Grants, Material Aid Flow to Partners Impacted by Fires
December 28, 2007
As the fires that burned more than 516,000 acres and displaced 880,000 residents in Southern California have subsided, Direct Relief has continued to support clinics treating patients throughout the region, with an emphasis on San Diego County.
Since the initial outbreak of the fires in late October, Direct Relief has distributed 71 relief shipments – including over 80,000 masks that were distributed to local residents and emergency personnel – valued at $1.4 million (wholesale). All of these shipments contained materials specifically requested by first responders and area medical clinics.
To date, Direct Relief has received more than $600,000 to assist relief and recovery efforts from many generous individuals, groups, and corporate donors. As announced in November, the organization plans to use the portion of these funds not needed to support its response for targeted cash grants.
On December 19, Direct Relief presented $400,000 to the Council of Community Clinics on behalf of their 17 San Diego County member clinics for the outstanding services they provided during the wildfires. You can read the full press release announcing the grant here.
As 2008 begins, Direct Relief will remain committed to ensuring that any material needs these clinics are still experiencing will be met with either material aid or further grants.
Direct Relief Continues to Respond to Partners in Need
November 12, 2007
Since the outbreak of the Southern California Wildfires three weeks ago, Direct Relief has been active in emergency assistance efforts, coordinating with local clinics and health centers, state and county emergency-response agencies, and firefighters to help ensure access to any needed medicines and medical supplies.
Thus far, Direct Relief has distributed 44 relief shipments – including the distribution of over 80,000 masks to local residents and emergency personnel – all of which was specifically requested and valued at close to $900,000 (wholesale).
The first shipments to safety-net clinics experiencing increased patient volumes were sent Monday, October 22nd and will continue into November. Initially connecting with pre-existing relationships, Direct Relief’s support widened after reports on the number of evacuees rose as high as 800,000. Direct Relief coordinated with various relief agencies serving displaced populations, including, the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services, the American Red Cross, and the YMCA. In addition, Direct Relief connected with CalFire and San Diego Fire and Rescue to support firefighters.
Requested emergency medical material was related to health risks caused by the fires, including inhalers for people experiencing respiratory problems, as well as personal care items for evacuees and patients seeking care at the regions nonprofit clinics.
Thanks to generous individuals, groups, and corporate donors, we have received commitments for more than $350,000 in cash donations to aid these programmatic efforts.
As the fires subside, the recovery will bring its own challenges. Direct Relief’s primary concern is assisting the low-income people who typically are hit hardest by emergencies because they have the least ability to absorb the financial setbacks that result. Direct Relief will work to ensure that the nonprofit community clinics and health centers are able to maintain services for low-income people who rely on them for care. The clinics themselves have experienced increased work and decreased income that they have no cushion to cover.
Any cash donations will be directed to provide safety-net clinics and health centers with material and financial support to cover structural impact, unbudgeted increases in patient visits, supply usage, staff costs, and decreased revenue incurred during the emergency.
If you would like to support these efforts, you can designate a gift on our online contribution page.
Due to a recent bequest, Direct Relief pays for all of its own overhead administrative and fundraising expenses. 100% of all donations we receive are applied only for programmatic expenses, and any funds we receive that are designated for the fires will be used only for programmatic efforts in the fire-affected region.
Because of the outpouring of generosity for this event, we again feel it’s important to explain how we view the use of restricted funds:
- We will not use these funds to pay the salaries of any existing staff members, even those working on the fire, or any other previously budgeted expense because that is why we raise general funds.
- We understand that restricted funds are restricted funds, and we will honor that restriction and use the money only to pay for additional expenses related to our support in the fire-affected region.
As was the case before the Fires, Direct Relief will continue to support clinics providing services to low-income uninsured patients. Information on Direct Relief’s domestic efforts can be found here. Below is a listing of the organizations that received support from Direct Relief.
Safety-Net Clinic Partners:
Agencies Serving Evacuees:
Direct Relief Distributes Additional Supplies, Plans Cash Grants for Affected Clinics
October 26, 2007
Staff members Damon Taugher and Brett Williams met Thursday in San Diego with the chief logisticians for CalFire and San Diego Fire and Rescue, picked up Johnson & Johnson-donated material at the Navy Yard, and spent the day delivering surgical masks, inhalers, wheelchairs, and personal care supplies today at shelters and clinics in the area.
San Diego Fire and Rescue today distributed over 40,000 of the masks delivered yesterday to local residents and emergency personnel. From our warehouse in Santa Barbara, an additional eight emergency-supply shipments were trucked to clinics in the fire-affected region, bringing to 16 the number of specific orders filled in the past three days.
