After Hurricane Ian affected Florida counties with a high population of older adults, the WellMed Charitable Foundation contributed $400,000 to support older adults recovering from the aftermath.

Hope Heroes is a volunteer program from the Department of Elder Affairs extension — Hope Florida, an initiative created by the First Lady of Florida, Casey DeSantis, which provides community resources to help for seniors in need. In order to fulfill the requests, a portion of the grant will be used to enhance the communication of requests to deliver to volunteers in real time.

 “Hope Heroes is a wonderful demonstration of how public/private partnerships help us do more than we could individually. We’re so proud to support an initiative that addresses the needs of older Floridians struggling with the damage from Hurricane Ian, and that also builds a strong foundation of volunteerism and service for years to come,” said Carol Zernial, WellMed Charitable Foundation Executive Director.

Read the full press release here