well as humanitarian partners, engaged in emergency response and health service delivery. Direct Relief also provided approximately 200 Emergency Medical Backpacks to equip first responders, search and rescue teams, and mobile health providers with the supplies they need to meet a variety of prevalent disaster-related medical issues, including infection control, diagnostics, trauma care, and personal protection tools.

Additionally, Direct Relief coordinated closely with representatives from the States of Baja California and Guerrero, to deliver a 50-bed field hospital kit donated by the State of California. This modularized kit, capable of being fully operational within 24 hours of identified need, enables Guerrero state authorities to rapidly augment hospital capacity to meet heightened needs during emergencies.

Supporting Efforts to Curb Dengue Transmission, Provide Palliative Care

To prevent and control dengue transmission, Direct Relief partnered with Guerrero’s Secretariat of Health to provide thermal fogging equipment and insecticide intended for use in identified mosquito breeding hot spots ahead of the May–October rainy season. Direct Relief also provided 1.5 metric tons of medical supplies, including acetaminophen for adults and children, mosquito-repellent wipes and spray, oral rehydration salts, and thermometers, to help mitigate the spread of dengue and reduce dehydration, fever, and pain among those who have contracted it. The supplies, delivered to Guerrero’s Centro Regulador de Urgencias Médicas, were integrated into the state’s strategic reserve for emergency and disaster response.

Helping to Reestablish Pharmaceutical Cold Chain Capacity

Hurricane Otis caused extensive damage to health centers and hospitals in and around Acapulco, destroying much of the state’s pharmaceutical cold chain capacity. To ensure healthcare providers across Guerrero have the capacity to receive and store temperature-sensitive medications, such as insulin, vaccinations, and dengue testing samples, Direct Relief delivered 10 Helmer refrigerators and two Helmer ultra-cold freezers, as well as two portable organ transplant refrigerators, to Guerrero’s Centro Regulador de Urgencias Médicas. The units were distributed to 11 locations across Guerrero’s seven health jurisdictions.

Cumulatively, these efforts resulted in the delivery of more than 80 metric tons of medical aid and supplies to the following organizations:

• Asociación Mexicana de Diabetes en el Estado de Guerrero, A.C.
• Medical IMPACT Impact Outreach A.C.
• Ayuntamiento Municipal de Acapulco de Juárez
• Secretaría de Defensa Nacional
• Federación Mexicana de Diabetes A.C.
• Servicios Estatales de Salud de Guerrero
• Fundación Mexicana para la Planeación Familiar, A.C.
• Un Kilo de Ayuda A.C.
• Hospital General Dr. Raymundo Abarca Alarcó

In addition to material aid, Direct Relief provided $185,000 to humanitarian partner Medical IMPACT
to augment mobile health services and community outreach in hard-to-reach rural communities. With this support, Medical IMPACT deployed teams of physicians on several medical missions to the region, providing emergency health services to rural communities that face significant barriers to accessing health services.

Looking Forward

Less than a year after Hurricane Otis devastated the Acapulco region, Hurricane John struck a larger area with record amounts of rain. The investments made and relationships established with federal and state authorities, as well as humanitarian partners, during the Hurricane Otis response laid the groundwork for Direct Relief and other response actors to respond swiftly to the humanitarian and health needs resulting from the hurricane, including through the deployment of Direct Relief-donated emergency response supplies from the state’s strategic reserve for emergency and disaster response immediately following the storm’s landfall.

The success of Direct Relief’s collaboration with state authorities, such as Guerrero’s Centro Regulador de Urgencias Médicas, was critical to the emergency responses to both Hurricane Otis and John and has paved the path for continued collaboration on emergency preparedness efforts across the state.

As the long-term recovery from Hurricane Otis and John continues, Direct Relief remains committed to ensuring federal- and state-level authorities, as well as humanitarian partners, have access to the medicines and medical supplies they need before, during, and after a disaster strikes.

The post Hurricane Otis: One Year Later appeared first on Direct Relief.

