Response
World Cares Center responds to disasters, including the 2021 Haitian earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic. Now more than ever, these communities need support from people like you to help their recovery and ensure our ready responders can stay safe while serving disaster survivors.
Disaster Response
World Cares Center deploys to disaster-stricken areas upon request and in support of grassroots community groups in need of additional support to manage their local response. WCC works beside local partners providing training, medical clinics, resiliency workshops, and supplies. Once the relationship is established, these partners and their volunteers are provided a train-the-trainer program that results in the community being able to maintain the programs long into the recovery process.
Below is a timeline of WCC’s current and past responses.
Ukraine Deployment
World Cares Center deployed to Ukraine in the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024 to conduct Medical Clinics and Resiliency Workshops with families and children in the resettlement villages. Partnering with Barnova27 and several local groups, our team treated over 1,000 refugees in resettlement villages and shelters. World Cares Center’s Resiliency Workshops helped families and children cope with the trauma of war and displacement. Through our train-the-trainer program, this effort is expanding through local NGO’s.
Hope, Love, Courage for Caregivers & Youth Workbook
“The grinding conflict in eastern Ukraine is increasingly affecting the mental health of boys and girls, causing nightmares, social isolation and panic attacks.” – The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
With two decades of experience working in disaster-impacted communities, World Cares Center (WCC) and its team of experts in emotional resilience, mental health and art therapy are creating a guidebook for caregivers paired with a coloring book for children from preschool to 11 years old and a guided journal for older youths. WCC first published and distributed healing coloring books during the 9/11 relief effort, and it was subsequently translated into several languages to help child survivors manage their trauma and grief.
World Cares Center distributes the workbooks and art supplies to the children of Ukraine inside the country as well as in schools and libraries throughout New York City, thanks to the NY Immigration Coalition.
Within days of the pandemic’s beginning, WCC developed and launched four new COVID-19 trainings in English and in Spanish. We began distributing N95 respirators to frontline responders, including nurses, doctors, firefighters, and volunteers, and then purchased additional PPE to ensure that we could continue to keep responders safe until government stockpiles were filled. We continue to distribute PPE, as well as offer trainings and conducting roundtables, so that everyone can access resources.
In response to this 2017 disaster, and upon the request of the Puerto Rico Department of Health, WCC immediately deployed to provide guidance and senior management in setting up the public health response for volunteer coordination/reception centers (VRC) across the island.
A VRC is a hub where volunteers of all kinds are registered, trained, and matched with agencies in need as well as deployed in teams directly from the VRC to serve the community. During our initial deployment, WCC coordinated with partners including Universidad Metropolitana and IMPACTIVO.
WCC has also provided training to volunteer groups in the tristate area who are deploying to the impacted territories. The training focused on safe and effective flood response, and all participating trainees have been given personal protective equipment to remain safe in their efforts.
WCC deployed to Texas in 2017 as part of the NIEHS-affiliated New York/New Jersey Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program Harvey Response team, delivering hazard identification and disaster response training to VOAD members and faith-based groups in Rockport, Refugio, and Bellaire.
World Cares Center has been actively involved in providing aid to the Caribbean nation of Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. We have worked with the people of Haiti as they struggled to recover against insurmountable obstacles after two major earthquakes and hurricanes.
Aside from providing immediate supplies such as food and clothing, WCC has focused on the much larger initiative of bringing disaster preparedness, disaster management training, cholera prevention training, family water purification filters, and much more by building the capacity of the community to receive and distribute these items. We are often the only outside responders in hard-to-reach communities, conducting outreach, identifying local leaders, providing training, and then supporting them in distributing supplies.
Timeline
January 12, 2010
A catastrophic magnitude-7 earthquake strikes Haiti with the epicenter 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince. Death toll estimates are well over 100,000 with more than a million left homeless.
Within two weeks, WCC deploys and begins training Haitian community leaders from Les Anglais to Citi Soliel. WCC works with locals to set up and manage community resource centers. This first team of WCC-trained local responders continues to serve their communities.
WCC returns to the U.S. and organizes clothing and supply drives as well as medical deployments to Haiti.
October 4, 2016
Hurricane Matthew strikes Haiti, leaving a trail of destruction across the island nation. The hurricane causes loss of life, extensive flooding and mudslides, damage to critical infrastructure, and devastation to agriculture and other sources of livelihood.
