AmeriCares Continues to Aid Sandy Survivors One Year Later

Program focuses on long-term medical and mental health needs

Stamford, Conn. – Oct. 28, 2013 – One year after Superstorm Sandy battered the East Coast with its hurricane-strength winds and massive storm surges, AmeriCares Hurricane Sandy Relief Program continues to meet the medical and mental health needs of survivors. To date, the program has provided $6.5 million in aid benefitting an estimated 450,000 Sandy survivors in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The program focuses on restoring access to medical care and mental health services in the most devastated communities and provides funding for support services linking families to care.

• In Staten Island, N.Y., which had the highest number of storm-related fatalities in New York City, AmeriCares is working with the YMCA of Greater New York to offer counseling services to children affected by the storm;
• In Ocean County, N.J., where an estimated 26,000 people are still displaced due to the storm, AmeriCares is funding two disaster case managers to help connect elderly and disabled Sandy survivors with support services;
• In Gerritsen Beach, N.Y., AmeriCares is funding a mobile mental health clinic that provides clinical care, case management services and mental health education;
• In the Rockaways, AmeriCares is supporting an urban gardening project and delivery of free, healthy meals in neighborhoods where grocery stores are still closed;
• And in Coney Island, N.Y., where a major health clinic is still shuttered, AmeriCares is funding community health workers to screen residents for health care needs and connect them to services.

“We have not forgotten Sandy survivors,” said AmeriCares President and CEO Curt Welling. “A year later, there is still tremendous need. Our programs ensure the most vulnerable survivors have access to medical care, counseling and other support services that will ease the recovery.”

As soon as Sandy made landfall, AmeriCares immediately began delivering medicines, bottled water, batteries, diapers, cleaning supplies and other relief items to shelters throughout the tri-state area. In Staten Island, where homes were without power for weeks, AmeriCares relief workers went door-to-door delivering sleeping bags to keep families warm. The global health and disaster relief organization also dispatched its mobile clinic to provide back-up exam space for damaged health care facilities. The mobile unit was on the road for 95 days, making stops in Staten Island, Long Island and the Rockaways.

More details about AmeriCares long-term response to the storm are detailed in its Sandy one-year report found here americares.org/hurricanesandy1year.

AmeriCares has been aiding survivors of natural disasters, political conflict and extreme poverty worldwide for more than 30 years, saving lives and restoring health and hope.

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