The monstrous threat of Hurricane Milton had terrified meteorologists and emergency responders. Even after the storm was downgraded to Category 3 status, it caused severe flooding and widespread damage across Florida communities.

For one of Dr. Rhonda Cameron’s patients, a middle-aged woman who’d lived in the state since age four, the storm hadn’t just been frightening in its own right. It was an intrusive reminder of a childhood trauma.

In September of 1960, the patient recalled, the deadly and destructive Hurricane Donna made landfall just weeks after her family’s move to Florida. She remembered her mother putting her under the bed, along with her brother, sister, and the family dog, to ride out the storm.

“Hurricane Milton stirred up her PTSD from Donna,” explained Dr. Cameron, director of behavioral health services at Premier Community HealthCare, a federally qualified health center serving Florida’s Pasco and Hernando Counties.

Milton, which made landfall in early October, close on the heels of the Category 5 Hurricane Helene, damaged many of the same Florida communities, primarily on or near the Gulf Coast. Mental health providers described patients who, barely scraping by financially before the storm, were now confronting cataclysmic damage from flooding or fallen trees. People without the money to evacuate, who’d ridden out dangerous hurricanes in mobile homes. And then, after Milton dissipated, an increase in nightmares, overwhelming anxiety symptoms, and other indicators of post-traumatic stress.

Floridians often emphasize that hurricanes are a part of life, baking storm-themed cakes and taking evacuation warnings in stride.

But natural disasters have indisputable mental health impacts, causing new symptoms or exacerbating already existing ones. Providers have long reported significant increases of post-traumatic stress, anxiety, overdoses, and other related concerns in the aftermath of severe storms and wildfires. Newer evidence, such as a 2022 study focused specifically on Florida residents who’d experienced multiple hurricanes, suggests that repeated exposure to natural disasters can compound mental health impacts over time.

Now community health centers that serve Helene- and Milton-impacted communities are responding to what Premier clinical social worker Larry Legg describes as a “rush of folks coming in” seeking mental health support.

Patients at Evara Health in Pinellas County, where both hurricanes caused extensive damage, were terrified, said Kelly Singleton, a clinical social worker and director of behavioral health at the community health center.

“Normally we manage our hurricanes, but these two [coming] back-to-back, they really did terrify people,” she said. “This is the most scared I have ever seen people.”

“They can have more connection”

Tampa Family Health Centers, with several locations in the Tampa area, is providing extended hours for mental health appointments — staying open until 8:00 p.m. on weekdays and offering Saturday and Sunday options, said Dr. Latamia Green, a pediatric and adult psychiatrist and the health center’s director of behavioral health. Providers offer affected patients the option of shorter, more frequent appointments “so they can have more connection,” she said.

While each patient’s needs are unique, Dr. Green explained, hurricane response often requires a stronger focus on supportive therapy, helping patients navigate a stressful aftermath and overwhelming day-to-day tasks, rather than the insight-based approach that’s more likely to characterize long-term work with a therapist.

Caring for patients affected by natural disasters is a multi-step process, Dr. Green said. In her diverse practice — which includes overseeing a clinic for patients with schizophrenia and caring for children with autism spectrum disorders, among other mental health needs — support often begins in the days before a storm makes landfall, when she helps patients manage their anxiety and make a plan for accessing care in the storm’s aftermath.

Then, Dr. Green said, providers work with patients to meet the most urgent needs, and care navigators offer support for patients dealing with the complex bureaucratic processes of applying for emergency government support, staying in temporary housing, and getting power and water restored. “The physical destruction can make the mental health piece much more challenging,” Dr. Green said.

At Evara, too, mental health providers were available into the evening and on weekends. Same-day appointments were available to patients who needed immediate care, and specialists were connecting people to community services and helping with applications and paperwork.

“If we don’t catch them…we’ll lose them”

While all of Evara’s medical providers are trained in trauma-informed care and screen patients for mental health symptoms, Singleton says high awareness is especially important in the aftermath of a hurricane. “Patients who should be seen for behavioral health are presenting to primary care,” she explained.

