Haiti Relief Funds
Given the abysmal way in which funds were collected and misspent in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake (especially through large NGOs like the Red Cross), many are weary of providing funds at present. However, there are a number of NGOs working in Haiti today that are sound in reputation.
As always, do some homework, look at what the organization is doing on the local level, how long they have been operating on the ground, and what they have documented of their track record. Donate to places where you donation will go directly to the people on the ground and be managed by local groups who know their constituents.
Below, I list organizations that I have been able to vet in coordination with professionals who have long made Haiti their work place, as activists and field workers, and who know first-hand where donations should be directed. These are best options for the moment, going directly to Haitians on the ground. This is in addition to the list I have been maintaining and updating since 2010 (to 2020), which you’ll find at the end of this page; all of those suggestions remain current.
For the current call in aid as a result of the August 14 earthquake, I have prioritized NGOs that are in the Southwest or who will be directing aid to the Southern peninsula where critical assistance is needed now. Donating to large NGOs in Port-au-Prince which are not yet set up do just this may not be of much help. I have also included NGOs that are run by Haitian women in particular.
I will update the list as things unfold.
Thanks for your help!
Sound places to donate:
[New 04/08/22] Some of you may know that, as a result of the earthquake, and lack of reconstruction that would assist the common person, many Haitians migrated out of Haiti into the DR and other Latin American countries. On Sep. 23, 2013, the Dominican government, in particular, claimed that too many Haitian migrants were coming into the DR and denationalized Dominicans of Haitian descent (meaning, they stripped citizenship of Dominicans of Haitian descent who were already citizens and not recent migrants; this law is retroactive to 1929, affecting multiple generations of Dominicans of Haitian descent in the country). An organization out of Canada, Rayjon Share Care, is working to assist Dominicans of Haitian descent in obtaining legal documentation to access basic needs and human rights in the DR. They are currently running a campaign to raise funds to this end. You can find the link here:
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/70868
Rayjon also runs programs to empower women, health programs, an eyeglass program and an educational program. For more information on their overall works, please go here:
[New 11/3/21] A regional organization, recently brought to my attention, working specifically in the Southern Peninsula and surrounds, is Youthaiti, which supports “sustainable sanitation and agriculture in rural Haiti” by investing in Haiti’s youth. The organization is based in the US but, aside from its founder, retired nurse Gigi Pomerantz, is entirely staffed and run by Haitian or Haitian Americans. The organization’s mission, as per their website, is as follows:
“Youthaiti is dedicated to helping and encouraging Haitian young people in their development of ecological projects in sanitation and water source protection, community gardening and reforestation in their own communities.”
To learn more about them, and to donate, please visit their website here:
Larger Mid-Size NGOs that are trusted:
1. FOKAL, based in Port-au-Prince, has partnered with their US 501C3, “Ayiti Demen” to collect funds to be distributed to 20+ grassroots organizations in the Southern peninsula of Haiti. You can read their entire action plan, and donate here:
https://ademen.org/fokal-haiti-relief-fund/
You can also Text SOUTHHaiti to 44321 if you are in the United States
FOKAL’s complete website can be found here: https://fokal.org
2. Many hospitals and clinics locally have fallen or are not fully staffed, leading to the need for costly evacuations. Ayiti Air Anbilans is the only completely nonforprofit local air ambulance in Haiti; they are also working with Zanmi Lasante (listed below). To donate, go here:
https://www.haitiairambulance.org/donate/
3. The largest hospital serving the southern peninsula is St. Boniface. They have been recommended by many in the health field as a sound organization to support as they work to assist the most affected in the area. You can read their action plan and donate here:
https://healthequityintl.org/our-work/2021-earthquake-response
4. Zanmi Lasante, aka Partners in Health, founded by Paul Farmer, is a trusted health organization working throughout Haiti to provide low cost health care:
5. In the Arts:
Fosaj/Jacmel Arts Center is, as they write on their webpage: “an inclusive space for all creative minds to express themselves and collaborate together to share more beautiful and powerful stories from their culture.” The artists run workshops in the arts, including dance and drum, but also focusing on visual and plastic arts, such as the papier maché tradition for which Jacmel is so well known.
To support their work, go to: https://jacmelartscenter.wordpress.com
6. A regional organization that has been brought to my attention, working in the Caribbean, and focused on children is “SOWA” or “Sow A Seed” – their mandate, as per their website, is as follows:
“We serve and support the Caribbean’s most vulnerable children in Haiti and Jamaica, soon expanding to more countries. Our programs focus on health, education, shelter and the arts. Through these programs we promote the wellness, safety and development of children living in our supported facilities.”
