Bringing Hope Building Resiliency
Headwaters seeks to inspire passion to serve others. We forge connections between those who are being served, the Headwaters team and the community at large. We work to ensure that every volunteer, regardless of age, background, skills, or experience, feels valued and motivated to continue to serve others.
Headwaters’ Mardi Gras Celebration
We are delighted to extend our invitation to the Fifth Annual Headwaters Gala, on February 3rd, 2024 an evening dedicated to commemorating the remarkable milestones achieved with your unwavering support. Your involvement has been instrumental in our journey, and for that, we extend our heartfelt gratitude.
Many of you have been integral to our story from the very beginning, and as we reflect on the almost two decades of years together, we cannot express enough what your continued support means to us. Your presence at this gala will contribute to our mission of reaching even more individuals in need of hope and support.


Headwaters emerged as a grassroots initiative in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. What originated as a single response along the Mississippi River has evolved into an organization that has touched the lives of thousands. Together with our dedicated volunteers, we have achieved remarkable feats—building school roofs, sponsoring education for numerous children, creating impactful children’s books, and inspiring positive action globally.
To honor our roots in New Orleans, where our journey began, we continue with the theme of Mardi Gras for this special event. As we celebrate our progress, we also acknowledge and appreciate everyone who has been a part of this incredible journey with us.
Thank you for your continued support of Headwaters Relief Organization. Your commitment, inspiration, encouragement, and volunteerism have played a pivotal role in our success. We eagerly anticipate the pleasure of seeing you all at the gala.
Headwaters emerged as a grassroots initiative in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. What originated as a single response along the Mississippi River has evolved into an organization that has touched the lives of thousands. Together with our dedicated volunteers, we have achieved remarkable feats—building school roofs, sponsoring education for numerous children, creating impactful children’s books, and inspiring positive action globally.
To honor our roots in New Orleans, where our journey began, we continue with the theme of Mardi Gras for this special event. As we celebrate our progress, we also acknowledge and appreciate everyone who has been a part of this incredible journey with us.
Thank you for your continued support of Headwaters Relief Organization. Your commitment, inspiration, encouragement, and volunteerism have played a pivotal role in our success. We eagerly anticipate the pleasure of seeing you all at the gala.

Headwaters Relief Organization Photo Contest 2023
Thank you for all the submissions. We received a great amount of pictures and wonderful stories related to them. We appreciate you sharing you time and memories with us.

Winning Picture
Kirsten took this is a picture of Buddhist monks in Jiri during the pandemic during our work with COVID19.

Honorable Mention
Kevser Uçar and I took this photo on my camera and make me wonder that the moon doesn’t have its own shine because it is the reflection of the sunlight just like there is no self-shining without the help of others. The photo reminds me of the quote by Debasish Mridha “The Moon is beautiful only when the mind is seeking beauty, and the heart is loving.”

Honorable Mention
She is growing, she knows humanity
Grassroots to Global Impact
Headwaters Relief Organization grew out of a grassroots response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Since then we
have evolved and diversified. Our early efforts included assisting with clean-up and re-building of homes locally and nationally. Today our services have expanded to include public health, education, psychosocial and medical support and international responses.
Working Alongside Communities to Rebuild and Recover
Public Health
Headwaters Relief Organization contributes to addressing public health issues for the most needy and underserved populations of the world. Our teams of volunteers include experts in public health. medical care, psychosocial support, re-building and engineering. We respond to immediate needs as well as provide long term support.
Medical Support
Headwaters is committed to helping people access medical care. Whether educating people in disease prevention or public health awareness, our team is here to help. Our volunteers have worked with us to provide free clinics in Haiti, Greece and Nepal. Our agile team is dedicated to helping people improve the health of their communities following a disaster.
Education
In all of our work, Headwaters is culturally sensitive to each country’s values and beliefs. We have developed respectful strategies that allow us to provide education and support, enabling communities to build capacity through training of community members. Training is focused not only on disaster response, but on the development of techniques that are specific to developing resiliency.

Building Stronger Communities, Building Resilience Together
Headwaters volunteers have provided disaster relief across Minnesota, throughout the United States and around the world including the Philippines, Haiti, Greece, Liberia, and many other places affected by disaster.

Let’s Do This Together
Volunteer With Us
Whether you are on the ground or behind-the-scenes, by becoming a Headwaters volunteer you will be making a difference in the lives of people recovering from natural disasters. As a grassroots disaster relief organization, Headwaters welcomes people with a variety of backgrounds and experiences to be a part of our team.
Donate
Disaster victims have varying degrees of options for self-recovery. Those with the fewest resources are often left without the emotional and physical means to rebuild and restart their lives. Financial contributions enable the most vulnerable victims of natural disasters to rebuild their lives — from purchasing supplies for schools in Haiti to creating a book to help the children of the Philippines understand their feelings.
Partner With Us
Headwaters is seeking to find new strategic partners and ideas for fundraising and recruiting volunteers. It is the vision of our board that we convey the message to all businesses and persons, that Headwaters is founded on the premise that it is an organization that exists to provide an opportunity for people to give and volunteer and to have more direct and hands on involvement. Contact us to learn more about corporate partnerships.