Singleton is concerned because storm-affected patients are often focused on medical needs or lost housing — not on their mental health.

“If we don’t catch them in that moment…when they’re sharing how stressed they are or how anxious they are, we’ll lose them,” she said. In a population that’s already “grossly underserved,” missing an opportunity to connect a patient to mental health care can worsen needs down the road.

At Premier, Legg was concerned about patients who, confronting severe flooding, damage, and power outages, had canceled appointments or weren’t keeping in touch with mental health providers. One of his patients, a young adult, had dealt with a last-minute evacuation with a parent in a wheelchair as water flooded their home, and hadn’t been able to come in.

“They’re still in that survival mode,” Legg said.

Premier staff were acutely aware that, even as power came back on throughout the region, patients — some of them reliant on powered medical devices — were still in the dark. Students had missed an entire week of school while school facilities served as community shelters.

Legg noted that, during his own childhood in rural Appalachia, the expectation that “I’ve just got to pull up my boots and go to work” was widespread, even in the aftermath of disaster. Today, he sees many patients at Premier who feel they should “just fight through” mental health symptoms, and are reluctant to seek treatment.

Florida’s rainy season, which reminds people of past storms and past flooding, often triggers those symptoms all over again, he said.

The health centers interviewed were also concerned about staff members, who generally live in local communities and experience the same impacts their patients do. While staff often put their own emergent needs aside after a disaster, Legg was worried about colleagues dealing with neck-high flooding, fallen trees, and their own mental health symptoms while still showing up for work.

“We’re trying to also keep an eye out for each other, to fight against the secondary traumatization” of caring for deeply impacted patients, he said.

“Part of the puzzle”

Dr. Green cautioned that hurricane-affected patients require mental health support long after the most emergent needs are met: “A large part of the aftermath happens months later.” And as a psychiatrist who sees both pediatric and adult patients, and who treats a wide variety of mental health disorders, she stresses the importance of individualized treatment.

“Every patient that we see is unique,” she said.

Rather than thinking in terms of disaster response versus routine care, Dr. Green helps patients prepare for the increased stress and traumatic response that a hurricane can evoke. “That’s one part of the puzzle, living here in Florida: making sure they’re aware of how to deal with trauma and how to deal with stress,” she said.

Singleton, too, works with patients who experience symptoms of trauma to help them manage the triggering effects of storms. “A lot of people don’t take the hurricanes super-seriously, because that’s kind of the norm,” she explained, but that attitude discounts the many people for whom encountering yet another storm — or even hearing about the impacts to another community — can jog painful memories or cause severe anxiety.

Evara, responding to a growing need for mental health services, has hired more providers and made behavioral health available not just to health center patients, but to the larger community. Staff are trained to provide mental health first aid.

These services aren’t hurricane-specific, Singleton said — they’re part of a larger awareness of growing mental health needs in the community. “That’s just the population that we’re managing,” she said.

At TFHC, where mental health outreach and education work are strong priorities, it seems ironic that October 10, the day Hurricane Milton swept across Florida, is World Mental Health Day.

“We had activities planned for that day,” Dr. Green said.

Staff made up for lost time after Milton, offering “hurricane make-up days” and a mental health fair. Screening for signs of depression and anxiety, always a priority during medical appointments, became part of what Dr. Green called a “heightened response.”

Even at calmer moments, TFHC providers and staff focus on making mental health care more accessible. Care navigators, embedded at major hospitals, connect patients to providers. Education and community events are designed to raise visibility and eliminate stigma.

When it comes to mental health, “we are very vocal around here,” Dr. Green said.

Direct Relief has provided more than $3 million worth of medical support to health centers responding to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and committed an additional $2 million in cash funding to support recovery. The organization announced last week that 28 local partners, including Evara Health, Premier Community HealthCare, and Tampa Family Health Centers, would each receive a $25,000 emergency grant to meet the increased need for health services.

