1 May 2020 | Silver Spring, USA [ADRA Int. with tedNEWS]
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is serving more than 2.4 million households around the world where lives have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. ADRA has launched COVID-19 response projects in 37 countries to support frontline workers, low-income families, the elderly, and people facing lay-offs as a result of the crisis.
“ADRA has been on the ground since the coronavirus outbreak, immediately responding and assisting the most needed areas of the world, helping people and communities cope with the unprecedented health, social and economic challenges produced by COVID-19. We are here to continue supporting vulnerable families, frontline healthcare professionals, and individuals affected by this pandemic,” says Michael Kruger, ADRA’s president. “Our offices are working with thousands of volunteers and trusted partners to ensure those impacted receive the life-saving essentials, health information, food, hygiene supplies and cash vouchers to overcome and recover from the COVID-19 disaster.”
ADRA has scaled up emergency operations and adapted its disaster relief infrastructure in more than 120 countries to respond to the diverse needs of the coronavirus outbreak. Emergency relief activities range from food distribution and security, health communication training for frontline workers, shipments of medical supplies to hospitals serving vulnerable communities, prevention awareness efforts, to cash assistance.
See ADRA’s global response tracker: https://adra.org/adra-provides-hope-during-coronavirus
Europe
In Latin America, ADRA is minimizing the spread of COVID-19 through educational campaigns for the elderly, patients with chronic illnesses, and people with special needs. It has launched massive prevention efforts and distributed thousands of bottles of antibacterial gel with the help of volunteers and churches in Mexico to reach the blind, deaf, and hard-of-hearing. In Paraguay, ADRA is serving more than 13,000 people including 17 residential centres for homeless and trafficked children and adolescents by training public health and welfare workers on health communication, clinical management, and COVID-19 prevention, surveillance and patient control.
North America and the Caribbean
In the U.S. and the Caribbean ADRA is providing personal protective equipment (PPE) and essential medical supplies to thousands of health workers in suburban medical centres caring for COVID-19 patients, including Loma Linda University Health in California, and Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center in Maryland where protective equipment is in short supply and orders can take up to 30 days to be delivered. Additionally, ADRA has partnered with Florida-based AdventHealth to donate and ship protective gear and medical supplies to hospitals in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic where medical centers are also facing severe shortages of protective equipment for staff and supplies for patients.
Working around the world
“The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the way ADRA delivers humanitarian aid around the world,” says Mario Oliveira, director for emergency management at ADRA. “I am amazed at how ADRA programs have redirected, adapted different solutions and implemented resources with small amounts of funds in some cases to do so much to respond to COVID-19 emergencies. We are taking advantage of our infrastructure, personnel, and trust of the communities we support to deliver aid promptly. We have also adapted to new regulations to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our staff, volunteers and clients.”
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has been a key ally in the majority of these projects as it has provided support through its network of hospitals, television and radio broadcast facilities, and thousands of volunteers. ADRA has also joined forces with other partner organizations, such as Airlink, Hong Kong Adventist Hospital, AdventHealth, World Vision China, and Latter-Day Saints Charities to continue to deliver medical supplies and other resources to hospitals and health care facilities to assist affected communities. ADRA is expanding its relief efforts to more than 31 additional projects during its next COVID-19 response phase.
Globally, more than 3.1 million people have contracted coronavirus and more than 216,000 have died, with the United States ranked number one worldwide with more than 1 million confirmed cases (*Numbers subject to change daily). Donations to assist with the COVID-19 disaster response are urgently needed at ADRA.org/covidresponse.
About ADRA
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency is the international humanitarian arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church serving in 118 countries. Its work empowers communities and changes lives around the globe by providing sustainable community development and disaster relief. ADRA’s purpose is to serve humanity so all may live as God intended. For more information, visit ADRA.org.
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, editor; Deana Stojković, associate editor
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