CARE has established the Hurricane Irma Emergency Response Fund, with a $1 million initial goal to support our humanitarian response and work with partners to provide immediate relief and longer-term rehabilitation in the most affected areas. Your gift will help us address the needs of the most vulnerable families.
CARE's advance teams are reporting significant damage to houses, infrastructure, crops, and water and sanitation systems. Of particular concern is massive displacement and the threat of waterborne diseases including cholera, as has happened before in Haiti following natural disasters. CARE emergency teams were on the ground in advance of the hurricane in Cuba and Haiti where we have existing programs, and are working with authorities to support the humanitarian response.
Similar to CARE's response to Hurricane Sandy (2012) and Hurricane Matthew (2016), we plan to focus initially on the provision of basic non-food items (mattresses, sheets and towels) and water and sanitation (water purification, tanks and pails, soap, etc.) focusing on women-headed households, families with members who are handicapped and the elderly, then shift to assist communities and families reconstruct their homes (roofing and construction materials).
This fund will also support the long-term rehabilitation efforts on the ground. As the first stage emergency response is completed, CARE will transition to provide more durable solutions, allowing families to rebuild their homes, infrastructure and lives. CARE will continue working to build local capacity and address the roots of vulnerability and poverty.
This project has provided additional documentation in a DOCX file (projdoc.docx).
