Urgent needs and disaster relief

Helping those in need at home and around the world.

Whether locally or globally, our AAFP Foundation helps those in need. From urgent needs like emergency grant funding to disaster support for family physicians who have undergone uninsured losses to their medical practices, or on-the-ground aid through our global partner organizations specializing in rapid-response at a time of crisis - the Foundation is there.

In giving to your AAFP Foundation, you are assured that your dollars are going directly to providing family physician crisis support, as well as proper health care, clean water and infection control to devastated areas through our Foundation and partner relief agencies.

Image of the eye of Hurricane Florence, 2018.

Your AAFP Foundation helps those in need at home and around the world. During times of disaster, your Foundation ensures timely and effective aid by working with partner organizations specializing in rapid-response, on-the-ground support.

Heart to Heart International

Heart to Heart International is a global humanitarian organization that works to improve health and to respond to the needs of disaster victims worldwide. They offer a wide range of disaster and non-disaster volunteer opportunities both domestically and internationally.

International Medical Corps

IMC is a global humanitarian nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training, relief, and development programs. It offers a range of disaster and non-disaster volunteer opportunities. Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, IMC is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, and nonsectarian organization.

Physician Assistance Program

This program provides support to family physicians who have undergone uninsured losses to their medical practices and/or who need help to get their practices up and running again in a time of crisis related to a natural disaster (e.g. hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flooding).

Joplin, MO, Family Physician Clinic after tornado

The Joplin tornado was a powerful and catastrophic EF5-rated tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri in May of 2011. It was part of a larger late-May tornado outbreak and reached a maximum width of nearly one mile wide during its path through the city. With this disaster and experience, over 1,100 individuals were injured, and was the deadliest tornado to strike the U.S. since the 1947 Glazier-Higgins-Woodwarn tornadoes, with a total of 158 lost lives.

This disaster ranks as the costliest single tornado in U.S. history, and during this time the AAFP Foundation’s Disaster Relief support programs were able to step in to support physician clinics while in crisis.

Funding details

Through the Physician Assistance Program grants are awarded to assist in the repair and rebuilding process due to a natural disaster (e.g. hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flooding).

Grant amounts range up to $2,000 and will be reviewed and approved by the AAFP Foundation Board of Trustees. Grant applications are received throughout the year. If you need assistance, please complete the Physician Assistance Application and submit it via email to Ashlyn Ewing.