Impact

Shelter is more than just a roof – it’s a home. It’s the foundation for life, for families, for communities.

When disasters and conflicts rob people of their homes, we can’t wave a magic wand to replace what was lost, but we can help create something new. We can provide people with the tools to start the process of their own recovery.

Your support provides shelter that protects families from burning heat, bitter cold, dangerous animals and disease, and so much more. A shelter creates a space where families can have privacy from the rest of the world, where they can feel safety and security in being together.

When people are plunged into crisis, normality is suspended. But good, quality shelter can cut through the chaos. It doesn’t just give people space to heal from physical and emotional trauma, but it gives them roots — roots that go far deeper than a simple tent peg.

Your support is amazing. Your support turns simple items like tents and tarpaulin into the tools that transform lives.

At ShelterBox, we don’t just use our past experience to guide our future, but we keep learning, which is why we are experts in shelter. ShelterBox evaluates all of our deployments approximately six months after completion to determine if we met our short-term goals and to learn from the families we serve because we know they are the real experts.

To ensure that we are making the most of your donations, each evaluation is scored in three categories of effectiveness – timeliness, cost, and quality.

A timely response for ShelterBox is one where families agree that the aid arrived at the right time to support recovery. We calculate cost based on the average cost per household including Response Team costs, the cost of the aid, and transportation.

A high quality response refers to one that best achieves the following outcomes: reducing the number of families left homeless, reducing exposure to vector and water borne diseases, alleviating anxiety and stress for families, improved security and personal safety, improved privacy, properly training families to use the aid, keeping households intact and having an overall accountable response.

By reviewing the successes and weaknesses of the response, this enables ShelterBox to evaluate the processes and behaviours of the Response Team volunteers and staff, thereby supporting wider organizational learning and growth.

With over 20 years of experience as a global organization, we are experts in emergency shelter after disaster. We often work in places that others don’t, making sure that we reach families who need support to take the next step in resuming their livelihoods.

From Cameroon to Paraguay, all the way to the Philippines and the Caribbean, we have provided shelter to over 2 million people so far. Your support has made this possible.

Despite the challenges, we have been working non-stop all over the world, being part of the global effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. Thanks to your incredible support and the help of our partners worldwide, we provided shelter to 200,000 people in 2020.

We won’t stop until we see a world where no family goes without shelter after disaster. Will you help us?

You can find out more about us here.