Heart to Heart International puts a premium on being ready for a broad set of global crises. We have invested heavily in strengthening our humanitarian network and building our internal capacity to respond to emergencies around the world. Our Advance Team of disaster experts and our training initiatives prepare community leaders for complex emergencies at the local level. With our global system of Forward Response Centers, we focus on saving lives and restoring communities to health.

When disaster strikes, Heart to Heart International ensures that it meets the most pressing needs by sending Advance Teams. Advance Teams assess the healthcare infrastructure and establish a logistics chain with local response agencies to deliver medical aid, skilled volunteer Global Operations (GO) Teams to provide medical care, address mental trauma, manage supply chain and Readiness Equipped Volunteer (REV) teams to provide office support in the call center and collection sites.

After the intense Response phase is complete, community leaders face the lonely and daunting task of recovering essential services and replacing critical personnel who may have been injured or killed in the crisis. Heart to Heart International works alongside local officials to ensure the community has what it needs to move forward. We tap into our volunteer base to find technical experts who can assist in critical roles on Unified Professional (UP) teams during the recovery phase.

Heart to Heart International is willing to walk the long road to restoration with communities around the world. The longest part of the journey involves the cooperative effort between local leaders and individual citizens as they determine how to best reconstruct their community. Heart to Heart’s UP teams train healthcare workers, connect professionals within the medical community, improve health and hygiene education and address sanitation issues within the community.

When disaster strikes a community, it is difficult to imagine something better emerging from the ruins. Still, we dare to dream with local leaders and residents, because we know those dreams inspire hope and keep everyone moving in a productive direction throughout the Rebuilding phase.