We have grown considerably since our
New Orleans
Relief and Recovery program, and we are now further building the
foundation to take AWB to another level.
We were able respond to the California
Wildfires
last fall with hundreds of treatments in outlying areas to people that
were not being served the way people were closer to San Diego. Our
volunteers went out to border towns, and served communities hard hit
with few resources. Many of these were primarily Latino communities.
We coordinated an effort to respond to
the
devastating Iowa floods this past summer and again treated hundreds of
survivors and emergency responders. For the first time, we got the Red
Cross to allow us to treat INSIDE their shelters, rather than on the
outskirts as in the past.
Last year we launched our national
Veteran's Program
to help heal the wounds of war (pilot clinic was launched in 2006); and
now have 17 clinics nationwide treating Vets and their families.
Responses in testimonials have been extraordinary; this program has the
capacity to truly make a difference on a large scale, with support! We
plan to support the opening of at least 10 more clinics in 2009 (plans
are solidly underway in several locations, including San Francisco and
Charlotte, Virginia).
Due to the huge amount of volunteer
service, we can
provide one treatment for trauma for $10.00, or 10 treatments for
$100.00. Even one treatment can change someone's life.
The development of our training program
has allowed
us to travel the country and prepare hundreds of acupuncturists to
provide community acupuncture in the wake of disaster and trauma.
We have also helped support a number of
other
disaster relief efforts led by local acupuncturists (Colorado
tornadoes, Minneapolis bridge collapse, Hurricane Ike), and we have
given training scholarships and memberships to acupuncturists who have
suffered themselves from disasters.
AWB is planning, for the future, to
have regional
chapters set up to be able to respond to disasters, develop networks,
work together on AWB programs nationally and internationally. Our first
pilot chapter is in the works in California...the San Fernando Valley
Chapter.
We intend to have a significant
international
program. In 2009 we hope to move forward with our first pilot
international program, providing acupuncture training to local health
workers for a community in need of trauma services.
Donations can be earmarked for our
Disaster Ready
Fund that will allow us to get trained acupuncturists on the ground as
soon as a large-scale disaster strikes to offer the kind of healing
that only community-based acupuncture can provide.
We are doing continued outreach to
state and federal
organizations to make community acupuncture part of the standard of
care in the immediate aftermath of disasters. We're also working on
efforts to get state governments and medical boards to allow licensed
acupuncturists to cross state borders in times of disaster. This
initiative will increase AWB's ability to provide help anywhere,
anytime in the wake of a large-scale disaster.
Since the beginning of 2008, we have
doubled the
number of web hits on our website (from 35,000/month to the current
65,000/month), and we have increased our staff by ½ position. We need
more staff to run the programs and respond to the HUGE demand for our
services.
We know you understand that we bring
hope to those
who suffer. We still rely primarily on individual donations to support
the organization, rather than large grants (we have received several
small grants this year and we are gearing up our grant seeking efforts
to help grow the organization for the future).
