Following a disaster, we are commonly asked, “Can I go to the affected areas and volunteer?”  While we thank you for your compassion, we do not provide opportunities for volunteers to become involved in the initial stages of disaster relief.

In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, going into the affected area can put additional pressure on already-strained resources.  It takes a range of logistical support, leadership, experience, and disaster training to lead a volunteer group.

In the days, weeks, and months after a disaster, ERD’s mission is to help provide survivors and evacuees with food, shelter and other critical supplies – as well as medical care, child care, or other help, according to communities’ needs.

Episcopal Relief and Development stays with communities throughout a recovery process that can take place over the course of years.  We help people to rebuild homes and schools, to find employment, and to get back to normal.

We have sent hundreds of volunteers to work in disaster areas such as Honduras after Hurricane Mitch and in Belize after Hurricane Keith, but only at later stages of our response.

If you have disaster expertise…
You may also be able to find volunteering opportunities through Disaster News Network or InterAction.  However, if you do not have specialized disaster response skills and experience responding to past large-scale disasters, you may find it difficult to find volunteer opportunities.

Examples of some of the professions that are sometimes needed are: doctors, nurses, engineers, logistics coordinators, human resource professionals, and IT technicians.  If you have such skills and have previously done overseas relief work, a good place to start is to sign up for the Disaster Assistance Registration Database.