ALL HANDS VOLUNTEERS Annual Report 2010 www.hands.org
All Hands Volunteers
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From the Executive Director Looking Ahead After 5 Years of Service
This report marks the fifth anniversary of our organization. It provides us with an opportunity to look back over the work we have done, and to look forward into the future; to discuss what has been, but more importantly what we are becoming. The past year has brought about many noteworthy changes and milestones for the organization. We adopted a new name, All Hands Volunteers, to eliminate confusion with other organizations whose names were too similar to Hands on Disaster Response. Our new name symbolizes our commitment to our simple but effective “empowered volunteer” model, and conveys our ability to launch projects in areas of great need without the necessity of a major disaster as the triggering event. We chose All Hands Volunteers because we believe it identifies our core mission: helping communities in need anywhere in the world by empowering volunteers. This year was the first that our annual donations exceeded $1 million, allowing us to extend our efforts in unprecedented ways, helping more children, families and communities than ever before. Despite the name change and our many accomplishments, this year’s most defining moment happened on January 12, 2010 when a devastating 7.0 earthquake tore through Haiti. This event claimed the lives of over 230,000 people, destroyed homes and schools throughout Haiti, and catalyzed Project Leogane – our largest, longest, and most extensive international project ever. This is the story of all the hands and hearts dedicated to helping communities in need with wheelbarrows, sledgehammers, sweat, hope and determination. It is the story of families rebuilding safe homes and children going back to school. It is the story of how a small gift of time, money, or even a simple idea can make a big difference. It is the story of All Hands Volunteers, what we have done and who we are becoming; all of which is only possible through the generous support of our donors, and the extraordinary efforts of our volunteers and staff.
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David Campbell Executive Director
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Annual Report 2010
Project Leogane Earthquake Response
Within a week of January’s deadly earthquake, an All Hands assessment team was on the ground in Haiti, and on February 15th we officially launched Project Leogane. Leogane sits near the coast roughly 20 miles west of Port au Prince, and is the city nearest the epicenter of the earthquake; over 80% of the buildings in the city were either destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Upon arrival we went to work on projects with immediate impact: demolition, rubble removal, and a combination play therapy and informal education program. These programs drew on our previous experience and addressed some of the most critical needs facing Haitians. Our work ethic, flexibility, and grassroots approach allowed us to build close relationships within the community. As we move forward our programs continue to evolve and mature. Rubble clearing now has the added muscle of Bobcats, and our children’s programs include staff training. Our volunteers work along with other organizations to do assessments, distribute relief materials, manage logistics, construct shelters, and keep a local field hospital running. We’ve developed programs with an immediate impact as well as long-term durability and relevance, with volunteers spearheading two complementary “appropriate tech” programs: biosand water filters and composting toilets. Both address chronic development needs that have been exacerbated by the earthquake. We’re providing an earthquake-specific Disaster Risk Reduction program for teachers, and we hope to equip students and their communities to be prepared in the event of a future emergency. All of these efforts combine into our Transitional Schools program. Built using a fieldtested, evolving design, we plan to roll out 30 schools in an effort to help get 4,000 children back into the classroom. Project Leogane is our longest and most ambitious international response program to date. With support, determination, and partnership from the All Hands family, the momentum from our first seven months continues as we make steady progress, focusing our resolve on the year that lies ahead. Together, we embody an idealism that says rubble can be cleared, schools can be reopened, homes can be rebuilt, wounds can be healed, and communities will be restored.