The post At Florida Health Centers, “A Rush of Folks” Seek Mental Health Care in Hurricane Aftermath appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included field medic packs for triage care, diabetes and hemophilia-focused medicines, anti-inflammatories, personal protective equipment, anesthetics, rare disease therapies, and more.

Tropical Storm Trami Hits the Philippines, Larger Region

Tropical Storm Trami made landfall in the northeastern Philippines last week, killing at least 152 people. Known locally as Kristine, the storm brought heavy flooding and landslides which, along with strong winds, have hampered relief efforts.

In an initial response, Direct Relief, which has staff based in the Philippines, offered field medic packs equipped with medical essentials to the Philippines’ Department of Health and to the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, and remains ready to respond to requests from partner organizations in the area.

The Philippines, the greater Southeast Asia region, and China were hit earlier this year by Typhoon Yagi, which killed dozens of people, and by Typhoon Gaemi. Direct Relief coordinated with the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) to assess and respond to needs throughout Southeast Asia.

Major flooding has also taken place throughout the year in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India. In India, the flooding triggered a major mudslide in July. A medical bus purchased with Direct Relief funds by Amrita Hospital in Kerala, India, was deployed in response. This week, a requested three-pallet shipment was dispatched to Dhulikhel Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, in response to flooding and landslides in that country.

Flood events in South Asia are frequently connected to cyclones and tropical storms. After landfall in the Philippines and Vietnam, they weaken into low-pressure systems as they move inland. Within a week, these systems reach the Himalayas, where they can generate heavy rainfall that flows southward, leading to flooding in Nepal and extending into northern Pakistan and India.

Direct Relief will continue to respond as needed.

Direct Relief Storytelling Reaches New Global Audiences

Direct Relief’s co-produced short documentary with the BBC, the “Invisible Impacts of Wildfires,” was screened this week at the Tel Aviv International Film Festival by CINEVERSE. The documentary explores survival and resilience five years after the devastating Camp Fire in Butte County, California. Through the voices of healthcare providers at local health center Ampla Health and survivors, the video reveals harrowing, life-or-death moments from that day and the sustained efforts to rebuild and protect a community’s vital medical clinic, with a focus on resilient power, thereby ensuring care for all, no matter the challenge ahead.

The short doc premiered at the BBC Studios in New York City last year, has also been shown at the World Health Organization’s Health for All Film Festival, COP28 UAE in Dubai, and screened at Direct Relief’s headquarters with a panel featuring former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, UCSB Professor Olivier Deschenes, Washington Post Journalist Brianna Sacks. According to the BBC, the series has over 25 million views across social media.

“Invisible Impacts of Wildfires” is part of the BBC’s “The Climate & Us” series, which explores the global link between climate and health, as well as highlighting innovative healthcare solutions.

Supporting Local Veterans in Santa Barbara County

Last weekend, local nonprofit Santa Barbara County Veterans Stand Down held its 12th annual event to support veterans who are homeless or otherwise at-risk with free access to food, legal services, clothing, hygiene items, haircuts, medical care, social services, and more. Direct Relief, headquartered in Santa Barbara County, California, supported the event with donated personal care products, including soap, razors, and other hygiene items, sunscreen, and N95 masks.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 366 shipments containing 916,012 doses of medication during the past seven days to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 1.1M defined daily doses of medication totaling 16,811 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 20.6K shipments to 2,282 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 88 countries. These shipments contained 351.5M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.4B (wholesale) and totaled 4.4M lbs.

In the News

Heat, Carnival donate $2M to Direct Relief in support of hurricane recovery efforts – NBA.com

Going solar! Ventura County clinic gets solar power system which keeps it running during blackouts – KCLU

Teva, in Partnership With Direct Relief, Honored by U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation for Mental Health Efforts – Accesswire

Community Health Centers cuts ribbon on solar, battery system at Skyway Telehealth Center – Santa Maria Times

The post Responding to Tropical Storm Trami in Southeast Asia appeared first on Direct Relief.

