“Shortly after super typhoon Haiyan struck in the Philippines in November 2013, the Filipino-American community heeded the call to action of the embassy and stepped up to assist in the recovery, rehabilitation, and rebuilding efforts back home,” said Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia Jr.

The PHC, composed of national and local Filipino- American community organizations that pledged to assist in rebuilding lives and contributing to the restoration of communities affected by natural and man-made disasters, was inaugurated on February 24, 2014.

“Some people said it would be impossible to get these organizations together for one cause. In the case of Typhoon Haiyan, however, the genuine desire to help our kababayan in need was much greater than any individual organization’s goal or mandate. It was in this light, in this very room two years ago that the Philippine Humanitarian Coalition was born,” Cuisia said.

A highlight of the program was the presentation of 10 Filipino-community groups on their PHC-funded projects.

The funds came from the proceeds of ‘After the Storm’ benefit concert which was held on June 14, 2014 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. through the collaborative efforts of the PHC, embassy and US-Philippines Society.

The grants were given out in September 2014 after a rigorous review and selection process using the US National Institutes of Health methodology of grading blind proposals based on Problem Identification, Project Description, Organizational Capability and Budget.

The organizations that presented were Answering the Cry of the Poor; Feed the Hungry, Inc.; Philippine Association of Metropolitan Washington Engineers; Filipino Family Fund; Migrant Heritage Commission; Philippine Nurses Association of America Foundation; Philippine Nurses Association of Metropolitan DC, Inc.; Philippine Medical Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC; University of the Philippines Medical Alumni Society in America; and the World Bank Group-IMF Staff Filipino Association.(abs-cbn