More than 1,000 individuals have already signed up to help the Haitian people recover from this tragedy via the Help Haiti Volunteer Effort that went live last week to collect information from potential SEIU volunteers. As SEIU members and locals across the country mobilize to bring relief and support to Haiti and our members affected by the disaster, we've widened the scope of these efforts in several ways. First, we're encouraging everyone (not just SEIU members) to sign up and join the mobilization to assist with Haiti relief. You can do so here.

We already have medical personnel on the ground, many of whom are fluent in Kreyòl, working with allied organizations to provide immediate relief.

• In the days after the disaster, at least three members and an alumna of SEIU’s Committee on Interns and Residents were deployed to Port-au-Prince through their own efforts and concern for Haiti.

• On Tuesday, January 19, a group of 48 translators recruited by 1199SEIU in New York, including family, friends and members, boarded the USNS Comfort. The volunteers will serve one-month shifts on the hospital ship and we will continue to provide opportunities over the next 6 months to a year.

• On Wednesday, January 20, a group of eight nurses (four from SEIU Local 1991, three from SEIU Healthcare PA and one from SEIU Healthcare FL) deployed to serve as part of surgical team at St. Damian´s Hospital in Port-au-Prince.

• On Thursday, January 21, three nurses and a doctor deployed from Chicago on a donated United Airlines flight: two from HCPA, one from SEIU Doctors Council and one from Local 1991. This is an alliance with the International Medical Corps.

DONATIONS: We’re currently recommending that people donate to Partners in Health, a premier operation on the ground in Haiti we’re working with to identify Kreyòl-speaking nurses. Donate to Partners in Health here.