Providing essential supplies to Indigenous communities to help in the fight against COVID-19

 

 

In time for the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Hatch is responding to the needs of some of its local community partners by sending health and safety supplies to health care facilities residing on the Navajo Nation and the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRITs) to help them in their fight against COVID-19.

 

The United Nations International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is observed each year on August 9 to raise awareness of the needs of these population groups. The theme of this year’s day is COVID-19 and Indigenous peoples’ resilience. It is more important than ever to safeguard Indigenous peoples and their knowledge. Their territories are home to 80% of the world’s biodiversity and they can teach us much about how to rebalance our relationship with nature and reduce the risk of future pandemics.

With the onset of COVID-19, Native American communities face many unique challenges, including poor access to healthcare, lack of access to essential services such as running water, and a disrupted supply chain leading to an increased demand for safety supplies.

Hatch, an engineering and project management company with offices throughout the US, has been working with the Navajo Nation and CRITs on several energy and infrastructure-related projects. Through this, Hatch has seen first-hand the need for safety supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) to sufficiently respond to the tremendous threat posed by COVID-19.

In the shipments, Hatch has sourced N-95 and surgical masks, face shields, gloves, and bottles of hand sanitizer, which are en route with delivery expected within the next few weeks.

“During this difficult period, it was important that we reached into our communities to see how we could help. After speaking with our friends from the Navajo Nation and CRITs, we saw an opportunity to help the families and communities stay safe and well, and didn’t think twice about offering our support,” said Robert Francki, Hatch’s global managing director of Energy.

Hatch also recently assisted two remote Indigenous communities in Canada by delivering bundles of household cleaning supplies—enough to last up to six months—to each family in the Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations communities. These communities are extremely remote, with no land access during the summer months, making it difficult to access much-needed supplies to keep their communities safe.

For more information on Hatch’s efforts in the fight against COVID-19, click here.

To learn more about the United Nations International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, visit their website here.

For more information, please contact:

Lindsay Janca
Global Director, Public Relations
Tel: +1 905 403 4199
Email: media@hatch.com

About Hatch

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