Our work
Before, during and long after the storm
Six programs that work as one. We prepare before the season, respond within hours, and stay with families until they are home.
One response, four phases
-
Before
Prepare
Warehouses stocked, trailers packed, local volunteers trained.
-
First days
Respond
Shelter, food, water and first aid within hours of a request.
-
First weeks
Relieve
Health checks, replaced medications and steady support.
-
Up to a year
Rebuild
Clean-up, repairs and a caseworker until families are home.
Programs
What we do, program by program
-
Respond
Emergency shelter
We open shelters in community halls, schools and arenas within hours, with cots, blankets, meals and people who know your name.
- Cots, blankets, pillows and privacy screens for every person
- Family areas so parents and children stay together
- Accessible sleeping spaces and quiet rooms
-
Respond
Food and water
We bring drinking water to cut-off roads, cook hot meals with local kitchens, and hand out grocery cards when stores reopen.
- Bottled and bulk drinking water, delivered to shelters and rural roads
- Hot meals cooked with local kitchens and caterers
- Halal, kosher, vegetarian and allergy-safe options on request
-
Relieve
First aid and health
Nurses and first aiders staff every shelter, replace lost medications and glasses, and visit people who stay home.
- First aid stations staffed by trained responders
- Help replacing lost prescriptions, glasses and hearing aid batteries
- Nurse check-ins for older adults and people with health conditions
-
Rebuild
Rebuilding homes
Volunteer crews muck out and dry homes, licensed trades lead repairs, and repair grants help families who are underinsured.
- Free clean-up kits: gloves, masks, buckets, bleach and tarps
- Muck-out and drying crews, with dehumidifiers on loan
- Damage assessments with a written list of what's needed
-
Prepare
Preparedness
We stock four warehouses before each season, train local shelter teams, and help households build their own go-kits.
- Seasonal restocking of shelter, water, hygiene and first aid supplies
- Shelter operations training for local volunteers
- First aid and psychological first aid courses
-
Rebuild
Recovery support
Caseworkers help each family make a recovery plan, sort out insurance and government help, and get financial support for the gaps.
- A written recovery plan for each household
- Help with insurance claims and government relief programs
- Prepaid cards for urgent costs like rent, fuel and clothing
How we work
Five rules we don't bend
They decide where we go, who we hire and how we tell the story afterwards.
- Dignity first
- People affected by disaster are neighbours leading their own recovery. We ask before we photograph, and we never use pain to raise money.
- Local first
- We work through local groups, hire local kitchens and buy local where we can. We arrive as guests.
- Ready before the storm
- Most of our speed is decided months earlier, on a warehouse shelf.
- Stay for the rebuild
- We measure success by families back home, not by how fast we leave.
- Show the math
- Every dollar is tracked and reported, in plain words, every year.
Give where it helps most
One gift can reach every phase.
Gifts to where it is needed most move between programs as a response changes: shelter in the first week, repairs in the third month.
Prefer a steady gift? See monthly giving. Every gift gets a receipt.