Founder Carlos Chiossone, a Venezuelan entrepreneur living in NYC discusses finding inspiration for mission during the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and hopes for the new NGO to be at the ready for any future natural disasters
New York City, Jul 1, 2019 (Issuewire.com) - New York City-based photographer and humanitarian, Carlos Chiossone, has announced the launch of a new NGO with a mission to connect survivors of natural disasters with their families via satellite technology, covering zones block by block.
When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, Chiossone, a licensed amateur (ham) radio operator, encountered dozens of people in the United States and Puerto Rico who were desperate to be able to communicate with their loved ones. Because of the lack of cellular connectivity and electricity, people on the island were cut off from the rest of the world. Chiossone went to the roof of his New York City apartment building and was able to hear a KP4 station from Aguadillas, Puerto Rico. He began receiving messages from Puerto Rico to pass to their families on the mainland. Chiossone was able to connect 424 families over the course of 10 days.
Chiossone aims to formalize his efforts and expand his reach by partnering with satellite communications companies. N2NGO aims to be on the ground during the aftermath, bringing mobile units to areas affected by disasters, and continuously connecting people until services are restored. The current goal is to connect 100-200 families per day using the satellite system.
Chiossone says, "We are currently fundraising to provide our first responder group with the necessary equipment to cover the United States. This equipment consists of a dedicated response vehicle to house our team, the satellite infrastructure, all of the gear needed while on deployment, and the smaller but necessary parts to make each response a safe and successful one."
N2NGO will have an interactive map on its website for families to request to find a loved one and connect with them. This map will make it possible for people outside of the disaster zone to follow the team as they make their way through, and keep track of the people found along the way.
To learn more about this initiative, please visit http://n2ngo.org/. If you are interested in volunteering time or resources, you can reach out to Carlos at info@n2ngo.org.
N2NGO is accepting donations of all kinds at its GoFundMe page.
About N2NGO
N2NGO exists to connect families affected by natural disasters with their loved ones. By partnering with satellite communications companies, we bring our mobile units areas affected by disasters and provide survivors access to our WiFi networks to send and receive messages.
Media Contact
Jessica DelVirginia
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Source :N2NGO Disaster Response
