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Category: Projects

Where does my donation go?

Wondering where your donations are going when you donate to Tifie? Here’s where we assigned donations this month.

One time $100 Donation (Education)
This donor was interested in helping students in our programs, so we assigned it specifically to the girls home in Cost Rica that we support. Girls who are rescued out of tracking recover and relearn how to be children in this safe home. They receive an education, life skills and therapy. Many girls who were graduating from school didn’t have the money to pay for the school fees. This donation was almost the exact amount of the fees, and came at the perfect time to help them in their next steps in their future.

$10/month (Education – Roots)
This regular donation goes to Roots Charter High to the “Next Steps Fund” we’ve setup with them. This pays for anything that the students need to pursue their next steps in education or career. The fund has paid for concurrent enrollment fees at the local Community College, closed toe shoes for new jobs, and food handler’s permits.

One Time $250 (Where Need is Most)
We have several kids who attend our after-school center in Dominican Republic who don’t have birth certificates. We have an attorney translate their birth certificates from Haitian Creole to Spanish, then the kids can get into public school. Without it – they can’t go to school. The cost is around $65 each. We’ll apply these donations to several of these students.

$5000 Scholarship (Education/Shelter)
We recently had a local SLC company who wanted to support our initiatives in high schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In past years, they have donated scholarship to seniors to help pay for their first year of college. We found out that these students were spending over 4 hours a day driving to and from their families home to get to college, and were struggling in their studies because of it. (And if any of you have driven in Kinshasa, you know that it’s not for the faint of heart, and certainly not a situation where reading or writing can be done while driving). We were able to secure housing and food for students near campus with this generous donation.

If you are interested in supporting any of our initiatives, please donate online and choose the project you are most interested in. Or you can always choose “Where Need is Most” and we’ll put it toward a pressing need.


youth using donated laptops

Safe Shelter

“We survive on the hope and trust we find in the humanity we find in communities.” -Dr Tim Dye

We received this quote from one of our partners in Puerto Rico, and it hit us deep in our core. Truly, because of connections we experience with amazing people when we’re in the midst of disaster relief, we do have hope that goodness is real and it will get better. This goodness is something that trickles down and reminds us of the simple fact– humanity is a collection of individuals in all places trying help one another.

Because of the man who receives power and lights, and shares it to his neighbors.

Because of the nurse who is making house calls, to make sure that her diabetic patient has the refrigerated insulin she needs in the amount specifically prescribed for him..

Because of the volunteers who show up to help because the need is so great and their hearts are so raw.

Because of the unknown donors who are moved to donate because there are helpers every where.


We are grateful to be responding with helpers around the world, doing what we can to provide shelters that are contributing to life-saving efforts.

Light Up Puerto Rico Power Volunteers Arrive in Puerto Rico

We were approached by a few passionate people here in Utah with ties to Puerto Rico, desperate to provide power, light and shelter to their friends and family. Light Up Puerto Rico has raised over $280,000 to send solar power and Barebones shelters in the last two weeks.

The first set of volunteers arrived over the past few weeks. Brothers Danny and Bryan Perkison, sat next to a woman coming from Ohio on the plane ride over. Lauri Chavez, from Puerto Rico, was on her way to be with her mom– who is on bed rest in a medical center with no power. 

“When we told her that we had solar flash lights, she was so excited to be able to take them to her mom and other family members who are living in the dark.” (pic on Tifie Insta)

Delivery of Medical Supplies and Medical Shelters with Direct Relief

In our amazing partnership with Direct Relief, Barebones sent 15 shelters to the Caribbean after Hurricane Irma. Shelters are being used in Dominica, Tortola, and Antigua as mobile clinics, and have been so helpful that the teams on the ground have requested more. More shelters are on their way to Puerto Rico with the Direct Relief team. Our durable medical tents are delivered alongside of life-saving medication, first aid, and water purification systems.

