On February 6, 2023, devastating earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria, reshaping entire cities in a matter of minutes. Today, nearly three years later, recovery is still unfolding.

As local organizations worked through the aftershocks–both physical and emotional–needs continued to surface and shift. The cameras may have left, but community organizations stayed. They moved with grace from lifesaving care to the slower, more deliberate work of rebuilding schools, homes, jobs, and mending the cultural fabric of the community itself.

Still, recovery is not a straight line.

A few months ago, I traveled through communities at the Turkish-Syrian border affected by the earthquake to connect with some of the organizations at the heart of this work. What I saw was sobering.

Construction crews still dot the landscape. Thousands of families remain displaced, many living in converted storage units and temporary settlements.

In Syria, families displaced repeatedly by parallel crises of conflict, unrest, and the earthquakes continue to shelter in makeshift accommodations with limited services. Livelihoods are fragile, and educational opportunities remain inconsistent, with children and families continuing to feel the strain.

It was a stark reminder: recovery is a long road without shortcuts. And in both Turkey and Syria, that road is still being paved.

And yet, communities are rebuilding.

Local organizations are stepping in to rebuild community systems and push for essential services with limited resources as political instability compounds in northern Syria.

Reconstruction in Hatay, Turkey.

Local leaders continue showing up each day—reopening clinics, organizing classrooms, distributing winter kits.

New spaces for healing are opening inside damaged neighborhoods. Mobile clinics are reaching families in remote and unstable areas.

Winter kits are protecting children from harsh weather. Music rooms are filled with sound and laughter again.

I got to see some of this work in action while spending time with SEDYAD (Serinyol Elele Dayanisma Dernegi), an organization formed from within Turkish earthquake-affected communities to offer daily music lessons and safe spaces for impacted children and adults.

From my visit inside the beautiful SEDYAD Music House, which brings earthquake-affected communities in Hatay together through music.

I spent time in those music rooms filled with sound and laughter, and saw firsthand how joy, hope, and creativity continue to illuminate the path of resilience for attendees. I watched as students whose entire young lives have been uprooted joined together in community and shared their music—beautiful pieces that reflected the honored traditions of the region and the resilience of past, present, and future.

Together, communities in Turkey and Syria are finding strength in one another and carving a path forward – one that honors what was lost while investing in their shared future.

That shared future has been proudly supported by the Turkey and Syria Earthquake Relief Fund. The fund has supported 53 of community-based organizations in the region through flexible, relationship-centered support – meaning local leaders can flexibly mobilize funds to adapt to their community’s changing needs well into recovery and preparedness.

This support also means that organizations like Space of Peace, a Syrian, women-led organization distributing winter kits, can continue delivering safety and warmth to female-headed households, including widows, orphans, families, and children with disabilities – providing emergency relief to those affected by compounding crises amid a moment of tremendous change and instability in Syria.

It also meant that SEMA (Syrian Expatriates Medical Association), a Syrian doctor and expatriates operating six mobile clinics across Syria’s hardest-hit regions could receive flexible funds to provide free medical care and nutritional support for pregnant and nursing women and children.

Recovery in Turkey and Syria does not belong to one organization. It has unfolded through many locally-led efforts: medical teams, women-led initiatives, grassroots associations—each rebuilding in their own communities.

The Turkey and Syria Earthquake Relief Fund has helped channel resources to these efforts, allowing each organization to respond in the ways they know best.

It’s an honor to work with these local organizations and leaders helping communities get the support they need—not just in the immediate aftermath, but for the years it takes to rebuild lives. With your continued support, we can keep showing up for the people who are still repairing, still recovering, still hoping.