| . |
HAITI EARTHQUAKE RELIEF - 26’ TRUCK OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES
AND FOOD DONATED BY UNITY COALITION|COALICION UNIDA,
NEAT STUFF & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE
UC|CU, Ambiente & Neat Stuff’s Vanessa Brito to travel on UN mission
to Haiti in the next few days – First & only So. Fla. LGBT leader to do so.
January 17, 2010...Miami, Florida- The stream of cars & donations kept coming all
day to Neat Stuff’s headquarters in Miami for the Haiti Relief Centers set up by
South Florida LGBT organization Unity Coalition|Coalicion Unida (UC|CU) &
Ambiente Magazine. Drop off points sponsored by both Neat Stuff & Hispanic
Coalition helped to fill the first of several 26 foot trucks - loaded with medical
supplies, food and other much needed items for the people of Haiti.
The donation drive hosted yesterday was an immediate response to help
alleviate the crippled Caribbean country its capital city of Port-Au-Prince this
past Jan 12th, leaving over 100,000 dead and millions homeless and without basic
services & care.
Understanding the critical need for medical supplies above all other physical
donations, Unity Coalition, Neat Stuff, and Ambiente Magazine made an urgent
request to its members and supporters within 24 hours of the catastrophe. A
multitude of locals, tourists
and community leaders arrived to donate crutches, wheelchairs, boxes of gauze,
syringes, surgical equipment, oxygen machines, orthopedic equipment, compact
food, and many other needed items.
The donations were loaded up by UC|CU volunteers and delivered to the City of
North Miami collection center destined for Delmas, Haiti. Robinson Elie of HMIpix
said “My people are indebted to you. You guys brought a huge truck full of
medical supplies and much more. I just hope that I will be able to return the favor
one day. The medical supplies are very much needed and to bring this much.”
Yesterday’s efforts have also yielded a request by the United Nations medical team to ask that Unity Coalition and Neat Stuff board
member and Ambient features writer, Vanessa Brito, accept an advisory role with the response crew currently on the ground in
Dominican Republic and Haiti. Brito will be the first & only South Florida LGBT leader to make this important gesture & trip to Haiti.
Vanessa Brito, Haiti Relief event coordinator for UC|CU & Ambiente added “When we decided to host a donation drive, we
recognized the importance of collecting the supplies that can save lives. This entire effort is about one thing – there are people
suffering, dying, and desperate for help who need support. I am humbled by the opportunity to help and hope our team can make a
positive dent amidst this tragedy.”
Unity Coalition & Ambiente Magazine have a tradition of serving and giving back to not just the LGBT & Latino Communities, but to
ALL communities in need of assistance, leadership or equality. I can’t think of a more deserving & immediate need than the Haitian
people right now. We’ll be collecting needed supplies for them today, next week, month & however long it takes to get that
community back on its feet.” said UC|CU president and Ambiente editor, Herb Sosa.
Frank Monjarrez, Exec. Director of Neat Stuff, Inc. said “This is a very personal issue for me, and giving back to our community is
paramount for myself & the Neat stuff family. When catastrophic events as this occur, they not only affect those living through it,
they affect all of us”.
Along with UC|CU, Neat Stuff & Ambiente Magazine, many wonderful organizations, businesses & individuals have joined our efforts,
including Hispanic Coalition, SAVE Dade, Milancita.com, Miami Coalition Against Breed Specific Legislation, Flower Bar,
BigIdeaWraps.com, and many others.
ABOUT
Unity Coalition|Coalicion Unida | UNITY COALITION|COALICION UNIDA is the leading Latino|Hispanic gay civil-rights initiative,
offering leadership on issues that concern LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Latino|Hispanic and other minority groups across
the U.S. www.unitycoalition.org
Neat Stuff | a 501c3 organization, Provides free brand new clothing, shoes, accessories and gifts to meet some of the basic needs of
abused, neglected and other children in distress, allowing them to dress with pride and dignity, inspiring their self worth.
www.neatstuffhelpskids.org
Ambiente Magazine | AMBIENTE Magazine is an LGBT publication with items of interest in English, Spanish & Portuguese, produced bi-
monthly, offered free of charge, and distributed digitally around the globe to thousands of our readers.
www.ambiente.us
American Red cross
www.redcross.org
The American Red Cross helps prepare communities for emergencies and keep people safe every day thanks to caring people who
support our work. Text the word HAITI to the number 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts.