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Transitional School Program Building Schools in Haiti
In Leogane alone, January’s earthquake destroyed 201 schools and damaged another 98. Beyond the well-known benefits of an education, schools can provide a crucial sense of normalcy and security in the aftermath of a disaster. Reopening a school in an affected community helps put the lives of the students back on track, and opens the schedules of the parents in the community, allowing them to return to work. Recognizing the need to get Leogane’s children back in school, All Hands implemented a transitional school program. Building on the success of the Transitional Shelter model from our Sungai Geringging, Indonesia project, we’ve designed a school that can be built quickly by All Hands volunteers and community members using locally-sourced materials. To date we have selected the first ten locations for the new school buildings; construction is underway at our sixth site. The building process allows us to be present on one site for an extended period of time in a community. Local residents are encouraged to participate in all stages of construction. Sometimes this can forge a longer working relationship: over the 8-week construction process in the community of Bellevue, one community volunteer enjoyed working with All Hands so much that he joined the Local Volunteer Program at Project Leogane. The schools are designed for stability and strength to endure earthquakes and hurricanes. The three-classroom design provides a medium-term, dignified and durable structure to serve as a comfortable learning environment for up to 150 students.
Transitional School Design
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Once finished and furnished, our schools allow Haitian children to learn and dream in a safe and stable structure. Our goal is to build a total of 30 similar schools, providing over 4,000 children with a chance to do the same.
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Annual Report 2010
Rubble in Haiti Clearing the Ruins
The United Nations Development Program estimates the quantity of rubble left behind by Haiti’s earthquake to be in excess of 20 million cubic meters – stacked together that rubble would cover a football field and stand 3 miles high. This debris, which has blocked roads and filled drainage canals, has presented the single greatest impediment to rebuilding efforts. As one of the few organizations concentrating on clearing debris from private residences, All Hands is opening up spaces on existing foundations so earthquake survivors can move out of overcrowded tent camps, get back to their land, and start to rebuild their homes and lives. When choosing which rubble sites to clear first, All Hands prioritizes the most vulnerable households, such as those of the elderly, disabled, single mothers, and families with small children. Many homes in central Leogane are inaccessible to heavy equipment: hand tools like shovels, sledgehammers and wheelbarrows are often the only tools suitable for rubble removal. When clearing debris by hand, we can take care to recover valuable building materials and treasured family possessions that may otherwise be destroyed. However, for our most daunting jobs, Project Leogane has two Bobcat Skidsteer loaders that were generously donated. Bobcats are in the field each day breaking up concrete, pulling down unsafe buildings and hauling away heavy chunks of rubble. Our hand-rubble clearing and the Bobcats make a dynamic and effective team by combining the precision of a volunteer with machine power to do the heavy lifting. This work directly impacts our beneficiaries, as we maintain a visible, everyday presence in the community. When possible, the rubble we remove is repurposed as fill material, creating foundations for schools, raising the level of flood-prone slabs, and reducing environmental impact of rubble dumping. Our rubble teams reflect the simple but powerful idea at the core of All Hands: empowered volunteers. One wheelbarrow run becomes twenty, then a cleared foundation, and then a rebuilt and revived neighborhood. This is how All Hands is making a difference in Haiti, working alongside Leogane’s vulnerable families to help them restore their property and resume their lives.
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All Hands Volunteers
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Annual Report 2010
All Photos from Project Leogane, Haiti Facing page: US President Bill Clinton came to Leogane, Haiti to speak about reconstruction. During his trip, President Clinton met with CHF International, one of our JLB partners, and visited one of CHF’s shelters. The shelter had been built on a slab cleared by All Hands volunteers. The All Hands crew had the opportunity to shake hands with President Clinton, and make sure he left with a t-shirt. This page, clockwise from top right: A volunteer takes a nap in one of our wheelbarrow-shaped cots. A local child receives medical attention at the field hospital near the Project Leogane base; during its operation, All Hands volunteers supported the administrative and logistical operations of the hospital.. Devastation in Haiti.
