All Hands and Hearts Monthly Update - Puerto Rico (July)

PUERTO RICO HURRICANE UPDATE - YABUCOA, BARRANQUITAS, & TOA BAJA (JULY 2018) DISASTER PROFILE On September 20th, 2017 Hurricane Maria’s 155 mph winds plowed through the island of Puerto Rico. The eye of Hurricane Maria passed right over the municipality of Yabucoa, affecting the 37,000 residents who call it home. This area bore the strongest brunt of the storm. Homes are missing roofs and walls, and it is estimated two-thirds of the city is still without power. The mountain municipality of Barranquitas, in the center of the island, was nearly inaccessible due to landslides. The roughly 30,000 residents have seen a great need for roofing repair and mold sanitation in the area. Hurricane Maria was the worst natural disaster on record on the island.

OUR RESPONSE Thanks to critical support from partners like Medtronic and The Radcliffe Foundation, donors, local community, and volunteers from around the world, All Hands and Hearts - Smart Response has run an impactful program since January 13th, 2018. Our work in Yabucoa and neighboring Humacao includes mucking and gutting, mold sanitation, roof repair and critical home repairs.

We are also focusing on community spaces in need of clean up/repair and will be alongside the community on the long road to recovery. AHAH has had a program in Barranquitas since January 24th, 2018. Our work in Barranquitas originally included mucking/gutting and debris removal, but has shifted focus to meet the overwhelming need for resilient roofing rebuilds and mold sanitation.

CURRENT ACTIVITIES (RECOVERY PHASE) As we continue our response work (mucking, gutting and sanitizing) in the neighboring town of Toa Baja, we have begun roofing repairs in Barranquitas, thanks to support from donors such as The Miami Foundation. We have also begun roof repairs, critical repairs and clean up on baseball fields and playgrounds in Yabucoa. Volunteers travel to job sites each morning and attend a nightly meeting recapping the day. With anywhere from 50 - 70 volunteers on base at one time, over 36 nationalities have been represented since January. We have made a long-term commitment to help Puerto Rico recover, and our work is just beginning.

Volunteer Jake instatalls rafters bringing the fame work of the new roof to life. See a video highlighting our resilient roofing model here.

Volunteer team works to fill in the craters of missing concrete sections in order to create a smooth flat surface before sealing it.

OUR IMPACT

3,424

PEOPLE ASSISTED

611

JOBS COMPLETED

1,212

VOLUNTEERS

11,978

VOLUNTEER DAYS

VOLUNTEER VOICES “I will be forever grateful to All Hands and Hearts for my experiences as a volunteer. Besides the ability to help my mother’s community recover from the natural disaster, I unexpectedly gained something else: a new community. All Hands is the most diverse and inclusive group of people I’ve ever been a part of. The organization attracts people from all walks of life, all corners of the globe, all socioeconomic classes, and all different philosophies, mindsets, and religions. I found myself forming close bonds with people I would never have otherwise met.” - volunteer Brandy Soublet. Read more about Brandy’s story and experience here.

HOMEOWNER HIGHLIGHTS “It was terrible, we had two hurricanes at the same time, and Maria impacted all of Puerto Rico, and my mom’s house was not an exception. I looked for help, everybody was very busy, or had limited resources. That’s when I was lucky and found the team of All Hands and Hearts. I spoke with them and told them my mom’s situation, and they didn’t doubt they could help me. [...] they tarred [sic] down the structure, they cleaned up all the material, all the debris, so that wouldn’t present a hazard for my mom. By that time it was very emotional, and very good to know, that there’s still people from different parts of the world, and that are a part of this organization that are willing to help. It caused me an impact in seeing how they put all their soul, their life, their heart. [...] We are very grateful, my mom and myself. “ - Rosita Griffith-Cedeno

OUR MISSION To effectively and efficiently address the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters.

By listening to local people, and deploying a unique model of engaging volunteers to enable direct impact, we rebuild safe, resilient schools, homes and other community infrastructure.

OUR PARTNERS

4 YEARS IN A ROW! Only 13% of charities have received at least 4 consecutive 4-star ratings. This means All Hands and Hearts outperforms most of the other 1.5 million charities in America in operational and financial efficiency.

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For additional information: Rebecca Connelly, Partnership Manager rebecca.c@allhandsandhearts.org or (508) 965-0787 www.allhandsandhearts.org