In the wake of Puerto Rico’s power crisis, diabetes treatment and refrigeration of insulin has been an ongoing emergency, with diabetics going without insulin or dialysis treatment. Some patients are stranded at home, without transportation because of fuel shortage or impassable roads. Direct Relief and its medical partners have been delivering specific medication and individual treatment plans to homebound residents. No longer isolated by fear and unknown, these amazing volunteers are bringing community and home into their homes.

7 Medical Shelters Deployed for Community Medical Clinic in Rural Puerto Rico

We were approached by Dr. Timothy Dye and his in-country partners, who are responsible for seven community health center throughout Puerto Rico. They are surrounded by many organizations and dedicated public servants who want to bring health and wholeness to the people of Puerto Rico. Since the Hurricane, there are no more operational community health centers, but the health needs of the rural communities are daunting. “Everything is needed” he says, about the centers. “We survive on hope and trust in the humanity we find in communities.”

We’re at our best in disasters, when our first and visceral response is to help. So take heart, goodness abounds, and hope in the form of light, power and shelter is on its way.

HELP LOCAL NONPROFITS BRING POWER AND SHELTER TO VICTIMS OF HURRICANE MARIA

Light Up Puerto Rico urgently requests donations to send solar power and shelters to hurricane victims. Local support in Puerto Rico is already in place to effectively distribute the items to those with the greatest need.

SALT LAKE CITY, OCTOBER 6一The power crisis in Puerto Rico has left 95 percent of its inhabitants without power, but Utah aid groups are responding with immediate and sustainable solutions. The Light Up Puerto Rico effort brings power and shelter to those desperately in need. Interested individuals can make donations at www.tifie.org/donate, with 100 percent of funds going directly to the project.

Living without power affects all aspects of life— from stalled refrigeration and air conditioning in the island’s humid climate to an increased reliance on sunlight, which decreases daily productivity. Public safety has become a greater concern as the risk of crime increases. The extended loss of power has likewise proven deadly for those with medical conditions.

Solar-powered generators offer solution to puerto rico power crisis
Goal Zero’s solar-powered generators can power refrigerators and medical equipment.

Light Up Puerto Rico’s mission is to provide solar-generators, solar-lights and durable shelters to Puerto Rico as fast as possible. Less than a week after the hurricane hit, Light Up Puerto partnered with another nonprofit, Tifie Humanitarian to put their project in motion.

Tifie is a perfect match for executing their plan— serving as a connection to purchase items at cost and offering expertise and experience with disaster relief. Tifie has provided power and shelter to families in the Philippines, Nepal, Fiji, and Syria, where shelters served as temporary housing as well as medical and birthing tents.

Tifie Humanitarian works with humanitarian organizations to provide safe shelters and power to disaster victims
Safe Shelter in Fiji, 2014. Tifie has worked with organizations in the past, providing power and shelter to individuals, families, and medical personnel in Fiji, Nepal, Syria, Mexico, Philippines and the U.S.

“Our method has proven to be timely and effective. The solar power systems can power refrigerators, phones, medical equipment, and the shelters are designed to last for years,” said Robert Workman, founder of Tifie Humanitarian. “We’ve found that, through providing these basic needs, individuals and families are enabled and empowered to rebuild their lives.”

Light Up Puerto Rico teamed up with Tifie, founded by Robert Workman, just days after Hurricane Maria
Robert Workman (Tifie), Cari Lu and Jorge Alvarado (Light Up Puerto Rico founders)

Light Up Puerto Rico was founded three days after Hurricane Maria made impact by Jorge and Cari Lu Alvardo, natives of Puerto Rico. Their home in Bayamon, a neighborhood of San Juan, has become the central command post.

Their leadership experience and relationships in Puerto Rico enable effective and organized distribution of the product. Their team of local volunteers will oversee distribution of products on the ground and educating recipients on using the solar-powered system— a critical key to success.