Taugher and Williams reported that the Qualcomm Stadium evacuation site is planned to be closed down Friday, as will roughly half of the 40 to 45 shelters in the region that had been opened earlier this week. The team supplied the following sites yesterday:
- Mid-City Community Clinic in City Heights, San Diego
- Mountain Health and Community Services, Campo, CA. Mountain Health is 13 miles from the Harris fire and has been operating a shelter, a 24-hour medical clinic, conducting home visits to residents unable to evacuate, feeding shelter residents, and has been forced to operate on generator power due to downed power lines. The clinic is among the nearly 100 clinics that Direct Relief supports on an ongoing basis and to which a $10,000 cash grant was provided following the 2003 fires in the area.
- YMCA shelters via the main distribution center and directly at the YMCA shelter in Imperial Beach
In addition to aid delivered personally by Taugher and Williams in Direct Relief’s equipment, Direct Relief’s main warehouse in Santa Barbara completed another three emergency orders of specifically requested material. The combined material aid is worth $380,264 (wholesale).
With the closure of shelters, Direct Relief will continue to identify specific needs at medical clinics and direct aid on an as-needed, specific-request basis. Our warehouse headquarter’s proximity to the fire-affected region allows orders to be supplied within hours. This also will avoid a commonly occurring problem in emergency relief efforts that stems from large volumes of aid material arriving in the theater of operations and attempting to manage warehousing, inventory, and distribution through makeshift processes.
Corporate and Individual Donors Respond. We were notified Thursday by several companies that they would be directing cash contributions to Direct Relief to assist with our clinic support efforts in the fire-affected region. We are extremely grateful to these companies for their generous contributions, as well as to the individuals who have entrusted us with their resources to help those affected by the fires.
In addition, several product donor companies have informed us that they would either send additional product or fill specific requests we present to them from clinics.
How We Will Use Cash. Consistent with past practices and Direct Relief policy, contributions received for the fires will be applied entirely to fire-relief and recovery activities. 100 percent of funds we receive for the fires will be spent on directly related activities, with no deduction for administrative expenses, fundraising expenses (none of which have been incurred), or to pay salaries of existing staff members that have been deployed to the fire-response effort.
With the proceeds of a bequest received last year, Direct Relief now pays all its own organization’s overhead administrative and fundraising expenses.
Because the product needs are being largely met with existing or incoming inventory and transport costs are being fulfilled by FedEx, we expect that our cash expenses for our core activities will remain very modest. Therefore we intend to use the cash to assist the nonprofit clinics in the areas that have experienced unbudgeted increases in patient visits, supply usage, staff costs and decreased revenue in connection with the nearly weeklong emergency.
These clinics operate typically on a one percent or less margin, so our aim is to ensure they can maintain their service levels to working poor, uninsured patients as the immediate emergency subsides. The loss of a week’s wages for many low-income service workers or agricultural workers is not something Direct Relief can address, but investing cash grants into the clinics that serve those who have the least ability to absorb a financial interruption makes the most sense.
This is the same approach we took in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with funds that we received and did not need to finance our medical assistance program, and it worked well to infuse financial resources directly into the frontline health clinics serving people in the affected region.
Direct Relief Officials Deliver Supplies, Assess Short- and Long-Term Needs
October 24, 2007
Emergency Response Coordinator Brett Williams and Director of Domestic Initiatives Damon Taugher today delivered particulate masks, wheelchairs, eye wash, inhalers, and other specifically requested supplies to evacuation sites and clinics in San Diego County and to the San Diego Fire and Rescue command site. They shared the following brief report early this evening.
“The fires remain severe, causing massive evacuations, tremendous property loss, and economic disruption. The good news, such as it is, is that the immediate medical needs at shelters appear well met, and first responders are doing a tremendous job and making progress, assisted by slightly more cooperative weather.
Qualcomm Stadium, the main evacuation shelter in San Diego, has approximately 10,000 evacuees today, a significant increase from the previous day. The situation appeared very well managed, with plenty of food, water, and blankets. The attitude was positive, but all the evacuees are hoping to return to their homes as soon as possible.
We also delivered supplies that had been requested at smaller shelters, including the Poway Evacuation Center and the Del Mar Race Track Fairgrounds, and clinics including the San Ysidro Health Center. They all reported increased loads of evacuees, but none so large as to be unmanageable at this stage.
We spent time with regional clinic staff, and they shared concerns about the fallout on clinics due to increased numbers of patients, increased use of supplies, and generally increased expenses that were not anticipated. These added costs, combined in some cases with a loss of income from closures or evacuations, will present some financial challenge as the crisis subsides. The concern, since these clinics operate on roughly a one percent margin, is that the key safety-net role they play for uninsured people may be compromised as time passes.”
Direct Relief has arranged another eight shipments of supplies tomorrow in response to requests from San Diego-region clinics and health facilities. We will continue to assess the evolving needs and work with corporate donors, several of which have offered assistance, to respond to specific requests that emerge.
