Posted on May 16, 2013 by Dan Parziale

MTS Healthcare Supports Aid Still Required

Last year, MTS Healthcare was introduced to us when we were looking for a laptop to utilize at our trauma relief program in Wharf Jeremie outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. When MTS learned of the impact a new computer could make for our project coordinators, they were eager to help.

After sending the computer to Haiti, Andrea wrote to MTS:

“I think of you often as the new computer that MTS’ donation provided has made such a difference to the young people working there and to our ability to communicate a bit faster (when there is electricity and the Internet is working!)”

The MTS team is incredibly grateful to be able to help with such a great organization. We look forward to a long-term partnership with Aid Still Required.

As you may remember, in August 2011, Aid Still Required inaugurated this program in the worst slum of Port au Prince. Already neglected for decades, the 2010 Earthquake exacerbated the devastating poverty, in addition to increasing the PTDS and violence. The trauma relief program utilizes age-old holistic techniques related to meditation. Participants have requested over and over again that we return to the community, stating for some, it is the first time they “have no pain” or experience “peace and calm”.

We are truly thankful for MTS’s continued support and we will be updating them on the progress of our work while we are in Haiti in the coming weeks!

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Dan Parziale

ASR Board Member Dorothy “The Organizer” Breininger is at it again!

We are proud to announce the publication of Dorothy Breininger’s new book Stuff Your Face or Face Your Stuff. A percentage of each sale will benefit Aid Still Required programs around the world. Once again, Dorothy has been able to simply and clearly outline the steps we can take to help simplify and organize our lives. In so doing, she shows us how we can not only reduce stress, but live an overall more healthy lifestyle as well. As the organizing expert on A&E’s hit show Hoarders, Dorothy definitely knows her craft.

We are lucky to have Dorothy on our board where she is a talented and fun person to work with for the advancement of our organization.

If you are interested in checking out Dorothy's book, head on over to Amazon and see what all the excitement is about! Thanks again Dorothy!

Learn more about Dorothy on our Board of Directors page on the website.

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Aid Still Required

Team Aid Still Required heads to The Big Easy

One of the people we met with in New Orleans said that her city is more like “the Little Difficult than the Big Easy” but we found in our jam-packed week there that there is a lot to be Grow Dat hopeful about in the Crescent City. We were all in New Orleans about 6 months ago and it just felt like a different city then.

This time we met with 4 powerful after-school and extra-curricular youth development programs at both the middle and high school levels. Charter schools now represent 85% of the city’s public education system and for the most part, the charters are receiving an A rating. As recidivism and young African -American male incarceration has been an ongoing issue in the city, we were introduced to one of the most highly respected post-incarceration youth re-integration projects in the country.

As ASR has an ongoing concern regarding inacessibility to good foods and increasing livelihood opportunities, we made field visits to three urban gardening programs — one addressing citywide systems issues, one a hands-on neighborhood garden model, and the third utilizing a garden work program for personal and professional development.

Standout meetings included the region’s most influential nonprofit grant organization, a site visit to a 200 home neighborhood rebuilding project, and morning coffee with two influential civic leaders, one being a prominent business figure in the African Amercian community, the other a prominent figure in philanthropic circles. Our last evening we were fortunate enough to speak with a leading Coastal Wetlands expert to receive a primer on what can and is currently being done to preserve the Gulf coast wetlands, essential to the environment, the economy, and the protection of the city.

NOLA Dreams Stories

And we were impressed.

There is an energy around the revitalization of New Orleans that will only result in one thing: the transformation of a city turned completely upside down by Hurricane Katrina and hit again by Hurricane Isaac last year. When people were calling for the city to be abandoned in 2005, these people said that the spirit of New Orleans would allow it to come back and come back stronger.

Aid Still Required continues to be inspired and invigorated by the people and potential of New Orleans. Stay tuned as we continue to develop our programming and refine how we can best use our resources.

Thank you New Orleans! We will see you soon. Meditation Walk Quote

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Aid Still Required

ASR Supporter Payton Taylor needs our support

Up and coming country music star and ASR supporter Payton Taylor is working on the release of her new EP and she is using Kickstarter to do it. Payton has talked about Aid Still Required programs at her concerts and even made a PSA to call attention to the work that still needs to be done in New Orleans. Last year, she even wrote a song about the great storm, Katrina, that left New Orleans battered over 8 years ago.

Payton Taylor And now, she needs your support. Go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paytontaylor/payton-taylor-new-ep-release and chip in to help Payton put out her latest record. We are looking for Payton to become and even greater ASR supporter in the future and her ability to make music and have people hear that music will help make that happen!

So you have a minute and a few dollars, every bit goes a long way towards her raising the $3,000 goal. Without reaching that threshold, she doesn’t get anything so let’s all chip in to get her there. She even has some great gifts for people who contribute to the campaign.

Learn more about Payton and listen to her music here: http://paytontaylor.com/

Thanks and good luck Payton!

Team ASR

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Aid Still Required

In support of Mary Pat Christie and the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund

Mary Pat Christie, wife of New Jersey governor Chris Christie, put her job on hold when she started the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund. Since that time, the Fund has collected over $32 million which will be used to support long-term recovery rather than short-term relief. The Fund has been careful about having a proper vetting process in order to ensure that money is used wisely, effectively and efficiently. But, as a result of this prudent approach to recovery, Christie is being lambasted for not doling out the funds more quickly.

We support Ms. Christie’s approach and encourage other charity organizations to follow the lead of the Hurricane Sandy NJ Relief Fund. At Aid Still Required, we have worked to shift the paradigm of disaster relief from a sole focus on immediate relief to a more long term, sustainable concept of recovery. We know that in every instance, there are communities that are “forgotten” in the years after a disaster–they do not receive the help they need and the funds run out before their needs are addressed. When these forgotten communities emerge in New Jersey, as we know they will, the Hurricane Sandy NJ Relief Fund will have the funds to help and Ms. Christie will be seen as a smart, forward thinking leader.

Hurrican Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund