Stamford,
Conn. – March 5, 2012 –
AmeriCares is awarding $1 million in aid for disabled survivors as well as relief
workers suffering from work-related stress and depression in Japan. The
announcement comes on the eve of the first anniversary of the tragic earthquake
and tsunami. The $1 million in new projects is in addition to the $3.2 million
in aid AmeriCares delivered in the first 12 months after the disaster.
The aid organization plans to build a new group home
for disabled survivors in Ofunato City, a fishing town in Iwate Prefecture, to
replace a facility washed away by the tsunami. All of the residents survived
and have been living in temporary housing or with relatives who cannot care for
them long-term. AmeriCares is also building a replacement headquarters for the
only social service agency serving the disabled in northeastern Miyagi
Prefecture and funding counseling for relief workers grappling with stress,
grief and depression.
“One year later, the needs are still astounding,”
said AmeriCares President and CEO Curt Welling. “While some progress has been
made on the physical recovery – clearing debris and wreckage from the streets –
it will take years to fully recover and help survivors cope with the trauma of loss.”
The March 11, 2011 disaster left 20,000 people dead
or missing, wiped out entire communities along the island nation’s northeastern
coast, and caused widespread panic about the effect of radiation from the
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. AmeriCares immediately responded with deliveries
of relief supplies, including medicines for Tohoku University Hospital and
personal hygiene items for evacuees living in shelters. As survivors moved into
temporary housing, AmeriCares eased the transition by providing hot meals, space
heaters for apartments with no central heating and counseling programs to help
survivors struggling with grief, depression and loneliness. The aid organization
also built two dental clinics to replace health care facilities destroyed in
the disaster.
A large portion of AmeriCares Japan relief work focuses
on meeting the mental health needs of survivors. In coastal towns washed away
by the tsunami, the organization is helping survivors plant vegetable gardens
where their homes once stood, giving them a meaningful activity and hope for
the future, and providing counseling and support for children who lost siblings.
“Much like our work in the U.S. after Hurricane
Katrina, our Japan aid program is repairing the damage that’s not readily
visible,” Welling said. “We’re helping isolated and lonely survivors at risk of
suicide and depression.”
AmeriCares, which opened an office in Sendai in
2011 to oversee its relief efforts, anticipates working in Japan for at least
another two years. AmeriCares has provided medical relief and humanitarian assistance
to millions affected by natural disasters and man-made crises around the world
for 30 years, including the 2010 earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, the 2004
tsunami in Southeast Asia and the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan.