WCC deploys a team to return to the region of Jeremie in the aftermath of the storm. With the help of the original Haiti (Ayiti) team, WCC trains 80 local leaders in disaster response and distribution management. WCC supports local leaders and responders as they organize their community, establish distribution locations and prioritize the neediest. With the help of WCC training, the local leaders quickly devise and organize a ticket distribution system, which results in over 400 hygiene kits being delivered directly to survivors.
January 2017
WCC receives a grant through Peace Boat to fund a return mission to Jeremie. Working with the same community leaders from the first mission, WCC provides cholera prevention training and delivers 750 family water filters, which will provide clean, cholera-free water to over 10,400 individuals. WCC finds the Haiti team that was trained on the first visit has grown even more dedicated to the WCC mission of empowering communities.
August 2021
A 7.2 earthquake hits the island, causing devastation across the country. Rescue efforts to find people who could be trapped under the rubble are delayed due to Hurricane Grace, which adds to the disaster. The WCC Haitian team has been on-site conducting assessments to determine what supplies are needed to assist in the recovery.
Superstorm Sandy – 2012
World Cares Center, well prepared due to its Hurricane Irene response, opened three volunteer reception centers in Brooklyn, Far Rockaway, and Staten Island, managing spontaneous volunteers who mucked and gutted over 500 homes in preparing them for a rebuild. WCC also trained over 1,700 volunteers in flood safety and response.
January 12, 2010
A catastrophic magnitude 7 earthquake strikes Haiti with the epicenter approximately 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince. Death toll estimates are well over 100,000 with over a million left homeless.
Within two weeks, WCC deploys and begins training Haitian community leaders from Les Anglais to Citi Soliel. WCC works with locals to set up and manage community resource centers. This first team of WCC trained local responders – WCC Ayiti (Haiti in Haitian Creole) continues to serve their communities.
WCC returns to the US and organizes clothing and supply drives as well as medical deployments to Haiti.
October 4, 2016
Hurricane Matthew strikes Haiti, leaving a trail of destruction across the island nation. The hurricane causes loss of life, extensive flooding and mudslides, damage to critical infrastructure, and devastation to agriculture and other sources of livelihood.
WCC deploys a team to return to the region of Jeremie, Haiti in the aftermath of the storm. With the help of the original Haiti (Ayiti) team, WCC trains 80 local leaders in disaster response and distribution management. WCC supports local leaders and responders as they organize their community, establish distribution locations and prioritize the neediest. With the help of WCC training, the local leaders quickly devise and organize a ticket distribution system which results in over 400 hygiene kits being delivered directly to survivors.
January 2017
WCC receives a grant through Peace Boat to fund a return mission to Jeremie. Working with the same community leaders from the first mission, WCC provides cholera prevention training and delivers 750 family water filters which will provide clean, cholera-free water to over 10,400 individuals. WCC finds the Haiti team that was trained on the first visit has grown even more dedicated to the WCC mission of empowering communities.
August 2021
7.2 earthquake hits the island causing devastation across the country. Rescue efforts to find people who could be trapped under the rubble were delayed due to Hurricane Grace which also added to the disaster. WCC Haitian team has been on-site conducting assessments to determine what supplies are needed to assist in the recovery.
Superstorm Sandy – 2012
World Cares Center, well prepared due to its Hurricane Irene response, opened three volunteer reception centers in Brooklyn, Far Rockaway, and Staten Island managing spontaneous volunteers who mucked and gutted over 500 homes preparing them for a rebuild. WCC also trained over 1700 volunteers in Flood Safety and Response.
Hurricane Irene – 2011
WCC led the coordination of volunteer groups, providing muck-and-gut services across New Jersey. Working with NJ211, New Jersey State Police, NJ VOAD, and dozens of volunteer groups, WCC managed over 1,200 requests for support. This response led to the WCC Flood Response Training, co-developed with the Southern Baptists Response Team.
New York City Earthquake
Though little damage occurred, this event was reminiscent of the 9/11 attacks. Building managers had not prepared for an earthquake, and mixed messages added to the fear. WCC quickly responded by launching earthquake safety training for facility managers.
In concert with the University of New Orleans and FEMA, World Cares Center assisted in local volunteer management and the development of Welcome Home Centers.
World Cares Center transformed the September Space Community Resilience Center into a temporary shelter and call center for stranded individuals in the NYC area.
World Cares Center emerged during the relief effort after the attack. One of its first programs was the September Space Community Resilience Center, which was set up to serve as a healing space for volunteers and emergency responders. From 2001-07, September Space offered a holistic menu of supportive and healing services that served over 45,000 responders, volunteers, survivors, and family members.
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