It'll show up on your phone bill. Or donate online at RedCross.org.
HaitiClinic.org
www.haiticlinic.org
The Early Vision of Haiti Clinic: Having been born of a simple request by a neighborhood resident to “come and do a clinic”, the first
effort of this group was just that. In late June, 2007, several Florida practitioners from Brevard and Indian River Counties held a
makeshift clinic in Cite Soleil and treated 263 patients in 2 days under less than optimal conditions.
Haiti Clinic is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is dedicated to improving healthcare in the impoverished nation of Haiti. Our
aim is to provide the resources necessary to utilize the vast knowledge and abilities of healthcare practitioners and other volunteers
to impact the lives of some of the poorest people in the Western Hemisphere. This includes access to medications and physicians,
basic necessities such as clean water and adequate nutrition, as well as education and sanitation. A dedicated space that is
adequate to the task is a must and we have been extremely fortunate to find just that in the Mission Ranch.
Our volunteers come from all over to support this wonderful cause. The people who volunteer their time, talent and resources have a
wide variety of backgrounds, religious affiliations and political views but their one commonality is the desire to bring help and hope
to the suffering citizens of Haiti.
We create teams that function together as a network – enhancing our ability to bring the needed clinical, physical and financial
resources to those in dire need. Moving forward, our aim is to train Haitian community members in healthcare practices and other
professions, so that the Clinic will someday function on its’ own. Ultimately, Haiti Clinic envisions itself as a Haitian-run facility, with
health staff augmented by periodic visits from American clinicians, generalists and specialists.
LGBT community organizes and fundraises to help Haiti recover & rebuild
As lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, we know and have seen the power of a family standing together in support, and the
pain of it falling away. Being part of the human family also comes with responsibility to our larger family. Today, our Haitian brothers
and sisters are facing an enormous crisis and need our support.
Whatever members of the LGBT community may be doing as individuals in the wake of this tragedy, a community response is also
necessary and appropriate. Please help to provide an organized LGBT community-wide response to this human catastrophe.
Here's what you can do to help:
SAVE Dade in partnership with other LGBT organizations, and the Dade Community Foundation have set up the:
"LGBT Community Response to the Crisis in Haiti Fund" to ensure that our dollars are delivered to the most needed and deserving
efforts. The Dade Community Foundation is in communication with major charitable relief efforts and will make quick and timely
distribution of funds to the most urgent efforts.
Contributions can be made online by clicking here.
If the link doesn't work you can copy and paste: (http://www.dadecommunityfoundation.org/Site/wc/wc233.jsp?menuid=198) into
your browser; and then click on "Donate"; copy
"LGBT Community Response to the Crisis in Haiti Fund" and paste it into the "Purpose" box.
Checks can also be sent. They should be made payable to: LGBT Community Response to the Crisis in Haiti Fund at the DCF and mailed
to:
Dade Community Foundation
200 S. Biscayne Blvd., Suite 505
Miami FL 33131-2343
Donations of materials and supplies are also very much needed and being excepted.
The more than 70 million online Brazilians may donate to Haiti relief efforts using a new Portuguese website called
www.AjudaPanamericana.org
Apelo urgente para o Haiti
Com as consequências do terremoto 7.0 que devastou o Haiti , indivíduos estão sendo estimulados a fazerem doações à Fundação
Pan -Americana de desenvolvimento. As doações serão usadas para compras e transportes necessários para os haitianos. Você
pode doar aqui ou ligar para um número gratuito especial para fazer a doação: (877) 572-4484.
Casa Rosada
Email: lacasarosada2001@yahoo.com
Casa Rosada, or the Pink House in English, is the only orphanage in the Dominican Republic that will accept children with HIV/AIDS. It is
home for 50 children, ages 10 months to 15 years, whose parents have died or abandoned them in hospitals near Santo Domingo. It is
run by Catholic nuns and recieves funding from public and private organizations, including the Catholic church. Anti-retroviral
medicine is provided by the Dominican government.
UNICEF is seeking donations to the ongoing emergency relief efforts in Haiti and the Caribbean region through www.unicefusa.
org/haitiquake or call 1-800-4UNICEF.
