What We Do | IBWPPI SIGNATURE PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS
Boots on the Ground Initiative
What We Do | Programs
Boots on the Ground Initiative
In January 2010, following the devasting earthquake that rocked the country of Haiti, killing an estimated 250,000 people, injuring and displacing another estimated 300,000, IBWPPI launched our Boots on the Ground Initiative. Although the organization was just a year old, our vision to help women and families in dire need was clear. We immediately convened a public hearing in the United States Senate Building with the help of our Sr. Advisor, Hon. Congresswoman Diane E. Watson (retired). This informational hearing allowed survivors and advocates to share their stories of specific families and needs. Our Board of Directors quickly decided that we would locate a local partner with whom we could work to get resources in the hands of people hardest hit.
We began our People-to-People resource distribution efforts.
The Boots on the Ground Program provides work, rain and safety boots for survivors of natural disasters in the US and abroad. In 2017, IBWPPI immediately took action when hurricane Harvey made land fall in Houston, Texas as a category 4 hurricane, leaving many casualties and massive destruction behind. Then again, in 2018, we learned that severe weather had prevented many local farmers in West Africa from bringing their much-needed crops to market. IBWPPI shipped by sea in large containers boots for men and women farmers in a village just outside of Kumasi, Ghana.
We are most committed to getting the funds in the hands of the families, avoiding the bureaucracy and red tape that often times get in the way of families being able to quickly get what they so desperately need.
The program does not only supply boots, but also other types of emergency and hygiene items to support those hit hardest by these natural disasters. Through our partnership with Medshare, an organization that provides humanitarian aid to improve lives and communities, IBWPPI set out to help up to 200 families negatively impacted by 2019 hurricane Dorian that rested over the islands of the Bahamas for more than 24 hours, leaving deaths and destruction like never before on the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco. For one year, IBWPPI has continuously helped families with emergency items, and monetary aid that they could use however they wish.