San Felipe Alliance - Milestones

Immediate response. Enduring results.

In countries and regions beset by political and economic upheaval, warfare and natural disasters, San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance has responded quickly with emergency relief and long-term rehabilitation services.

San Felipe's ability to mount effective and rapid response in emergencies is strengthened by independence from religious, political or governmental ties. Without bureaucratic restrictions to impede our efforts, we are able to allocate funding and services quickly and focus our assistance where it will have the greatest impact.

We respond to crisis with the same philosophy we apply to all our efforts: to help local organizations and communities develop the ability to overcome their own problems and to help families become self-sufficient and independent. Recovery from disaster-whether the result of nature's fury or human conflict-takes years. Experience has taught us that the process begins by building on the strengths of families and communities.

Responding to urgent and basic needs.
The provision and distribution of food, water, clothing, blankets, hygiene and first aid kits, and water purification supplies are priorities in disaster relief efforts.

San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance initiates and supports such efforts, and once the most urgent needs are met, we assist in the construction of temporary shelter and the delivery of critical medical services.

Due to poor sanitation and contaminated water supplies, the greatest number of deaths occur during the first few weeks of a disaster. The high mortality rate is almost always due to preventable and treatable illnesses, such as diarrheal dehydration, malaria, cholera, dengue fever, measles and pneumonia. Sadly, children are the most vulnerable victims. San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance arranges for medical evaluations and disseminates public health information essential to reducing health threats and saving lives.

Rebuilding lives-from the ground up.

Traumas and tensions in the aftermath of conflict and disaster continue long after the media and the attention of the world have moved elsewhere. Our emergency response support includes a commitment to long-term rehabilitation that is vital to restoring a sense of safety and normalcy and re-establishing community life as quickly as possible. One of the first steps in this immense undertaking is helping communities rebuild their homes and schools.

Bosnian family mourning lost loved one.

Helping children continue with their education and recapture their childhood through play is vital to helping them regain a sense of security. To that end, once schools have been reconstructed or relocated, San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance helps re-equip childcare centers and schools with educational and recreational materials.

As a result of personal and family trauma, tremendous loss, and an overwhelming sense of uncertainty, many children, especially older children, continue to be emotionally fragile. To help children cope, San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance helps arrange psycho-social support and assists with the training of community members and educators to carry on this important work.

Another important area of our ongoing community development work is rebuilding community water and sanitation systems and health care facilities that are integral to restoring a healthy, safe environment.

For some refugees, mass destruction or the threat of continuing violence or persecution makes returning to their homes impossible. Their only hope of a normal life is to resettle in another country. San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance helps such refugees establish new lives in the United States-assisting with everything from job training and placement to education, cultural adaptation, and housing.

Speaking out on behalf of children and youth.

By virtue of being born, every child has the right to the development and fulfillment of his or her potentialities as a human being. Yet for millions of children throughout the world, childhood is riddled with fear and a sense of hopelessness caused by poverty, violence and a lack of adult guidance and protection. Through no fault of their own, these children never have the opportunity to realize their potential. For them, merely surviving is a daily struggle.

San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance works to increase public awareness of the plight of these children and to generate the social energy and individual responsibility necessary to improve their present quality of life and become contributing members of their communities in the future.

Assessment, education, and training.
After nearly 30 years of experience working with disadvantaged and at-risk children and youth, San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance has developed several directives to encourage a child's positive development. We focus our advocacy efforts in three critical areas: public seminars and conferences, training manuals and films, and assessment and consultation services to child care providers, educators and parents.

Through community, national and international forums, San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance speaks out on a broad range of issues affecting children, including poverty, homelessness, neglect, abuse, and mental illness.

Outreach programs for at-risk youth.
Over the years, San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance has conducted critical research which has influenced childcare practice throughout the world. This research has also helped build a strong foundation for the development of effective outreach programs for at-risk youth. We have organized and funded a number of major conferences on childcare issues in the United States and abroad, from California and New York to Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Sri Lanka and Sudan.
To promote models of quality care for children throughout the world, we have written and developed a series of videos and training manuals to inform and empower foster and adoptive parents and childcare providers.

Off the streets and into productive lives.
Sadly, some one million children and their families in the United States alone are homeless, and another million children nationwide live in foster care or institutions. One of the most startling discoveries of our research on homelessness in America was that the majority of young people we encountered were under foster care through most of their childhood. In response to our research on homeless youth in America, San Felipe went on to work with various community groups in San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Kansas, and especially Portland, to develop innovative approaches to meet the needs of these forgotten children and their families.

Investing in the future.
San Felipe has provided disadvantaged, at-risk, and special needs youth with financial assistance for higher education, to encourage the kind of individual responsibility needed to develop their full potential. To date, San Felipe Humanitarian Alliance has helped thousands of young men and women pursue productive, independent lives in careers ranging from business to health care.