IMPACT NEWSLETTER
Spring 2025
June 4, 2025
HURRICANE SEASON STARTS NOW
As the 2025 hurricane season begins, All Hands and Hearts (AHAH) reflects on two decades of responding to some of the most devastating storms in modern history. Over the last 20 years, hurricanes have become more frequent and more intense, leaving communities in urgent need of long-term recovery support. With climate change accelerating the frequency of disasters, the demand for effective, community-driven relief has never been greater. AHAH has been on the front lines, bringing immediate relief and long-term rebuilding efforts to hurricane-impacted communities.
Join us as we look back on the second quarter of our 20th year, where we’re proud to present the impact that we have created together.
PROVIDING URGENT EARTHQUAKE RELIEF IN MYANMAR
AHAH deployed to Thailand the day after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar and neighboring countries, connecting immediately with local partners to assess where our support would make the greatest impact. Our teams are working with trusted organizations such as Chan Myae Myittar Development Association (CMMDA), IsraAID and the Myanmar Red Cross Society to deliver in-country aid. Together, we’ve provided direct cash assistance, clean water, food, shelter materials, clothing and hygiene kits, reaching approximately 4,400 individuals in the first two weeks. Despite fading media attention, we are preparing to launch a comprehensive WASH program in continued partnership with CMMDA and IsraAID that will support 700 households with clean water by drilling long-term boreholes, as well as distributing water filtration systems to ensure drinking water is safe. In addition, we will support the implementation of hygiene education sessions and psychosocial support to promote overall community well-being.
Click here to learn more.
RECOVERY CONTINUES IN NORTH CAROLINA & FLORIDA
This winter, we’ve been providing much-needed, long-term cleanup and rebuilding in areas decimated by Hurricanes Helene and Milton’s destructive impacts. The strongest form of recovery is one that plans for the future: we aim to ensure our recovery efforts will keep homes, businesses and their families safe from the upcoming threats of hurricane season. By becoming a monthly donor, you can help ensure we’re always ready to respond when the next storm hits.
Click here to learn more.
NORTH CAROLINA
In North Carolina, we’ve begun installing moisture barriers, a protection to prevent dampness and mold growth in vulnerable homes. These plastic vapor barriers, installed in floors, walls, ceilings and crawl spaces, protect against excess moisture, helping safeguard both structural integrity and homeowner health. In addition, after gutting flood-damaged homes, our volunteers have begun installing new insulation and drywall, getting families one step closer to full reconstruction. We’ve supported over 170 households with cleanup efforts since Hurricane Helene’s historic floods in September 2024, and the work is still far from over.
FLORIDA
For nearly three years straight, we’ve been on the ground in Florida, helping Gulf Coast communities recover from the relentless toll of hurricanes every year. Even over six months after Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit, the cleanup isn’t over. We’re still tackling muck and guts and sanitizing homes against lingering mold in Pasco County, one of the hardest-hit counties in the state. We are also completing essential home repairs for homeowners like Beth and her husband, who want to move back into their home but struggle with chronic health conditions, making recovery on their own impossible. We stepped in to help clean and clear the remaining debris and install insulation and drywall, finally providing a way home.
CLEARING OUT THE SMOKE IN LOS ANGELES
Six months after January 2025’s record-breaking winter wildfires, our teams are making a lasting difference for families still rebuilding in Los Angeles County. We launched a smoke remediation pilot with Fire Poppy Project to thoroughly clean homes and belongings of toxic smoke damage, a critical step to help families return home and return a sense of normalcy after the fires. So far, over 30 individuals have been able to return home, and we’re expanding efforts as part of the Operation Bunny Suits Collective: a growing coalition of smoke remediation teams from Pasadena Tenants Union (PTU), National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON), Community Organized Relief (CORE), Mutual Aid Los Angeles Network (MALAN) and AHAH. Demand is massive, and our AHAH-led remediation teams are fully equipped, trained and ready to serve. In addition, we’ve served nearly 18,000 people with food and essential donated items such as clothing and other items through partnerships with NDLON, Global Empowerment Mission (GEM), YMCA, CORE and 24LA’s Fire Relief Donation Center in Culver City.
Click here to learn more.
A LASTING IMPACT IN HAWAII
Our long-term presence on Maui, where we’ve been addressing the myriad impacts of the August 2023 wildfires, came to a close at the end of March. During our time on the island, we directly helped over 36,000 individuals. Our final initiative focused on secondary debris removal, supporting property owners in clearing what was left behind by the wildfires, saving families thousands of dollars and months’ worth of labor to begin rebuilding their homes. We are proud to share that, though our time on Maui has ended, the impact continues. With funding from our partner GlobalGiving, local nonprofit Native Hawaiian Philanthropy has taken over our work queues to continue providing this service for as long as Maui needs to rebuild. We trained their team in assessments, queue management and project execution to ensure they have what they need to carry this work forward.