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All Hands Volunteers
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The Joint Logistics Base Cooperation on a Massive Scale
It is a premise of our model to base our response upon community needs, and Project Leogane has presented All Hands with opportunities to listen, adapt, and respond. As the city nearest the epicenter of the earthquake, Leogane has seen tens of thousands left homeless and has become a hub for humanitarian relief and reconstruction. However, the city lacked a central warehouse or logistical center for incoming relief agencies. We dared to dream that our empty backyard could fill this need. In cooperation with the World Food Programme, the Canadian and Korean militaries, the once-forgotten field erupted with a flurry of action. It began with a dizzying display of dump trucks, earthmovers, and bulldozers. River rock and rubble from ruined houses were brought in to fill up and level out the land. Teams of our volunteers and partner organizations worked in concert to build security buildings, put up large warehouse tents and a perimeter fence. What started as a deserted cow pasture became the hub of organized and efficient humanitarian activity that is now the Joint Logistics Base, or as we call it, the JLB. Currently, the JLB covers roughly five acres and offers more than 21,000 square feet of enclosed, dry, and secure fabrication/storage space. More than half a dozen organizations work out of this space in their effort to rebuild Leogane including Habitat for Humanity, Canadian Red Cross, CHF, Cordaid, Tearfund, and ACTED. These organizations will use the JLB to provide more than 25,000 shelters – approximately 15 percent of all shelters scheduled for reconstruction in the entire country. The work will generate paying jobs for roughly 400 Haitians. The JLB is a proud accomplishment that underscores the value of our flexible, needsdriven response. We are honored by our central role in providing the space and resources for the continuing reconstruction efforts here in Leogane.
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Annual Report 2010
Project Sungai Geringging Earthquake Response
On September 30, 2009 the island of Sumatra, Indonesia was hit by a devastating earthquake killing over a thousand people and destroying structures in the city of Padang and surrounding communities. An assessment team was sent and Project Sungai Geringging was launched, lasting five and a half months. We collaborated with community members to determine needs, and then empowered our volunteers with the resources and support they needed to be effective. Our collaborative model resulted in a variety of programs driven by the relevance for the community and the enthusiasm of our volunteers. During our time in Indonesia, All Hands deconstructed damaged buildings, cleared rubble from the foundations, salvaged building materials for families whose homes had been destroyed, taught English in schools, built footpaths to community water systems, and helped communities to harvest rainwater. After witnessing the behavior of children during a strong aftershock, we developed our Disaster Risk Reduction earthquake-safety training program for schools in the community. This program was successful in educating the children, teachers and community about proper earthquake safety, and has served as the model of All Hands’ DRR programs on other projects. The most prominent program for Project Sungai Geringging was the Transitional Shelter program. Our T-Shelters provide a dry, safe space for families to live as they begin the next steps towards rebuilding their lives. We built our shelters using locally milled lumber, and designed them to complement local construction techniques. The pride and energy that went into rebuilding homes together with affected families was the most touching part of the project for many of the volunteers. The finishing touches of the final shelter were completed on April 2 for Ibu Suma and her family. When volunteers returned to visit the Suma family they found structural additions: finished floors, furniture and neatly hanging pictures – including one of the family with All Hands volunteers. The family had turned their new house into a home, and All Hands had been a part of that transition. Over the course of Project Sungai Geringging, All Hands empowered 227 volunteers, cleared slabs and salvaged materials from 102 structures, deconstructed 89 houses, and completed 10 homes for families whose lives were turned upside down in the Indonesian earthquake.
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All Hands Volunteers
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This page, clockwise from left: All photos from Project Leogane, Haiti. Volunteer Chris frames the roof on a Transitional School. Volunteers take a break in the shade near a rubble site. Two volunteers work to salvage valuable rebar from a destroyed house. Facing page, clockwise from top left: All photos from Project Sungai Gerringging, Sumatra, Indonesia. Volunteer Bruce stands in the rain in front of a Transitional Shelter still under construction. Volunteers work in teams, bracing and deconstructing a house damaged in the Sumatran earthquake. Silly faces in the rain are sometimes met with skepticism by the kids in Sungai Gerringging. Working to salvage building materials, these two volunteers sit amidst rubble “chinking� bricks: separating out whole bricks and removing old mortar so they can be used to rebuild.
