By Lauren Rutledge | Senior Manager
When Hurricane Helene devastated the southern Appalachian region of the United States in September 2024, Americares deployed a response team immediately to coordinate deliveries of medicine, supplies, water and mental health support.
Even before the storm, many local health organizations were benefiting from long-term partnerships with Americares. In South Carolina, Greenville Free Clinic’s Executive Director, Suzie Foley had Americares Climate Resilience for Frontline Clinics Toolkit in hand when her clinic lost power in the storm. “Boy, did we see that [the toolkit] had paid off when we were able to quickly and immediately put into place a plan that helped salvage a quarter-million-dollars-worth of insulin and vaccines,” Foley says. She moved the medicine to a nearby hospital powered by emergency generators.
One-hundred-fifty miles away, Kathy Christian, executive director at the Church Hill Medical Mission in Church Hill, Tennessee, was receiving texts about urgent needs in her community, when she opened an email from Americares with list of relief items on offer. “Our clinic has been partnering with Americares for years to provide free medication and supplies to our uninsured patients,” says Christian. “What we didn’t realize was the extent of what Americares could provide in a disaster. Americares support is not just life-changing. It is lifesaving!”
Americares, there for the long run
Americares support continues as communities recover and rebuild. Local health centers still need help, and lingering trauma affects many survivors. Americares recovery programs focus on building resilience among clinics serving low-income, uninsured and under-insured patients.
One key activity Americares is providing is mental health training and psychosocial support sessions for staff, with one-on-one follow-ups if needed. Thirteen clinics in three states are participating.
“We felt seen when Americares reached out to see how they could offer support,” says Mountain Community Health Partnership Co-Interim Behavioral Director Tiffany English, who welcomes the training and support. “I do see our connection and participation with Americares as a means of promoting resiliency among staff and in our communities.”
Hannah is now a peer educator at Mountain Community Health Partnerships. She and her family received behavioral health therapy services from the clinic, and Hannah can now help others in her situation.
“To me, the mountains are home,” Hannah says. “Even though I don’t have a home right now, it’s still in the beauty of the mountains.”
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