 

The best way to help at this time is by making a donation and sharing the Light Up Puerto Rico effort with others. All donations made to Tifie Humanitarian are tax deductible. Donations can be made through the following ways:

solar-powered products and shelters will provide relief to puerto rico
Vivint Smart Home’s support with shipping logistics has enabled the first round of solar-powered systems and shelters (around $700k retail value) to be delivered and disbursed by October 19th

A number of solar-powered products and shelters have been purchased and will arrive in Puerto Rico by October 17th thanks to donations from individuals, product and shipping logistics from Vivint Smart Home and product New Star Solar. Local businesses like Beaches Tanning Center, Spherion Staffing and Oozle Media have donated time and money to the effort.

Light Up Puerto Rico is led by Jorge and Cari Lu Alvarado, natives of Puerto Rico. For over 20 years Jorge was an executive for Franklin Covey and served in civic and church leadership responsibilities in Puerto Rico. The devastation in Puerto Rico is intensely personal to the Alvarados and the other founding members of Light Up Puerto Rico.

Tifie Humanitarian (5013c3 Status, EIN: 20-8360616) was founded in 2007 by Robert Workman and is based in Salt Lake City. Their mission is to enable people to meet their own basic needs through power, shelter, food, water and education. Tifie has an endowment fund that pays for all operating expenses so 100 percent of all donations go directly to its projects. www.tifie.org. Contact Halen Seevinck at [email protected] or at 801-792-4772.

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Helping Uplift Communities Through Education

Tifie looks at education projects in a new way. Our basic needs approach focuses on developing tools and creating the capacity for people to lift themselves out of poverty. Education is one of our strongest initiatives because it provides the building blocks for lifelong learning and human development in and out of the classroom. “We are stuck with only what we know and experience. When we can read and communicate in writing, the whole world is ours.”

We asked our founders, Angé and Robert Workman, to share their views on education and happiness. Robert believes that the “tools needed for happiness can be taught and doing good with the right intention is one of the best tools for happiness in the galaxy.”

Angé believes that happiness is not really taught, but the steps to reach it, can be. We can teach happiness through service, by being kind, and spreading unconditional love. “When we get outside ourselves and engage with others in a healthy way, we get to learn from them and them from us. We are all connected. When we do something good, it has a ripple effect. When our actions, our words, our thoughts are focused on good, it affects others in a profound way.”

“The learning center in Ghana is a perfect example of engaging with others.” Power and light have expanded essential learning tools and content along with the ability to study after the sun goes down.
By installing power we can share and learn from another culture in real time. Two people from halfway around the world get to share their joy, tears, victories and challenges. We are all united as humans through this experience.

Education is a key for personal and social improvements and the capacity for self-reliant development. Angé states that “happiness is learned or discovered individually through life experiences.” As children gain knowledge and skills in the classroom, they get integrated into community learning programs for adults. The classroom is an incubator for building self-esteem and helps an entire community build its own bright future.
“I have seen young children in an orphanage blossom when they are loved and given opportunities to grow and learn.”

We currently have educational projects all over the world. Modern classrooms are being constructed at the Kola School in Kinshasa, DRC. Basic learning needs are being met through skills training and apprenticeships for marginalized women in Morocco. Health, nutrition and fertility awareness is being spread through our partnerships with Operation Smile. A greenhouse project in Peru is teaching agricultural techniques so that tomatoes can be grown at high elevations and sold locally. This means that families can thrive in their own villages.

Both Angé and Robert “have witnessed joy and happiness growing in the form of hope and light as understanding comes and as opportunities are presented.”

Beyond the classroom we can share this learning and the joy of learning by sharing our stories.

The Kushea ITC center is now complete

When the most basic needs of safety and survival can be met, a person can continue to grow and dream for a bright future. The Kushea Community Partnership came about to provide sustainable power and technology for a community so individuals, families and businesses could lift themselves out of poverty by providing for themselves. Thanks to our partners Point Innovate, Goal Zero and King Nana Pra, we are excited to announce the completion of the Kushea ITC Center, a solar powered technology center.

The Center serves multiple purposes keeping education as the focus. It levels the playing field for the Kushea children and kids from Accra by giving them access to information and knowledge that will allow them to compete in the world. The Kushea ITC Center is the most impactful install that Tifie has done so far. The Center will service five local schools and communities, providing access to technology that opens up the outside world via digital media, books, educational content and the Internet.