To learn more, or to donate, please go here:
Led by Haitian women:
Earthquake Response:
Ayiti Community Trust, recommended by Chris Low of Matenwa.org, and created by Haitian-Americans out of Miami, has set up a fund to serve communities affected by the August 14th, 2021 earthquake; you can find the link and more about them here:
https://www.classy.org/campaign/earthquake-relief-fund/c352932
Geared towards Education:
“Fleur de Vie” https://www.fleurdevieonline.org/ led by fashion designer Dayanne Danier
Primary site is Anse à Veau, situated in the SouthWest of Haiti
Project St. Anne: https://projectstanne.org/ founded by Naika Charles D’Haiti
Benefit underserved communities in Southern Haiti, especially through education
Housing:
Matenwa.org – Many in LaGonav, the off-coast island at the mouth of the bay of Port-au-Prince, have family in the Southwest region of Haiti on the mainland and housing will be critical in the next days and week; they will be setting up a fund to assist those who have lost their housing with ties to LaGonav to rebuild or find housing. You can donate directly through their website:
I’m also including a fuller list below (excuse any duplications to the above or below) provided by the Executive Director of Matenwa.org:
Trusted Emergency Responders for Donations
HAITI EARTHQUAKE 2021
Last update: August 15, 2021 – www.HaitiResponse.org
Located in most affected areas:
COFHED in Camp Perrin
Hope for Haiti in Les Cayes
Locally Haiti in Petit Trou de Nippes
PRODEV network of schools in south and Grand Anse
FONKOZE, throughout the affected zones
Friends of Paradis des Indiens in Abricots, Grand Anse
Members of Haiti Response Coalition collecting funds and/supplies to be channeled to affected areas:
Beyond Borders
Quixote Center
https://www.quixote.org/haiti-reborn/
Community Coalition for Haiti
Currently sending medical supplies, pharma and Haitian medical professionals to support three hospitals in Les Cayes.
Additional reputable and trusted organizations:
FOKAL
Ayiti Community Trust
https://ayiticommunitytrust.org/
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Grassroots Organizations (Haitian or collaborative North/South Ventures):
Ecole Bazilo, Carrefour-Feuille, Port-au-Prince
Carrefour-Feuille is an area to the east of Port-Prince running from the sea-side into the mountains; the mountain areas were devastated by the earthquake of 2010. The Bazilo School is run by musician educators, Louis Lesly Marcelin (aka Sanba Zao) and Mireille Marcelin, to provide elementary education to local children as well as at least one meal a day; the school hires local schoolteachers as well. Donations can be made by Western Union Transfer. For more information, contact: Louis Lesly Marcelin at [email protected]
Fosaj/Jacmel Arts Center is, as they write on their webpage: “an inclusive space for all creative minds to express themselves and collaborate together to share more beautiful and powerful stories from their culture.” The artists run workshops in the arts, including dance and drum, but also focusing on visual and plastic arts, such as the papier maché tradition for which Jacmel is so well known. To support their work, go to: https://jacmelartscenter.wordpress.com
[NOTE: August 19/21: FOSAJ is located in Jacmel, in one of the areas affected by the August 14/21 earthquake; they were also damaged in the 2010 earthquake]
Atis Fanm Matenwa is a women’s artists collective located in a remote village in the interior of LaGonav island off the coast of Haiti; they seek funds to re-build their homes and to continue the art work that sustains their community:
http://www.artmatenwa.org/
Zanmi Lakay is an organization focused on assisting homeless and formerly homeless Haitian children attain an education and direction in life; a major project of ZL has been photography workshops and training, based in Jacmel, in Southern Haiti. Summer photography camps allow Haitian children and youth to document their own lives, as well as gain valuable training in a trade as photographers. The resulting photography is exhibited and sold locally as well as in the US. Children can also be sponsored to attend local schools. See the following website for more information, and to view the photography:
www.zanmilakay.org
Mid-Size & Large NGOS doing good work:
Institute for Justice & Democray in Haiti (IJDH), is a Boston-based legal advocacy NGO with offices in Haiti (under the name, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux). As they write on their website, they are: “a partnership of Haitian and US human rights advocates, supporting the Haitian people in their grassroots struggle for a just system of law, a society without violence, social justice, and a democratic government.” Visit them at the following website to learn more about their legal campaigns and other initiatives: http://www.ijdh.org
KANPE, a francophone organization based in Montreal and founded by singer Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire & Dominique Anglade, who lost her well-known parents in the quake, focuses on various causes: economic independence, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, secure housing. Associated with Paul Farmer’s Fanmi Lasante & FONKOZE (site is in French & English): http://www.kanpe.org/
CECI(Centre d’étude et de coopération internationale) is a French-Canadian org operating in Haiti since 1971 on various aspects of development:
http://www.ceci.ca/fr/regions/haiti/
COHEF (Children of Haiti Enhancement Foundation, Inc.) works to provide schooling to disadvantaged children in rural areas. Motto: Independence through education. See:
http://www.cohef.org
International Child Care works primarily with children in Haiti & the DR. http://www.internationalchildcare.org/give
Handicap International “is an independent and impartial aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster,” around the world; their work in Haiti is aimed primarily at assisting injured earthquake survivors, including amputees: https://www.hi-us.org
EqualHealth is a global community of health professionals, educators, and activists dedicated to the fight for health equity which transcends borders. Equal Health works in various parts of Africa and also in Haiti. Funds can be directed to various parts of their movement, including their campaign against racism (see: http://www.equalhealth.org/campaign-against-racism)
They state: “We bring together the strength and vision of organizations with their own histories and paths united by a shared commitment to building a global movement of social medicine educators and practitioners tackling health inequity in their institutions and in broader society.”
http://www.equalhealth.org/donate
Doctors without Borders
http://doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/?ref=main-menu