In what some experts are calling Spain’s worst natural disaster in living memory, flash floods deluged towns in eastern Spain, including Valencia, with the waters inundating roadways with debris, floating vehicles, and downed power lines.

The country has been in a multi-year drought, with hardened ground unable to absorb the rain failing late Tuesday night and early Wednesday. Rains have continued this week, and search and rescue operations are ongoing.

Direct Relief has offered support to Bomberos Unidos Sin Fronteras, a Spanish search-and-rescue NGO. Direct Relief has worked with the group in the past, including during search and rescue operations after earthquakes destroyed communities in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where the organization supported response.

Direct Relief will respond to needs as they become known.

The post Direct Relief Offers Support After Spain’s Deadly Floods appeared first on Direct Relief.

The award winners were revealed during the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Business Solves Conference on October 29, 2024, in Washington, D.C. The Annual Citizens Awards recognize the most innovative and impactful initiatives that leverage a company’s talent, resources, and expertise to improve communities.

The company was honored for the “Community Routes: Access to Mental Health Care” program, which helps uninsured patients access healthcare for anxiety and depression, and is a partnership between Direct Relief, the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC) and Teva Pharmaceuticals.

“Access to holistic, culturally-appropriate mental health care is critically important, often to a lifesaving extent,” said Katie Lewis, Director of U.S. Programs for Direct Relief. “Direct Relief is privileged to work with Teva and NAFC to increase that access to care, and this program is a wonderful example of partnerships that make a positive impact on people’s lives. This recognition shines a bright light on the essential work free and charitable clinics do every day in service of their patients.”

The program provides access to a portfolio of donated medicines for anxiety and depression, valued at over $17 million; Teva has committed $2 million of grant funding over two years to free and charitable clinics that care for uninsured patients.

The program was launched in June 2022, following which the pilot states of Florida, New Jersey, and California received product donations and subsequently grant funding to selected clinics.

The post Teva, in Partnership with Direct Relief, Honored by U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation for Mental Health Efforts appeared first on Direct Relief.

The newly installed systems at the Free Clinic of Simi Valley (FCSV) and Community Health Centers of the Central Coast’s (CHC) Skyway Telehealth Center in Santa Maria will provide these clinics with resilient, renewable backup power, reducing their carbon footprints and generating significant cost savings while ensuring continuity of patient care in the event of power disruptions.

The Power for Health Initiative provides grant funding to healthcare providers across the United States and its territories to cover the design and installation of clean, renewable energy solutions, as well as five years of operations and maintenance. By supporting the installation of solar power systems and energy storage systems, Direct Relief is helping health centers increase their resilience and sustainability in the face of a changing climate and aging electrical infrastructure.

Free Clinic of Simi Valley Reaches Net Zero with Solar Installation

The Free Clinic of Simi Valley, a free and charitable clinic that provides healthcare and other social services to medically underserved residents of Ventura County, has achieved a major sustainability milestone with the installation of a 53.3 kW rooftop solar array. With 135 solar panels now covering 100% of the clinic’s electricity needs, the clinic is officially net zero in terms of carbon emissions.

Funded by a $165,000 unrestricted grant from Direct Relief, the solar power system is expected to save the clinic $20,000 annually in energy costs. These savings will be reinvested into expanding patient services, allowing the clinic to better serve its community while reducing its environmental impact. Since the system became operational, FCSV has used its savings to enhance programs for uninsured and underinsured patients, including medical, dental, counseling, and legal services.

“The Free Clinic of Simi Valley has been a lifeline for thousands of people in our community who might otherwise have nowhere to turn for healthcare,” said Fred Bauermeister, Executive Director of the Free Clinic of Simi Valley. “This solar project not only strengthens our resilience against power outages – an ever more common occurrence in our area – but it also aligns with our commitment to protecting the health of our environment.”

