COVID-19 Response
An Evolving Response to an Evolving Crisis
At MEDLIFE, our priorities are driven by listening to marginalized communities and responding to their self-identified needs. This means adapting our approach to address the most urgent issues faced by communities.
As the pandemic drags on in Latin America and Africa, our partner communities have been reaching out to us for healthcare support. Since local hospitals continue to be overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, many community members have struggled to access medical attention for other health issues. Financial strain, transportation restrictions, and fear of contracting COVID-19 have created further barriers to receiving care.
That’s why we’re shifting the focus of our COVID-19 response from hunger relief to healthcare provision! Our newest Moving Mountains fundraising campaign, Healthy Futures For All, is focused on bringing Mobile Clinics, patient follow-up services, and health education workshops to low-income communities. This is in addition to our ongoing Mini MED Center projects, including our bodega, bakery, and permanent Community Soup Kitchen.
There’s so much we can do to help vulnerable families bounce back from the pandemic. Join us in this effort by donating now or keep reading to learn more about our COVID-19 response!
OUR RESPONSE TO COVID-19
Phase 1:
Emergency Food Packages
Our first phase of COVID-19 relief began with our community organizers reaching out to communities to identify families struggling with food insecurity. After our team raised enough funds to purchase food, we packaged, disinfected, and delivered a week’s supply of food to the identified families. This was a difficult and complicated process that often required government-issued permits for deliveries.
Phase 2:
Community Soup Kitchens
A few months into the pandemic, the situation in many of our partner communities was seriously deteriorating. But as each individual family’s resources began to run short, we saw something amazing happen. Entire neighborhoods started coming together and to share whatever food they had at home. By pooling resources, they created large pots of food that could feed entire communities.
Around this time, community members began asking the MEDLIFE team if we could help sustain these locally-led initiatives. Thanks to the support of passionate students and dedicated donors around the world, we were able to say yes and begin our Community Soup Kitchen program. We then expanded this project to communities in Ecuador, including Amazonian communities in the region of Tena. Finally, we reached our goal of serving 1 million meals in June 2021!
Phase 3:
Healthcare Services
According to the World Health Organization, 90% of countries are still reporting disruptions to essential health services due to COVID-19. As a result, millions of people are still missing out on vital medical care. To help solve this issue, we’re shifting our focus from emergency hunger relief to bringing Mobile Clinics, patient follow-up services, and educational health workshops to our partner communities.
This will be in addition to our sustainable initiatives based out of our Mini MED Center in the community of Union Santa Fe in Lima, Peru.
THANKS TO YOUR SUPPORT, WE HAVE…
Delivered 5000+ food packages
Opened a bodega
Established a computer lab
Started a bakery
Served over 1 million meals
Sponsored 40+ Community Soup Kitchens
A message from our founder, Nick Ellis MD:
“When COVID-19 first hit, we had hundreds of communities reach out and ask for support. Although nutritional support is not something that we’ve traditionally done, we started by providing a few hundred meals a day and quickly scaled that to over 5,000 meals a day. Recently, we reached 1 million meals served. We certainly wouldn’t have been able to do that without you. On behalf of all of our MEDLIFE staff and communities, THANK YOU!”
