Project Access Safety Net Rural Elderly & Disabled

Soda continues to visit about 100 elderly and disabled community members each month, assisted by volunteers and other Warm Heart staff. This year's hot, smoky season was mercifully shorter than usual, with only about six weeks of intense heat and hazardous air that required many people to wear masks.

Most of our elders made it through safely, but we sadly lost two of our frailest residents. Our team joined their families and neighbors in community gatherings to celebrate their lives and offer our support.

With the arrival of the early June rains, officials from the neighboring Long Khot Sub-district asked for our help with a special project. One of their wheelchair-bound residents lived in a traditional Thai farmhouse, where the ground floor is open to the weather while the living quarters are reached by a steep staircase. Unable to climb the stairs, he spent his days exposed to wind and rain.

Together with local officials, we designed a simple enclosed room on the ground floor. Warm Heart contributed cement and labor from our grounds team, and with careful planning, the community completed the project in a single day, including electricity for lights and a fan. The new room provides a safe, dry, and comfortable place for him throughout the rainy season.

Thanks to a matching grant from The Brothers Trust and the generosity of our year-end donors, we were also able to retire our 23-year-old Ford 4x4 and replace it with a 2019 Toyota 4x4 that meets Thailand's upcoming clean-air vehicle standards.

The new truck arrived just in time to reach the remote mountain villages participating in the Emergency Response program we launched earlier this year. Reliable transportation is essential for bringing training, supplies, and ongoing support to these isolated communities, and this vehicle will serve our team for years to come.

Thank you for helping us care for our elderly neighbors, strengthen rural communities, and respond wherever the need is greatest.

With gratitude and best wishes for the summer ahead!

Dana, Michael, Evelind, and the Warm Heart Access to Care Team