Bringing Safe Water & Supplies to Haiti
2.5.2010
 Through our clearance with National VOAD and the support of generous partners we have been able to secure a flight into Port-au-Prince allowing us to bring supplies directly into the area of greatest need.
One of the things that is desperately needed right now is safe drinking water and our team is equipped with a safe water unit and the expertise to help provide enough safe drinking water for up to 14,000 people per day. For the past 2 years we have been implementing these same safe water units in remote African locations with tremendous success.
We are also delivering medical supplies and much needed tents to those who have been sleeping outside for over two weeks now since the devastating earthquake. We will be helping a number of schools and orphanages that we have been in communication with who have expressed their desperate need for water, tents, medicine and food. Our disaster response team is strategically working with major partners on the ground, so our delivery system will be efficient and timely.
Please keep our team in your prayers as they serve the people of Haiti who will be grieving and hurting for a long time as they rebuild their lives and communities.
We are being extremely careful with the funds that have been entrusted to us by our donors specifically for this disaster response effort in Haiti. The funds we are able to raise will determine the scale of our response effort.  We are extremely grateful to our donors who have stepped forward to support us, but we are still in need of funding to continue our relief efforts in Haiti. Each donation will make a difference.
Retirement Community Residents Send
Relief to Haiti
2.2.2010
 Bob Corl, pictured left, has been a faithful volunteer at CityTeam Ministries for over 10 years and when he heard about the disaster in Haiti he wanted to help. After seeing how the people of Haiti were suffering Bob decided that he wanted to use some money he had been saving to send assistance to Haiti instead of paying off some of his bills.
Bob also collected donations from fellow residents at his retirement home donated all the funds to CityTeam’s Disaster Response division. We are so grateful for Bob and donors like him who are sacrificing so that they can partner with CityTeam to help the earthquake victims who have lost everything.
Damage and Death Tolls Continue to Rise in Haiti
1.27.2010
Our CityTeam Disaster response team, like all others, is pushing forward while dealing with several limitations. As reported in the San Jose Mercury News, 800 - 1000 flights are waiting to land in Haiti and they are only able to allow 140 flights to land each day (read article). Our team is working with several partners here in the US and in the disaster zone. They will likely setup camp several miles outside of Port-au-Prince where people are not receiving any aid, but desperately need help.
Watch this website for the next report from our team. We hope to have photos soon. This devastating disaster might have slipped from headline news, but it will take years to help the people of Haiti rebuild their country after losing more than 200,000 people and having 194,000 people injured in this disaster.
Our team needs you. Please donate to our disaster response effort so we can help the people of Haiti rebuild their lives and communities.
Strong Aftershock Hits Haiti
1.20.2010
 Early this morning a 6.1 aftershock hit Haiti striking fear in the hearts of the earthquake victims who have struggled to survive since last week's disaster.
Currently, a CityTeam Disaster Response Team is in the process of traveling to Haiti to begin a 3-phase disaster response effort to help rebuild lives and communities within this devastated country. We will be working with local partners who are already on the ground to set up a safe base camp for our workers and future volunteers. In addition, we are working to bring safe water technology units that have the ability to take dirty, contaminated water and purify it to be 99.998 % bacteria free. A single unit can produce hundreds of gallons of safe drinking water each hour.
This past weekend, over 10 churches selected CityTeam as their charity to support in the Haiti disaster relief efforts and we have been truly blessed by their generosity. Our needs are much smaller than large agencies and we are accountable for the way we spend each and every donated dollar.
You can be a part of this vital relief effort by making an online donation today. Each gift, large or small, will make a difference. Thank you so much for your support during this crisis.
A flyer about our disaster response efforts in Haiti is available to download in PDF form - click here. Please feel free to distribute this flyer in your community or church to help create awareness.
*In the event that we do not receive sufficient funds to implement our 3-phase disaster response plan, we will scale back our efforts to stay within the funds we have received.
**In the event that this need is over funded, we will use the remaining funds for future disaster response efforts.
Heartfelt Prayers for the people of Haiti
1.15.2010
Damage reports are still coming in regarding the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12th. Thousands are unaccounted for and are feared dead or trapped beneath the rubble. Aid organizations are finding it very difficult and dangerous to enter Port-au-Prince. The obstacles to help are enormous right now. The impassable roads, damaged docks and clogged airstrips are slowing down the arrival of critically needed assistance. In addition to this, all relief workers will need to be self-sufficient for weeks and safety is a major concern. They are running out of food, water and medical supplies.
At CityTeam, our hearts are broken for the people of Haiti and what they are experiencing. As more photos, videos and reports make headline news we are all saddened by this catastrophic earthquake. The main priority is to rescue people who are trapped in the rubble and provide medical care to those that are critically injured.
Just like you, we ask ourselves at CityTeam, how can God use our gifts as a national VOAD organization to help Haiti? In the past, CityTeam Disaster Response Teams have taken leadership roles in multiple disasters around the world from earthquakes, to tsunamis, wildfires, and floods. CityTeam has a long-term approach when responding to disasters. Few people know that we assisted in Katrina for over 3 years. We are usually called to help rebuild lives and communities. That takes a considerable amount of resources and financial support to help for months and years to come and right now we don't have those funds to move forward. But whenever we respond, we look to God first for His guidance and direction. At this time, our leadership team, board members, and staff are in prayer for what God is calling us to do in Haiti. We want to determine how CityTeam, our volunteers, corporate partners and donors can be most effective in meeting the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of the survivors for the long-term.
Our CityTeam Disaster Response Team is in the process of traveling to Haiti. Once the team returns from this planning trip, we will have more information about our four-phase response plan and the way we deliver vital services such as our safe water units, spiritual counseling, and the development of individual and family recovery plans. Rebuilding will follow the recovery phase where volunteers may be needed to help rebuild communities. But first we need to make sure it is safe and we can be self-sustaining with the guidance of local partners.
I want to thank all of those who have contacted us at CityTeam and offered to help. We are honored that CityTeam is your charity of choice when it comes to Disaster Response. So that we are prepared to go, you can donate today by clicking on the donate button to the right.
 Prayer Needs:
• That the people of Haiti would receive the help needed as quickly as possible.
• That God would comfort those who have lost loved ones in the earthquake.
• For the volunteer doctors and nurses who are responding.
• For the Search and Rescue teams to have foresight. May they be led by God's wisdom, and encouraged by His strength and discernment.
• Pray for CityTeam, that we would know God's direction in responding to this disaster.
If you would like to volunteer, please contact Debra Reyes at (408) 232-5600 Ext. 5774 , 1-888 CITYTEAM or dreyes@cityteam.org.
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