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.
Volunteer Opportunity in New Orleans, Louisiana
September 30th, 2023
Headwaters Relief Organization has maintained a presence in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We established a walk-in mental health resource center in the Ninth Ward in partnership with the New Salem Baptist Church which has been operating for more than 15 years.
We are planning to host a one-day community event at the center on September 30th, 2023. The goal of the event is to share the message of our presence, the services we provide and to foster connections with the local community. The event will be filled with fun, activities, food, laughter and music.
If you have been involved in our previous activities there, this is a wonderful opportunity for you to revisit the community. Otherwise, this may be an occasion for you to start something new. As a volunteer of Headwaters, you will be expected to contribute to the smooth running of the event, engage in tasks that support the community, and in the spirit of Headwaters- promote volunteerism and inspire the people around you.
It is a one-day event; we are looking for approximately 10 volunteers. You do not need a special set of skills to volunteer with us on this trip. Headwaters is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that follows a 100% model. That means that 100% of our donations are used to support the services in the communities we support. Headwaters asks that volunteers cover their own trip expenses. We have had success in the past with volunteers fundraising to support their volunteer trip expenses. Minimally, your flights will include arriving in New Orleans on Friday and leaving on Sunday. You are welcome to arrive earlier or leave later if you want to see the city. Headwaters will provide leadership for trip planning and defining the work to be done. You can choose your flights. Headwaters will find the hotel so we can stay together as a team.
Please email me at rkhatri@headwatersrelief.org with your interest or questions, and I can add you on our online informative sessions.
Thank you,
Roshan
New Salem Baptist Church
Fall Festival and Community Outreach
HEADWATERS RELIEF ORGANIZATION
PHOTO CONTEST 2023
Asha “आशा” (Hope)
A child’s self-esteem has a big impact on how they navigate their world, and our goal is to affirm to every girl that is beautiful exactly the way she is. We have created a doll with support from Positively Perfect that looks like little girls in these countries. Some of these dolls have been taken by Headwaters to Nepal and India as part of an educational campaign that focuses on empowerment and supporting girls to continue their education.
Headwaters Continuing Work in New Orleans
Walk-in Mental Health Resource Center Re-Opens!
We have resumed our Walk-in Mental Health Resource Center for youths in Ninth ward of New Orleans after the long covid-19 related hiatus and officially concluded our After School Support Program in lower ninth ward, New Orleans.
After School Support Program Comes to A Close.
The main objective with this initiative was to provide a comprehensive model that helps mitigate systemic inequities that affect children of color and in doing so we will address health disparities by increasing fitness and overall nutrition and wellness; confront educational inequities through additional support to the education these children receive at school; and provide leadership training for future successes during the pandemic.
Supporting Ukraine
Headwaters Relief Organization has been working with global partners and Non-Governmental Organizations providing support to refugees seeking shelter as a result of the war in Ukraine. We have volunteers here working on materials to support these efforts.
- We are creating therapeutic children’s’ activities to support the children who are evacuees. We have had multiple requests from NGOs to assist with this.
- We have adapted a children’s book from our previous work with refugees to support the processing of emotions and the development of coping skills related to understanding what they are currently experiencing.
- We have also been asked to adapt our psychosocial materials for people supporting the refugees to address compassion fatigue and the high risk of trafficking at this time.
Please let us know if you have questions or if you wish to assist us in these efforts. You may contact us at info@headwatersrelief.org. You may also donate to Headwaters Relief Organization.
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.