Donations spotlight: Help All Hands and Hearts deliver relief to disaster-hit communities

Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This December, All Hands and Hearts is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will be vital to the nonprofit as it works alongside local residents in communities hit by natural disasters to meet their immediate and long-term needs.

 Read this important blog post from All Hands and Hearts, then visit CREDODonations.com and cast your vote to help send much-needed grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding December grantees.

All Hands and Hearts (AHAH) provides community-inspired, volunteer-powered disaster relief. Our work has spanned 28 countries around the globe, supporting recovery efforts with the help of over 68,000 volunteers and impacting the lives of over 1.4 million people to date.

After disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and tsunamis, we arrive in the critical moments post-disaster to support households and communities where they need help the most. We’ve built schools, constructed WASH facilities (water, sanitation and hygiene), and restored and rebuilt homes. We’re a top-rated group on Charity Navigator, working by a unique model that enables us to arrive early and stay late, and collaborate closely with local communities to support their full recovery journey.

Our immediate response focuses on the critical steps necessary to support affected areas in the days following a disaster. We chainsaw felled trees, clear and remove debris, muck and gut homes, and coordinate volunteers with other organizations on the ground, as well as many other essential relief tasks, depending on the disaster and its impacts.

Long-term, we support individuals and families by rebuilding destroyed infrastructure and restoring safe living conditions, processes that would take years without proper support. We strive to create partnerships with local organizations and strong relationships with community members so we can focus on jobs that best serve their recovery. We do everything from preparing and serving meals to sorting and distributing essential supplies to working on-site at grassroots recovery initiatives.

Our goal is to provide support where the community needs us most, letting ourselves be guided by the specific challenges the community presents to us.

All Hands and Hearts and the 2024 hurricanes

This year, communities in the Southeast U.S. have faced unimaginable challenges following the compounded impacts of hurricanes Helene and Milton.

The 2024 hurricane season brought conditions unlike any we’ve encountered in our nearly two decades of disaster-relief work. Since June, the unusually warm waters of the Atlantic have fueled a series of record-breaking storms, creating a relentless cycle of destruction. The effect of these hurricanes has been felt far beyond the landfall zones, with heavy rainfall, flooding and wind damage spreading hundreds or even thousands of miles from the coasts.

We strategically deployed our Disaster Assistance Response Teams in anticipation of these powerful storms, positioning them outside the projected paths to ensure rapid mobilization into the most devastated areas in North Carolina and Florida. This proactive approach enabled us to begin essential recovery work as soon as conditions permitted. In the immediate aftermath of each hurricane, our teams, made up of local and nonlocal volunteers, focused on critical response efforts, including damage assessment, debris removal and coordination with local communities. Our rapid interventions have been key to accelerating the path to recovery during the exceptionally severe 2024 hurricane season.

A story of severe damage: Hurricane Helene

As affected communities navigate the long road to rebuilding, AHAH remains committed to staying on-site and working hand in hand with local partners and community members to restore homes and infrastructure, provide essential supplies and offer much-needed support. This is our mission: to provide a continuous presence and 24/7 dedication to help ensure that no communities are left behind during their most challenging moments.