History
Beginning
After observing the tragedy of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Drs. Lynn and Lana Staheli came to the conclusion that the best way to deal with conflict in the world was to address the underlying causes. While recognizing that the origins of terrorism are complex and multiple, the Stahelis believed the fundamental causes included poverty, despair, and poor health care. They concluded that improving health requires access to health-care information and would lead to a more peaceful world.
While teaching in numerous countries, the Stahelis witnessed first-hand the need for information sharing in the medical world. Traditional sources of healthcare information in journals and medical books that are traditionally produced in the United States and Europe are unaffordable and sometimes unsuitable in other areas of the world. They saw hospitals whose entire medical libraries did not fill a single bookshelf. Given their backgrounds in medicine, academia, and publishing, providing access to health-education resources seemed a logical and powerful way to reduce conflict. This spawned the idea for Global HELP (Health Education using Low-cost Publications): the creation, distribution and broad access to free health-education materials for a worldwide audience.
GHO Evolution
In 2002, HELP developed its basic philosophy and mission. The organization’s infrastructure — including its legal entity status, trademark, boards and business plan — was built in 2003.
Founding board members include Lana Staheli (co-founder) and Paul Merriman. The board has expanded to include Kent Stowell, George Hamilton and Suzette Callahan. Lynn Staheli has served as Founder and unpaid Executive Director of the organization.
Funding has been mainly provided by Board Members and friends. Overhead has been minimized as the leadership is not salaried, and staff are motivated by the mission.
After observing the tragedy of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Drs. Lynn and Lana Staheli came to the conclusion that the best way to deal with conflict in the world was to address the underlying causes. While recognizing that the origins of terrorism are complex and multiple, the Stahelis believed the fundamental causes included poverty, despair, and poor health care. They concluded that improving health requires access to health-care information and would lead to a more peaceful world.
While teaching in numerous countries, the Stahelis witnessed first-hand the need for information sharing in the medical world. Traditional sources of healthcare information in journals and medical books that are traditionally produced in the United States and Europe are unaffordable and sometimes unsuitable in other areas of the world. They saw hospitals whose entire medical libraries did not fill a single bookshelf. Given their backgrounds in medicine, academia, and publishing, providing access to health-education resources seemed a logical and powerful way to reduce conflict. This spawned the idea for Global HELP (Health Education using Low-cost Publications): the creation, distribution and broad access to free health-education materials for a worldwide audience.
GHO Evolution
In 2002, HELP developed its basic philosophy and mission. The organization’s infrastructure — including its legal entity status, trademark, boards and business plan — was built in 2003.
Founding board members include Lana Staheli (co-founder) and Paul Merriman. The board has expanded to include Kent Stowell, George Hamilton and Suzette Callahan. Lynn Staheli has served as Founder and unpaid Executive Director of the organization.
Funding has been mainly provided by Board Members and friends. Overhead has been minimized as the leadership is not salaried, and staff are motivated by the mission.