As a key healthcare provider in Ventura County, FCSV handles more than 10,000 patient visits annually and is one of the only local providers of children’s vaccines, which must be stored at specific temperatures to remain viable. The clinic serves patients who are often left behind by the traditional healthcare system, including the working poor who do not qualify for Medi-Cal but cannot afford private health insurance. In fact, 57% of FCSV’s patients are best served in a language other than English.

In the coming months, FCSV plans to further strengthen its power resilience by adding battery storage, ensuring critical services continue during any power disruptions.

“With power outages on the rise across California due to increasingly frequent disasters and emergencies, resilient power projects are no longer a luxury—they’re a necessity. These systems ensure that critical healthcare providers can continue serving their communities, even when the grid goes down,” said Thomas Tighe, Direct Relief CEO. “Direct Relief is committed to expanding access to reliable energy so that lifesaving care remains uninterrupted, protecting the health and well-being of Californians in their times of greatest need.”

The solar system was developed with the technical support of American Microgrid Solutions and installed by GRID Alternatives, a nonprofit solar installer. This is the first Power for Health Initiative project completed at a free or charitable clinic in the mainland United States.

Community Health Centers of the Central Coast Bolsters Telehealth Operations with Solar Power

In Santa Maria, Community Health Centers of the Central Coast (CHC) has installed a new rooftop solar power and battery energy storage system at its Skyway Telehealth Center, funded by a $305,000 unrestricted grant from Direct Relief. The system will power the facility’s telehealth operations, which provide critical remote healthcare services to patients across northern Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. The solar installation ensures that even during power outages, CHC’s telehealth services will remain available, connecting patients to vital healthcare services from the safety of their homes.

Telehealth has become a crucial component of healthcare delivery, particularly for those in rural or underserved areas who face barriers to accessing in-person care. CHC’s telehealth hub serves thousands of patients each year, providing remote consultations, mental health services, and chronic disease management. The solar power system at this facility will further enhance the clinic’s ability to provide uninterrupted care, even as climate-related disruptions to the grid become more common.

“This system will not only reduce our carbon footprint but also ensure that we can continue to serve our patients without interruption, especially in times of crisis,” said Dr. Steven Clarke, CHC’s Medical Director.

The solar array is part of Direct Relief’s ongoing efforts to build resilience at healthcare facilities that serve low-income, high-need populations. By reducing operational costs through solar power, CHC will be able to reinvest savings into expanding telehealth services and enhancing patient care.

The Power for Health Initiative

The new solar installation at the Free Clinic of Simi Valley and the solar and storage system at Community Health Centers of the Central Coast were funded by grants from Direct Relief’s Power for Health Initiative, which supports health centers and free clinics as they transition to renewable, resilient energy solutions. This Initiative supports the design, installation, operations, and maintenance of customized resilient backup power systems at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), free and charitable clinics, and other community health facilities across the U.S. and around the world.

By reducing health centers’ reliance on traditional, carbon-emitting energy sources and eliminating downtime during power outages, the Power for Health Initiative enables partners to remain operational during emergencies, continuing to serve communities in need. To date, the Initiative has supported the installation of solar and energy storage systems at 22 clinics in disaster-prone areas and underserved communities in California, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico, with dozens of projects in the design and construction stages.

The post Direct Relief Supports Resilience and Sustainability at Two California Clinics with New Solar Installations appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included field medic packs for triage care, thyroid medications, anti-inflammatory medications, personal protective equipment, rare disease therapies, and more.

Mobile Health Services Reach Hurricane-Battered Communities

Emergency response continues for Direct Relief as communities in the southeastern U.S. recover from back-to-back hurricanes.

As of October 25, Direct Relief had dispatched 111 shipments of specifically requested emergency medical aid valued at nearly $2.5 million to 26 healthcare providers responding to the needs of storm-affected communities in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Among medical items shipped are antibiotics, emergency medical backpacks, hygiene kits, over-the-counter products, personal protective equipment, and medications to manage chronic diseases, as well as tetanus vaccine, hepatitis A and B vaccines, epinephrine for allergic reactions from bee and yellow jacket stings, oral rehydration salts, and water purification tablets.

