Project HOPE

Project HOPE has 50 years' experience delivering medicines and providing critical health training in developing countries. You may remember our hospital ship that traveled the world delivering hope. 800-544-4673.

How do you help people in my community?

While we do recognize there are many needs here at home – and in times of crisis we do respond, such as in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – one of the most venerated aspects of American culture has always been our generosity towards the less fortunate, regardless of where they may live. Americans are well known for their championing of those who are struggling against seemingly insurmountable odds and are in need of help.

Why do you need my support?

Gifts of all sizes make a difference. Contributions are combined with those of other donors to fund a diverse range of programs.  

Project HOPE’s focus is on health care education, and at the community level we work to make positive health behavioral changes. Preventive care is especially critical in places where access to curative care is limited, places where parents often have to walk or ride days to reach a health outpost or a clinic. It means teaching mothers about preventive health treatments. Instead of keeping liquids away from a child with diarrhea (because that will actually cause the child to become dehydrated and very possibly die), it means giving water and salts. Instead of taking a child with a high fever to the witch doctor to incant spells, it means going to a medical clinic. It means breastfeeding. It means husbands and wives using condoms if one of them is HIV positive.

You don’t see the results of health care education in one day or one week or one month. But they are there: Mothers recognizing the signs of illnesses. Children washing their hands. Families eating more nutritious meals. Birth spacing. Vaccinations for children. Use of bed nets.  These are all life-saving changes.

Project HOPE is unique in that it creates health care solutions that build bridges between community-based and hospital-based health programs and works at all levels of the health care system, with effective programs targeted to health care workers in Ministries of Health, in large and small hospitals, in community-based clinics, and even in village health posts. 

How can I be sure that you will use my money wisely and won't waste it?

Stewardship and donor trust is important to us. Project HOPE has consistently been recognized for its efficient fiscal management. For 15 years and counting, 90 percent or more of all resources are invested in programs.

Can I Volunteer? How?

Project HOPE is building a base of volunteers around the country who are accomplishing a variety of things for us. We have a core group of medical professional who volunteer on overseas assignments, providing services while training local counterparts.

Equally important are our non-medical professional volunteers who participate in speaking engagements on behalf of Project HOPE, raising awareness in their communities and among their peers about the work of HOPE. These volunteers have spoken to church and civic groups, at Chambers of Commerce meetings, and schools. They have also organized a wide variety of creative fund raisers, from comedy shows and coffee house concerts to root beer float sales.