Goal Zero handpicked a team of professionals to travel to Kushea to install the solar array for the ITC Center. ” All of equipment in the ITC Center is powered through the new 250 watt solar backup system to ensure sufficient power is available to run all the equipment, power the lights and other essential needs for a functional center. The battery backup will provide the center with three full days of autonomous power and allows it to be independent from the grid.

Watch the amazing video of the trip, the people of Kushea, and what this means to the community.

Screen Shot 2015-09-10 at 2.10.05 PM

Time to roll up our tent setting sleeves!

Now this is what we have been working towards – getting safe shelters up and running to provide the much needed support for the new moms and babies of Nepal. We are thrilled to share these amazing images and video from rural Nepal, where just hours before they were captured another devastating earthquake had occurred.

If you want to help but aren’t sure what to do, take a look at our #safeshelternepal project where 100% of your donation goes straight towards the supplies, shelters, power, and light needed for these soon-to-be mommas. Donate here and watch each week to see what your donation has done for these incredibly strong moms.

Watch the Video Update here.

Thanks to http://recharge-labs.com/ for the incredible look into #safeshelternepal!

 

Team Tifie to ground Nepal – we have arrived!

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much” – Helen Keller

Well family, we have arrived! The first shipment for #safeshelternepal has dropped down and arrived in Nepal – and we are awe inspired. Just to think, last week the teams from Barebones Living, Tifie, Goal Zero, and First Mile got together to create one incredible story that begins with filling a shipping container full of tents, power, lights, and basic needs for moms and newborns of Nepal.

Our partner on the ground, One Heart Worldwide has met up with our shipment and will start to distribute it to the parts of Nepal in need. These supplies will serve as emergency birthing centers for the soon-to-be moms of Nepal who would otherwise be delivering in unsafe and unhealthy environments with little to no support.

This is just the opening chapter of an incredible journey that will be filled with amazing stories of Nepal moms, newborns and the community trying to make a difference. Let’s show the world how strong and fierce we all can be by standing up for the soon-to-be moms of Nepal, and give your secure donation here!

Let’s move mountains, are you with us?

Team Tifie

Making A Difference for Mothers in Nepal

Maternal Health in IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Simply put, moms are incredible. No matter what part of the world they are in this is true for them all – moms are strong, their love is fierce, and when they stand together nothing is impossible.

After the devastating earthquake in Nepal, these soon-to-be moms are going through one of the biggest battles of all – delivering their baby without shelter, support, or basic supplies. We are urgently fundraising to send safe shelters to be used as emergency birthing centers for laboring mothers in rural Nepal, providing a clean dry place of comfort in the first critical hours of recovery for mother and newborn. We have already sent one shipment of temporary shelter, power and lights and need your help to send more.

This Mother’s day show the world just how fierce we can be by coming together and giving your support to the moms of Nepal. With just a click, your donation can begin to make waves in even the newest of beginnings. Donate securely here.

After you send your donation, we’ll send you a free download of our #safeshelterNepal printable that is a wonderful reminder that no matter where you are in the world, moms are unstoppable when they stand together.

Ready to make difference?

Team Tifie

2014 in Review: Refugee Apartment Gardens in SLC

Salt Lake City is home to over 35,000 refugees and thankfully there are a plethora of programs to introduce these newcomers to living in Utah and give them resources to be successful. The Bud Bailey Apartment complex in downtown SLC provides affordable housing to the refugee community. We partnered with Bare Bones to provide garden beds, tools and seeds to the children’s garden in the complex.

Our board member Thurl Bailey and his daughter Breelle joined for the inaugural dirt-digging and planted alongside the new gardeners. Deseret News wrote a great article and captured the excitement of the day in this write-up. We’re excited that the families who live there can grow their own food and be sustained from their own hands. This is what Tifie is about – giving people tools to provide for themselves and their families.