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Annual Report 2010
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All Hands Volunteers
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U.S. Projects
New York, Tennessee, Rhode Island and Iowa This year saw All Hands participating in four projects at home in the United States, with our Coordinative Services Project serving as the major thrust of our domestic response. When disasters strike a community, it is imperative that response agencies, local government, and volunteers can collaborate efficiently. Over the past 5 years of experience in disaster recovery, All Hands has gained respect for our insight and best practices regarding volunteer and resource coordination. We partnered with four communities in New York, Tennessee, Rhode Island and Iowa, to share our experience and help these communities coordinate to deliver targeted, effective disaster recovery. We held coordination meetings and issued regular situation reports to improve the level of communication and collaboration among organizations and governments in their response efforts. Our Coordinative Service Projects have helped over a thousand families recover after natural disasters. The success of the project enhanced All Hands’ reputation and role as a lead coordinating agency for voluntary organizations and volunteers following natural disasters in the US. In April, All Hands returned to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the site of a previous four-month flood recovery project in 2008. Our return initiated our first ever “planned� rebuilding project. We worked with the Cedar Rapids Community Recovery Center and the Block by Block organization to help identify homeowners that needed funding for materials and then provided volunteer labor to reconstruct their homes. Our volunteers assisted more than a dozen families with their rebuilding efforts, and All Hands provided grants to 13 families for rebuilding supplies and materials. Through consistent sharing and review of our approach to disaster recovery we have honed the way we work in communities and have made ourselves a more effective organization. As acknowledgement of our hard work and consistent success, All Hands was accepted as the 50th member of National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, the forum for organizations to share knowledge and resources throughout the disaster cycle to help disaster survivors and their communities.
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Annual Report 2010
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Assistance Provided
Families Assisted: Volunteers Empowered: Volunteer Hours: Value of Donated Labor:
Finances FY2010 4,825 1,144 165,190 $3,005,000
Direct Impact of Donations $50
$500
$1,000
1 wheelbarrow allows volunteers to remove rubble from home sites where only shattered homes now lie. This simple act provides families with a cleared area for transitional shelter, and returns residents back to the footprint of their home, from living in cramped Internally Displaced Persons camps or in the street. Supports 15 volunteers for one week on Project Leogane. In just one week, fifteen volunteers contribute more than 700 hours of free assistance to the community! Supplies materials for volunteers one community sanitation / latrine station, improving sanitary condition in a situation where there is little running water
$10,000 Sponsors the building of 5 earthquake-resistant transitional shelters for famillies in need, ensuring a dignified, secure, versatile place to call home as they rebuild in the years to come. $25,000 Funds the entire cost of building a transitional school for children in need, re-establishing routine and normalcy in the lives of youth affected by the Haitian earthquake.
September 1, 2009 through August 31, 2010
Total Revenue:
$ 1,266,060
Program Expenses: Administrative Expenses: Fundraising Expenses: Total Expenses:
$ 887,673 $ 60,669 $ 62,463 $ 1,010,805
Change in Net Assets: Year-End Net Assets:
$ $
255,255 382,203
For complete audited financial statements visit www.hands.org.
4.9% Fundraising Expenses
4.8% Administrative Expenses
90.3% Program Expenses
Total Expenses
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All Hands Volunteers
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Many thanks to the community partners, donors, and the XXXX volunteers from FY2010.
Many thanks to the corporate supporters, donors, andwould the not 1,144 volunteers from FY2010. Without your commitment and support our work be possible Without your commitment and support our work would not be possible.
Major Corporate Supporters
Gifts of $100,000 or more Anonymous
Gifts of $25,000 or more Brian Lipke
George & Patsy Conrades
Lee & Nancy Keet
Bruce & Pam Coleman
Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation
Malankara Archdiocese
David & Gay Campbell
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Howard & Leslie Zemsky
Ocean Reef Foundation, Inc.
