Giving Compass' Take:

• Americares is a health-focused relief organization that provides medical supplies and training to facilities on the frontlines combatting COVID-19. 

• Americares President and CEO says that mental health is critical right now. How can donors contribute not only to frontline relief, but also consider the impending mental health crisis?

• Read about how to support domestic workers during COVID-19. 

Americares is a health-focused relief and development organization that provides life-saving medical supplies and training to communities all over the world.

Since the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic hit, Americares has stepped up by providing protective supplies and critical support to health centers and frontline health workers in affected countries around the world. The organization’s initiatives span the US, Haiti, Honduras, the Bahamas, India, Lebanon, the Philippines, and Tanzania.

So far, Americares has delivered around 80 tons of disinfectants and personal protective equipment to health facilities in the US alone.

The non-profit also hosted a comedy fundraiser in April called Covid Is No Joke, which raised money for the Americares Coronavirus Response Fund.

Global Citizen spoke to Americares’ President and CEO Christine Squires about her organization’s role in helping health facilities and frontline health workers to safely combat the pandemic.

As an organization on the front lines of COVID-19, what is the biggest thing you want the general public to know about what you've observed and how the crisis has evolved?

What we have seen is that COVID-19 is affecting many more than just those diagnosed with the virus. In addition to the 6 million people confirmed to be infected and the more than 370,000 lives lost globally, thousands more are dying every day as a result of going without care for health conditions unrelated to COVID-19. This “excess mortality” is well studied by health experts and something we have seen during past disease outbreaks.

Read the full article about being on the frontlines of COVID-19 by Catherine Caruso at Global Citizen.