Recently, Dr. Yousef Motii, a clinician for Oceana Community Health who has been providing medical outreach in the Spanish Lakes community, which was hard-hit by tornadoes during Hurricane Milton’s path, delivered Direct Relief-donated hygiene items to the community. Dr. Motii also used a Direct Relief field medic pack to support the triage care of patients.

This week, Direct Relief announced $700,000 in direct cash support to 28 organizations providing healthcare services in hurricane-impacted communities. These grants are designated to individual health centers, charitable clinics, and other nonprofit providers responding to these crises, in order to keep health care services accessible to low-income patients affected by these disasters.

Critical Anti-Infection Therapies Arrive in Gaza

An eight-pallet shipment of antibiotic therapies recently arrived for cancer patients in Gaza living with reduced immunity. The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital has historically treated thousands of patients with cancer in Gaza, but the hospital became non-operational until a recent relocation of services to Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

NGO Anera, which worked with Direct Relief to transport the donation into Gaza, delivered the medication to the hospital’s relocated facility, which includes a cancer treatment center.

Direct Relief continues to provide humanitarian support to Gaza and regionally. So far in 2024, Direct Relief has provided more than $255 million in requested aid across the region, including to Egypt, Gaza, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, West Bank, and Yemen.

California Free Clinics Convene at Direct Relief

Representatives from more than 33 free clinics across the state of California convened this week at Direct Relief.

The California Association of Free and Charitable Clinics Annual Conference and Membership meeting met in Direct Relief’s Hatch Hall on Friday morning, kicking off a two-day conference, covering topics including sustainable funding strategies, legal and policy issues, and the current landscape in the state for free and charitable medical care.

Direct Relief staff welcomed the clinic representatives, briefing attendees on the history of the organization, Direct Relief’s work to support free clinics in the state during wildfires, floods, and the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as product support available for request.

Since 2008, Direct Relief has supported 71 free and charitable clinics throughout California with more than $30 million worth of medicines and medical supplies. Fifteen clinics across the state have also received $1.29 million in cash grants to support programs focused on health equity and mental health.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 445 shipments containing 1.8M doses of medication during the past seven days to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 1.7M defined daily doses of medication totaling 22,179 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 20.3K shipments to 2,269 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 88 countries. These shipments contained 349.5M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.4B (wholesale) and totaled 4.3M lbs.

In the News

After Hurricane Helene, Pop-Up Microgrids Powered Medical Clinics, Water Generators, Communications Equipment, and Other Critical Resources – Microgrid Knowledge

Familiar with disaster, New Orleans-area residents step up to help after Hurricanes Helene, Milton – NOLA.com

As Hurricane Milton hits Florida, how New Yorkers can help loved ones in harm’s way – CBS News

Hurricane Milton: How to donate, receive help in Palm Beach County – The Palm Beach Post

This San Diego Health Center Offers Patients a Career Focused on Community – Angels in Medicine

Solon Schools’ Comet Care initiative seeks to provide relief for hurricane victims – Cleveland.com

Amid Haiti Turmoil, Direct Relief and Partners Test New Pathways for Insulin Donations – Angels in Medicine

The post After Hurricanes, Mobile Medicine Meets Patients Where They Are appeared first on Direct Relief.

The two severe storms, with Milton following almost immediately on Helene’s heels, created urgent, widespread health needs across the southeastern United States. Both hurricanes hit a number of the same vulnerable communities, compounding their impacts.

These Direct Relief grants provide $25,000 to individual health centers, charitable clinics, and other nonprofit providers responding to these crises. Their purpose is to keep health care services accessible to low-income patients affected by these disasters, helping to minimize the deadly long-term impacts of hurricanes.

