Washington, DC — May 8 2006 — AmeriCares, a non-profit international disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization, has awarded a $25,000, one-year grant to IRD, Arthur B. Keys, Jr., president and CEO of IRD announced today.

The grant will fund the needs assessment and community mapping component of IRD’s Gulf Coast Community Service Center (GCCSC). GCCSC currently provides case management and related services. Helping to identify community needs and mapping neediest populations will ensure more targeted services are delivered.

The IRD Center was set up last October in response to the destruction caused by hurricane Katrina that devastated Mississippi and Louisiana.

“We are so pleased to have received this grant because it is a first step to ensuring that we will be able to stay in the area for years to come,” said Keys.