Direct Relief has received some financial contributions designated for the fire relief effort and plans to use these funds to make cash grants to community clinics, health centers, and other health-service organizations in the affected region to ensure they are able to maintain their service levels for low-income, uninsured patients.
Fire Response Aims at Health Concerns
October 23, 2007
Direct Relief International today increased its support of emergency medical supplies to safety-net clinics and has extended offers of assistance to regional hospitals in Southern California, where uncontained fires have forced 500,000 people to evacuate their homes.
The organization has supplied 11 community clinics with inhalers, particulate masks, and nebulizers to treat patients experiencing respiratory difficulties from the smoke, ash, and dust kicked up by gusting Santa Ana winds. Direct Relief also is providing personal care items for use by evacuees.
Direct Relief has been in direct contact with more than 50 regional safety-net clinics since Sunday and is coordinating response efforts with clinic staff, regional clinic associations, the statewide California Primary Care Association, the University of California, and county and state emergency response and medical officials.
The six clinics supplied today with specifically requested medical items are:
- Imperial Beach Health Center, Imperial Beach
- Neighborhood Health Care, Escondido
- OCRM/Orange County Rescue Mission, Santa Ana
- San Ysidro Health Center, San Ysidro
- San Diego Mid-City Clinic, San Diego
- Vista Community Clinic, Vista
- Nma Comprehensive Health Center, San Diego
CVS recently donated N-95 particulate masks to Direct Relief, and approximately 80,000 masks will be delivered tomorrow to San Diego Fire and Rescue which requested the masks and is helping to coordinate efforts in San Diego County.
Direct Relief also is drawing upon 25,000 inhalers in its inventory to respond to specific requests by medical staff at regional health facilities. Schering-Plough donated the inhalers to Direct Relief.
Partner clinics are reporting an increased need for products to treat patients experiencing breathing complications. They also report concerns about patients on prescription medicines for chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, who may have been forced to evacuate without their medicines or prescriptions.
“Our experience in emergency situations, including after Katrina, is that safety-net clinics serve a key role in caring for displaced people, particularly those who are low-income and vulnerable,” said Damon Taugher, Direct Relief’s Director of Domestic Initiatives. “We were fortunate to have available strong inventories of particulate masks and inhalers, thanks to recent substantial donations of those products from CVS and Schering-Plough.”
The 11 shipments furnished by Direct Relief in the past two days have a wholesale value of $191,724.
As has been the policy of the organization with recent emergency response efforts, any financial assistance Direct Relief receives that is designated for the California fires will be used exclusively for programmatic costs associated with supporting clinics' efforts to care for patients and displaced individuals and families.
Direct Relief pays all its organization’s overhead costs of administration and fundraising from a bequest received in 2006.
Direct Relief Sends Emergency Assistance to Safety-Net Clinics
October 22, 2007
In response to specific requests received this morning, Direct Relief provided four emergency shipments to clinics in Southern California today, totaling more than $64,000 (wholesale value) in support.
The emergency support was sent to the following partner facilities in Southern California:
These clinics collectively treat 98,000 patients annually. Each of these partner clinics informed Direct Relief that their providers were experiencing an influx of patients with respiratory problems. The clinics also are preparing to handle a high-number of evacuees that may not be able to return to their home for some time.
In response, Direct Relief has provided N-95 grade masks, asthma inhalers, and a variety of personal care products including feminine hygiene products, shampoo, lotion, and soap. The masks, which were used extensively during the Cedar Fire of 2003, are especially effective against smoke inhalation.
In addition to working with nonprofit clinics, Direct Relief is in contact with the Emergency Operations Center of San Diego County and the organization is examining how best to support the county’s emergency response efforts. Direct Relief is expecting to provide additional support in the coming days as needs arise.
Direct Relief Prepared to Respond to Fires Burning Throughout Southern California
October 22, 2007
In response to the recent fires burning throughout Southern California, Direct Relief has extended offers of support of medical inventories to partner clinics, clinic associations, and emergency officials in communities affected or threatened by the fires, and has ensured that Direct Relief's resources, if needed, are coordinated with other responding agencies to best serve any affected residents.
Clinic associations representing 88 clinics and more than 245 clinical sites in Southern California have been contacted, including the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County, the Coalition of Orange County Community Clinics, and the Council of Community Clinics in San Diego. In addition, the California Primary Care Association, an organization representing more than 600 clinical sites statewide, has been notified that Direct Relief is positioned to respond to any requests for medical support.
Reports estimate that at least 12 fires are burning mostly uncontained from Santa Barbara to San Diego County, affecting more than 100,000 acres and forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate. States of emergency have been declared in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. One death has been attributed to the fires, and 17 people have been injured.
For more information about the fire and fire safety, please visit
www.latimes.com
or
www.inciweb.org
. Load times for the Web sites may be slow, as they are encountering heavy traffic.
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