The Humanitarian Disaster Institute is the first faith-based academic disaster research center in the country. Our mission is to help the church prepare and care for a disaster-filled world. We use our research to create resources and events geared toward students, survivors, helpers, and researchers.
Your gift to HDI will position Wheaton College as the global hub for Christian education and thought-leadership navigating humanity’s most complex and catastrophic challenges.
Visit our dedicated resource page to help your church better prepare for responding to COVID-19 and what it may bring in the future. This page will be regularly updated with essential tools, resources, and information as this public health crisis unfolds.
Trauma is complex; helping doesn’t have to be. With our fully-revised Spiritual First Aid Certification Course, you’ll get a simple path to follow, learn a proven step-by-step framework, and gain practical tools that make it easier to recognize and respond to everything from mild stress to mass trauma. Enroll in Spiritual First Aid so you can stop worrying if you did enough to help, feel confident in the care you give, and become the helper others need you to be.
/prod02/channel_1/t4_pending/media/humanitarian-disaster-institute/960X540-kent-jamie-graphic-first-aid.jpg)
Hear from program director Dr. Jamie Aten why you should consider an M.A. in Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership. This new program, the first of its kind in the world, looks at humanitarian and disaster issues through a uniquely Christian perspective.
Because trauma-informed care is one of the most necessary components of humanitarian and disaster response, we have partnered with the School of Psychology, Counseling, and Family Therapy at Wheaton College Graduate School to offer a new Trauma Certificate in a specialized track specifically tailored to humanitarian and disaster responders, starting in Fall 2020.
Disasters are one of the biggest moral and biblical justice issues facing the church and society, and HDI is at work around the globe equipping the church to help underserved and vulnerable populations challenged by disasters and humanitarian crises.
/prod02/channel_1/t4_pending/media/humanitarian-disaster-institute/Haiti,-boy-in-rubble-920X613.jpg)
HDI’s pioneering research has helped tens of thousands of people live more faithfully and resiliently worldwide by translating scientific advances into training, tools, resources, and interventions for equipping the church to prepare and care amidst disasters.
/prod02/channel_1/t4_pending/media/humanitarian-disaster-institute/Our-Resources-920X613.jpg)
HDI offers evidence-informed resources for disaster, spiritual, and emotional care, disaster ministry, and for humanitarian assistance. These resources, which include books, manuals, articles, tip sheets, booklets, and videos, are intended for survivors, helpers, students, and researchers.
/prod02/channel_1/t4_pending/media/humanitarian-disaster-institute/DMC-miriam-920X613.jpg)
HDI hosts lectures, panels, and the Disaster Ministry Conference to equip church and lay leaders to serve amid disasters domestically and internationally, featuring global leaders in disaster ministry, emergency management, humanitarian aid, and the public and mental health fields.
/prod02/channel_1/t4_pending/media/humanitarian-disaster-institute/Jamie-960X540.jpg)
HDI is supported by a community of scholars and advisers from across Wheaton’s campus and around the country.
Our faculty and staff advance HDI's mission and interdisciplinary programming through their teaching, research, and writing. Get to know our team.
HDI Contributing Scholars are respected psychologists at institutions across the country working with HDI as co-investigators on research projects. Get to know our contributing scholars.
With our new MA in Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership at Wheaton College Graduate School, there are many opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to work with HDI. Learn more about student and alumni stories.
/prod02/channel_1/t4_pending/media/humanitarian-disaster-institute/jamie-aten-700X467.png)
