Santa Barbara’s Direct Relief Sends Aid to Hurricane Battered Caribbean

When Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, tore across Jamaica on Tuesday delivering winds of 185 miles per hour, Direct Relief, one of the world’s largest medical aid nonprofits, was mobilized to send aid. 

The Santa Barbara-based organization had already committed an initial $250,000 in emergency funds before the Category 5 hurricane had even hit Jamaica where it dropped three inches of rain and  forced the evacuation of more than 750,000 people.  Coordinating with Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Dominican Republic’s civil defense agency, and the Pan American Health Organization, Direct Relief was delivering critical medical supplies and funding to the island.

“The situation is looking incredibly dire for a lot of Jamaica,” said Tony Morain, Direct Relief’s vice president of communications. Though full damage assessments are still underway, officials say three people died in storm preparations, and most of Jamaica remains offline and without power. 

In anticipation of the region’s  hurricane season, Direct Relief had sent  preparedness packs earlier this year across the Caribbean, including in Jamaica — a strategy developed after seeing entire regions go dark following other catastrophic storms. “When a hurricane hits, where it made landfall often goes dark. It’s cut off,” Morain said.

“We have on-island medicine to treat thousands of patients,” he said, but  “what often happens — and we saw this after Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Harvey — more people die in the days and weeks after.”

Aside from sending immediate medical aid, Direct Relief also seeks to supply medicines for chronic conditions that become fatal when access to care is lost. Specifically there are people who were on chemo and can no longer get treatment, or have diabetes and their insulin was lost. Or they have severe asthma and there’s no pharmacy open to get a new inhaler,” he said. “On a good day, it’s manageable. But in a crisis, without access — it becomes life-threatening.”

As of Monday, October 27, the day before the hurricane had hit, Direct Relief had already dispatched 100 field medic packs and 250 hygiene kits to the Jamaican government, in addition to making its entire inventory of essential medications — including insulin, antibiotics, and vaccines — available for deployment.

Direct Relief doesn’t take government money — a fact that has become increasingly relevant as foreign aid budgets shrink. “In moments like this, it’s really important that people step up.,” Morain said. “ It’s important that private sources of philanthropy fill the gap, because there is the same amount — if not more — need today than there was yesterday.”

Back in March of this year, the organization had already received aid requests from 65 countries — up from 55 the year before. In response, its international cash grants have more than doubled.

Asked why a Santa Barbara nonprofit headquartered at the airport has found itself at the helm of medical relief for a Caribbean disaster, Morain had a clear answer: “Direct Relief only responds when there’s an emergency, and when it’s asked to.”

“Our CEO, Amy Weaver, was on the phone with the First Lady of Jamaica and the Minister of Health before the storm hit,” Morain said. “They both asked Direct Relief to do what it could to help.”

Founded in Santa Barbara in 1948 by Holocaust refugee William Zimdin, Direct Relief began as a small, personal effort to send supplies to war-torn Europe, Morain explained. “According to our history, his butler and his partner started sending relief packages from their pantry in Montecito.”

Direct Relief has since grown into what Forbes has ranked as one of the five largest charities in the country — still operating out of its Santa Barbara headquarters.

“It might seem like a peculiar place to put a global distribution hub,” Morain said, “but the Santa Barbara community has supported Direct Relief for more than 75 years. It explains why Direct Relief has grown the way it has. That support has shaped what this organization is today.”