RESPONDING TO TORNADOES IN MISSOURI
Barbara survived a tornado that took seven lives in her neighborhood, leaving many homes in ruin and dangerous debris strewn across properties. “I don’t know what this neighborhood would’ve done [without AHAH]. They were out here working so hard, they were so meticulous about cleaning up. I can’t stoop over; they came through and picked up the rest for me. Everything was all over our yards, stuff I didn’t even know people had.” After March 14’s tornado outbreak in the Midwest and Southeast U.S., AHAH was on the ground immediately in Missouri, clearing debris and chainsawing fallen trees at ten different sites, directly supporting 22 individuals in need. We also assisted at a local distribution center and provided 400 hygiene kits to families in need of urgent relief.
KENTUCKY HIT BY TORNADOES AND FLOODS
A powerful tornado on May 16 carved a 55-mile path through Kentucky, causing widespread destruction, claiming at least 19 lives and severely impacting emergency infrastructure, especially at the London-Corbin Airport. In response, we quickly deployed a team to London, Kentucky, to support recovery efforts as ongoing storms continued to threaten vulnerable communities. We first connected with local leaders at the airport to identify where support was needed most, quickly stepping in to help meet the urgent need for volunteer coordination and the distribution of emergency supplies such as food, hygiene kits, clothing, water, shovels, generators and other tools. Now, our rapid response is coming to an end, where we provided debris and tree removal operations to support impacted residents.
This comes after another disaster struck in Floyd County, Kentucky: its third catastrophic flood in five years. What began as a rapid response turned into a three-week volunteer program, where we removed heavy debris at 14 sites, mucked and gutted 12 homes, sanitized 10 homes for mold and distributed fans and sanitation kits for homeowners to continue their recoveries in Allen, Kentucky.
2015 NEPAL EARTHQUAKES, 10 YEARS LATER
We completed our 30th school program at Shree Bandevi Basic School just weeks after we commemorated the ten-year anniversary of the two devastating earthquakes that shook Nepal on April 25, handing over a safe, inclusive and engaging new learning environment through the construction of three fully equipped classrooms and the installation of a new water filtration system. We built a new accessible toilet block, upgraded existing sanitation with a new septic tank and fittings and refurbished the school kitchen to support safe meal preparation. A new playground and landscaped green space now offer students a place to play, while a secure perimeter wall and gate enhance safety. Local women gained hands-on experience through our Female Mason Training Program, and the wider community benefited from training sessions on disaster risk reduction, menstrual hygiene, child protection and WASH.
RESTORING EDUCATION IN MEXICO
We are excited to share updates on our newest disaster-resilient earthquake school rebuild in Mexico that began in May, in the Santa Ana Necoxtla community of Puebla. The town’s educational infrastructure consists of several schools and an “Albergue”, or student housing complex for students from vulnerable communities in outlying areas or from families experiencing hardships. We are working on addressing structural issues and deterioration, increasing resilience to future disasters and improving WASH facilities for Albergue Escolar No. 48 and three of the Santa Ana schools, in an area near the epicenter of the 2017 earthquake. The new infrastructure, ranging from a bamboo-design new kitchen and multipurpose room, to new bathrooms and showers, to a Rainwater Harvesting System, to computers for the high school, among much more, will benefit over 400 students in the area to return to safe, conducive learning environments. We also began a new phase of our Female Mason Training Program, where three local women are being trained in masonry and sustainable building.
We are also responding to destruction from Hurricane John, which affected over 200 schools in Oaxaca and Guerrero in September 2024, many of which were still recovering from Hurricane Otis in 2023. We are repairing critical infrastructure at four public schools in Marinero, Oaxaca, supporting over 950 students and 79 staff members throughout the program. With the help of local contractors, we’re repairing roofs, foundations and classrooms to create safe learning environments. As always, we’re prioritizing community involvement by providing maintenance training and resources to ensure long-term sustainability and local ownership.
Click here to read more.
CELEBRATING SCHOOL COMPLETIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
We are proud to have completed our 24th school program in the Philippines at Santo Niño High School in Southern Leyte. This transformative rebuild offered a new school building with four new classrooms using disaster-resilient Cement Bamboo Frame Technology, two new additional learning spaces built with Amakan, a local, sustainable material, four unsafe spaces demolished, and drinking water infrastructure to provide clean water at the school for the first time. With the extra learning spaces, the school is now officially certified to offer senior high classes, opening new pathways to education and opportunity for over 100 students and 14 staff members.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Builders are a passionate group of givers supporting our work financially every month. By becoming a Builder, you bring assistance and hope to disaster-affected communities by ensuring we can arrive early and stay late.
Help us to continue making an impact in the world.
One of the most effective ways to support our efforts is by joining us on a program! Volunteering provides valuable skill-building opportunities and contributes directly to disaster recovery, positively impacting everyone involved.
Together, we can collaborate to support communities most efficiently.