Annual Report 2010
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Gifts of $10,000 or more
Gifts of $1,000 or more
Barbara Brizdle and Lawrence J. Schoenberg Bill & Nancy Hammond Haber Family Home Building Industry Disaster Relief Fund Interlaken Foundation, Inc Join Together Society Mala & CJ Henderson Michael & Barbara McQueeney Michael Serventi Music For Relief
30th Street, LLC Abel Rajesh Alexander Moore Allied Corporate Services Altitude Sports and Entertainment Angela Wightmen Ash Bowling Barry Goldsmith Bob Sywolski Carlos and Elizabeth Heath Foundation Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation Clear Vision Optical Co., Inc. Cohen & Gresser LLP Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP Cynthia Moser Cyril Yansouni Damian Rake DNA Partners LLC Dornbush Schaeffer Strongin and Venaglia, LLP Edward & Virginia Walsh Eric Schoenberg Frank Toomey Frederic & Susan Withrop Frogs Gone Fishin’ LLC Howard Kogan Hudson Rotary Club Hunt-Dann Charitable Fund Innovation Advisors Jack & Boone Ferrebee Jeff & Megan Card Jeffrey Jackson John Fitzmaurice Joseph Chouinard Judy Clark Julia Campbell Memorial Foundation Karen Dow Kay Kochenderfer
Pehl Family
Oishei Foundation
Gifts of $5,000 or more Carl E. Kessler Family Foundation Catherine Tell Chaiampou Travis Besaw & Kershner, LLP David Lowenfeld Gerald Durkin, Jr Judy Hamilton Kirkwood Family Leo Buscaglia Foundation McGuire Family Foundation Montague Family Foundation Piers Simon Appeal Ralph Burns Scott Smith Tania Amochaev and Harold Hahn The Gerald & Sandra Lippes Foundation The Trull Foundation Trinitarian Congregational Church
Kaye & David Stoklasa Kirsty Henderson Kristen & Jason Barton Linda Deubert Lisa Cancro Louise Hardage Marc Young Martin Berardi Mary Ann Budin Matthew L. Greer Children’s Fountation Michele & Scott Nivens Microsoft Giving Campaign Mike Giorgi Mulroy Family Foundation Murak & Associates, LLC Needham Cares, Inc. Neil Wallack Nichols School Nick Price Oklahoma State University Foundation Phyllis Shwartz Piper Campbell Recognize Ltd Rick Crandall Sally Scarlett Scott & Carol Brewer Sharp Family St. Bonaventure University The Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies The Glenmede Trust Company The Second Church in Newton The Wills Family Fund Tim & Carol Smith Tom Clear Tom Young University and Community Federal Credit Union We Love Colors Inc William & Colleen Earle Winchester Rotary Charitable Fund, Inc. Winchester Unitarian Society
The All Hands Family: More than 1,000 additional donors supported our work throughout the year with individual gifts and through our Monthly Giving program.
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Board of Directors Phone: (617) 312-2999 Fax: (586) 314-2999 Email: info@hands.org Website: www.hands.org Tax ID: 20-3414952
Get in Touch All Hands Volunteers, Inc. P.O. Box 546 Carlisle, MA 01741 USA
Mailing Address
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David Campbell, Board Chair Mike Cegielski Jack Ferrebee Eric Gebaide Pete Kirkwood, Board Secretary Mike McQueeny, Board Treasurer Darius Monsef
Past Projects: FY2010 Leogane, Haiti, Earthquake Jasper County, Iowa, USA Flooding Tennessee, USA, Flooding Rhode Island, USA, Flooding FY2009 Sungai Geringging, Indonesia, Earthquake Gowanda, New York USA, Flooding Mena, Arkansas USA, Tornado FY2008 Gonaives, Haiti, Hurricanes Cedar Rapids, Iowa USA, Flooding Newton County, Missouri USA, Tornado Gassville, Arkansas USA, Tornado Rayenda, Bangladesh, Cyclone Sidr Pisco, Peru, Earthquake FY2007 Santo Domingo, Philippines, Typhoon Jogjakarta, Sawit, Indonesia, Earthquake FY2006 Biloxi, Mississippi USA, Hurricane Katrina FY2005 Bang Tao, Thailand, Tsunami
All Hands Volunteers - Annual Report 2010