“Just because it left the headlines doesn’t mean it left the planet.”

In the first few days and weeks after a natural disaster or human crisis, the world reaches out to supply emergency medical services, food, water and shelter needed to save lives. But what happens when the media coverage fades and global attention drifts to other matters? What happens in particular to those communities that were already impoverished before the disaster and are now left behind in the recovery? As a global community, we may have saved lives… but have we created a new future?

Aid Still Required (ASR) shines the spotlight on these forgotten areas through extensive outreach campaigns and by creating innovative, custom-tailored field programs to engender dignity and self-sufficiency.

With the participation of world-renowned actors, musicians and athletes, ASR awareness campaigns have brought the stories of survivors in Haiti, Darfur, New Orleans and the region struck by the 2004 tsunami to more than 600 million people worldwide.

On the ground, in shantytowns and remote rural villages, Aid Still Required provides programs such as trauma relief for sexual assault survivors, enrichment curricula for at-risk kids, handicraft and small business training for women under Sharia Law, marine restoration to ravaged coasts, and agroforestry for farmers with depleted lands.

As a result, survivors in the hardest hit communities are given the tools to determine their own futures.

Join with us today and create futures in the worldʼs most desperate communities.

Board Members

Maureen A. Charles
Maureen A. Charles
Writer • Editor • Instructional Designer
Aid Still Required Board Chair

A lifelong educator, writer, and leadership trainer, Maureen brings extensive experience in community leadership, consensus building, and project implementation to Aid Still Required. In her 30+ years as a program leader for Landmark Worldwide, she trained 2000+ people to design and implement community projects ranging from neighborhood events to global NGOs. Co-author of School Bullying: Tools for Avoiding Harm and Liability and co-producer of The Early Faces of Violence: From Schoolyard Bullying and Ridicule to Sexual Harassment video series, Maureen is passionate about ASR’s programs for children. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and currently works as a freelance children’s writer and editor.

Hunter Payne
Hunter Payne
Aid Still Required Founder, President & CEO

As Vice President of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, with 38 years in finance and investment, and a background in music, television and non-profit administration, Hunter has created and continues to direct Aid Still Required’s programs to develop self-reliance in highly vulnerable communities.

Additionally, through the use of television, radio, music and social media, he has spearheaded multiple outreach campaigns to bring the stories of those left behind after natural disasters to over a billion people worldwide.

Debra Halperin Poneman
Debra Halperin Poneman
Founder and President, Yes to Success, Inc
Aid Still Required Board Secretary

A leader in the transformational movement, Debra brings to Aid Still Required her passionate commitment to help people uplift their lives. Debra is a bestselling author and Founder and President of Yes to Success, Inc; an international company dedicated to providing the tools and the knowledge to create true success which has touched the lives of over 100,000 people around the world.

Debra is also the proud mother of Dr. Deanna, a network chiropractor, and Daniel, a philanthropist with his own non-profit supporting high school athletes in the inner city of Chicago to procure college scholarships. Daniel is also an Emmy-nominated film-maker and founder of the sports management firm, Beyond.am.

Advisory Board

Dorothy K. Breininger
Dorothy K. Breininger
Founder • “DorothyTheOrganizer”

An organizational specialist, speaker, producer and entrepreneur, Dorothy delivers a broad range of management skills to Aid Still Required. Dorothy serves as CEO for The Delphi Center for Organization, Los Angeles; Co-Owner of Delphi Digital Inc; and is a producer and host of A&E’s Hoarders. Additionally, Dorothy co-authored Time Efficiency Makeover, Life Lessons for Busy Moms and the documentary Save Our Parents.

Paul Cummins
Paul Cummins
Educator & Author

Dr. Paul Cummins, President and CEO of Coalition for Engaged Education (CEE), received his bachelor of arts from Stanford University, his MAT from Harvard University, and his doctorate from the University of Southern California. In 1971, Paul co-founded Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California and built it into one of Los Angeles’s most successful educational institutions and a national model for innovative, independent schools. Subsequently he founded New Roads School, formed the Coalition for Engaged Education, and has published four books on education, including Proceed With Passion: Engaging Students in Meaningful Education (2004), and Two Americas, Two Educations: Funding Quality Schools for all Students (2007).

Katherine Woodward Thomas
Katherine Woodward Thomas
M.A., MFT

Katherine is the author of the New York Times Bestseller Conscious Uncoupling: 5 Steps to Living Happily Even After (nominated for a Books for a Better Life Award) and the national bestseller, Calling in “The One:” 7 Weeks to Attract the Love of Your Life.

She is a licensed marriage and family therapist, and teacher to thousands from all corners of the world in her virtual and in-person learning communities. To date, Katherine has trained and credentialed hundreds of people as Certified Conscious Uncoupling Coaches and as Certified Calling in “The One” Coaches.

Field Teams

ASR Academy — Deuxième Plaine, Haiti

ASR Academy Team

OADENN Children’s Center — Cap Haitien, Haiti

OADENN Children's Center Team

Nouvelle Vie School and ALPHA Adult Programs — Les Cayes, Haiti

Nouvelle Vie School and ALPHA Adult Programs Team

Programs Created With Local Community Leaders

Refocusing the spotlight on regions left behind after natural disasters and human crises.

Learn about our programs