EMPACT Northwest is an all volunteer 501(c)3 non-profit organization registered in the state of Washington. Founded in 2010 in response to the Haiti earthquake, we are dedicated to providing disaster relief, rescue, medical care, system capacity development and education around the world to those who need it most, regardless of national or political affiliation. EMPACT strives to complete its mission with a minimum of bureaucracy and a maximum involvement of its many talented volunteers.
Whatever the cause, environmental, geological, or human conflict...global disaster events are on the rise. The need for humanitarian relief is great. Political pressures and economic realities have forced governments to cut back on many domestic and international social programs. Private industry has also been forced to cut back. International non-governmental organisations have always been a key component in bringing rescue, medical relief, food and water to the those in need.
EMPACT Northwest is an ALL VOLUNTEER organisation who strives to spend 90% of its operational budget in directly providing aid to those most affected by disaster. Our disaster relief teams are highly skilled professionals who move light and fast into any affected nation. We are not bound by political or bureaucratic challenges faced by some governmental or large corporate organisations. We are often first into many areas that may not receive aid for a variety of reasons.
Small, diversely trained disaster teams can perform rapid damage and needs assessments. The intelligence acquired by our teams in the Japan 2011 earthquake was the first on the ground report provided to the United Nations. In Haiti, our role was extended by two years in an effort to train Haitians in improving citizen driven emergency response capacity. Our goal has always been to immediately save as many lives as possible. However, long term capacity building missions save many more lives.