“In times of crisis, it’s often the compassion of total strangers that reminds us of the strength and resilience of our shared humanity,” wrote Blue Ridge Community Health Services, a grant recipient. Direct Relief also supported the North Carolina health center’s response to Helene with field medic packs, hygiene kits, tetanus vaccines, and other material aid. “Our patients experienced not just relief but the knowledge that people — often from many, many miles and states way — cared enough to offer help in their most difficult moments.”

Helene’s brutal track left damaged roads and devastated towns in in its wake, including areas of western North Carolina thought to be comparatively safe from storm threats. Flooding, power and water loss, and inaccessible roads made it difficult for people to receive emergency health care, access vital medications, or even drink clean water. Because health centers and other nonprofit health providers were contending with damaged facilities, displaced staff members, and a lack of access to reliable power or clean water, their own ability to respond was compromised, exacerbating the crisis.

While Milton’s scale and power were lesser than feared, the storm’s impact was considerable, and worsened by its path over a number of already hard-hit Florida communities. Power outages and severe flooding were widespread; unexpected tornadoes caused deaths and damage. Doctors and emergency responders encountered acute medical situations in devastated mobile and senior communities like Spanish Lakes.

These emergency grants enable community health providers to respond to increased needs caused by natural disasters, while quickly restoring continuity of care for vulnerable patients. Funding will cover the cost of critical supplies, staffing, repairs, and other necessities. As nonprofit health organizations prepare to care for patients with physical trauma, worsened chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes, mental health concerns, interrupted prenatal services, and other long-term disaster impacts, the grants will support their on-the-ground work.

The grant recipient organizations are:

• Appalachian District Health Department, Sparta, NC
• Appalachian Mountain Community Health Centers, Asheville, NC
• Blue Ridge Community Health Services, Hendersonville, NC
• CenterPlace Health, Sarasota, FL
• Cherokee Health Systems, Talbott, TN
• Community Care Clinic of Rowan County, Salisbury, NC
• Evara Health, Clearwater, FL
• Family Health Source, Deland, FL
• Gaston Family Health Services, Gastonia, NC
• Good Samaritan Clinic, Morganton, NC
• High Country Community Health, Boone, NC
• Hot Springs Health Program, Marshall, NC
• Langley Health Services, Sumterville, FL
• MCR Health, Bradenton, FL
• Mountain Area Health Education Center, Ashevile, NC
• Mountain Community Health Partnership, Bakersville, NC
• NC MedAssist, Charlotte, NC
• Oceana Community Health, Boynton Beach, FL
• Palms Medical Group, High Springs, FL
• Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, Raleigh, NC
• Premier Community HealthCare, Dade City, FL
• Rural Medical Systems, Inc., Newport, TN
• Suncoast Community Health Centers, Brandon, FL
• Tampa Family Health Centers, Tampa, FL
• Treasure Coast Community Health, Vero Beach, FL
• Vecinos, Inc., Cullowhee, NC
• West Caldwell Health Council, Collettsville, NC
• Western North Carolina Community Health Services, Asheville, NC

Direct Relief’s emergency grant funding is part of a broad disaster response, which includes the provision of material aid such as first aid supplies and essential medicines; kits designed for disaster preparedness and in-the-field care; nutrition and hydration support; the outfitting of mobile clinics designed for emergency efforts; and long-term collaborations with community health partners focused on resilience and recovery.

In the aftermath of Helene and Milton, Direct Relief has provided more than $3.3 million in immediate material aid to providers in affected states, a number that does not include grant funding or long-term preparedness measures such as mobile vehicle purchases or the pre-season staging of Hurricane Preparedness Packs.

Direct Relief remains committed to supporting health centers, free clinics, and charitable pharmacies in providing uninterrupted care as recovery efforts continue.

Licensed to distribute prescription medications nationwide, including in North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee, Direct Relief runs the country’s largest nonprofit charitable medicines program, providing both routine and emergency medical support for low-income patients at more than 1,600 community health care organizations.

The post 28 Local Health Providers Awarded $700K for Hurricane Helene and Milton Recovery Efforts appeared first on Direct Relief.