UN TECHO PARA MI PAIS REACTS IMMEDIATELY TO HELP THE RECONSTRUCTION OF HAITI
Organization aims to build 100 emergency houses for the families affected by the 7.3 Richter scale earthquake that occurred in Haiti.
All those who want to collaborate can make their donation through| www.untechoparamipais.org
Operation Helping Hands, a joint community project of The Miami Herald and United Way-Miami, will be collecting donations to
support the relief effort in Haiti.
To make a contribution, go to www.iwant2help.org
Checking on relatives in Haiti:
Mercy Corps established a Haiti Earthquake Fund, PO Box 2669,Portland, OR 97208, www.mercycorps.org, 1-888-256-1900
The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) -- the natural disaster relief arm of the OAS -- was asking people who want
to donate to visit its special relief website called www.PanAmericanRelief.org.
Doctors Without Borders is asking for donations to help the emergency response teams in Haiti. Donate with a debit or credit card
at https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org.
Also, U.S. citizens wondering about family in Haiti can ring the U.S. State Department's American Citizen Services line at 1-888-407-
4747.
Project Medishare, Miami, brings medical care to northeast Haiti. Make a donation at projectmedishare.org; 305-762-6448.
Hope for Haiti, Naples, Fla., is an education and relief charity that will send supplies by private plane. Donate at hopeforhaiti.com;
239-434-7183.
Agape Flights, Venice, Fla., services American missionaries throughout the Caribbean with supply flights, the next scheduled for
Thursday. Donate at agapeflights.com; 941-584-8078.
American Jewish World Service is a New York-based worldwide relief organization with a Haitian disaster fund. Donate at ajws.
org; 212-792-2900.
Haitian Education Project, St. Leo University, north of Tampa, is organizing relief efforts to support people on the ground. For
information: haitianeducationproject@saintleo.edu; 800-334-5532 or 352-588-8331.
ORPHANAGES IN HAITI
Agape Home
http://www.plantingpeace.org
Agape Home for HIV Positive Children, a four-bedroom home that cares for 10 children infected with HIV, is run by Aaron Jackson of
Hollywood and John Dieubon, a Haitian translator and missionary. The home opened in June near another orphanage Jackson and
Dieubon established for orphans without HIV. The budget for Agape Home is roughly $2,000 a month, which includes food and school
tuition for the children and a local staff of two. The budget is paid by the Homeless Voice, a 9-year-old homeless advocacy group run
by activist Sean Cononie. Jackson regularly travels to Haiti to help manage the orphanages. Agape Home is part of Planting Peace,
an organization created by Jackson and sponsored chiefly by the Homeless Voice.
Albert Schweitzer Hospital
http://www.hashaiti.org
For 50 years, the Albert Schweitzer Hospital has provided medical care and community health services to the 385,000 impoverished
people in the Artibonite Valley of central Haiti. It has begun to help children infected with HIV and has community health workers who
travel hundreds of miles to take medicine to children and adults in remote villages.
Batey Relief Alliance
http://www.bateyrelief.org/mt
Batey Relief provides clinics, mobile medical units and educational programs in bateyes, communities of ethnic Haitian migrants who
worked the sugar cane fields in the Dominican Republic. In recent years, Batey Relief's work has increasingly dealt with HIV/AIDS. An
estimated 200,000 Haitians live in the bateyes, born in the Dominican Republic but not considered citizens. They face discrimination
and poverty, which has led to poor health care and HIV infection rates two to three times higher than the rest of the country.
CAD
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti_28368.html
The Centre d'Aide au Développement works with street children and other orphans in central Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It has a school,
dormitory and recreation center for about 280 children. Hundreds more street children are helped. Despite political turmoil and
sporadic funding, the center is trying to begin testing and to provide medical treatment for HIV-infected street children and
restaveks, child servants, common in Haiti. Most of its funding comes from UNICEF and countries such as Japan and Taiwan.
Comfort House
http://www.haiticomfort.org
Ray and Trisha Comfort took in their first child orphaned by AIDS in 2004, and they now care for nine children in a rented three-
bedroom home in Verrettes, Haiti. The home can hold 10 children comfortably, but the couple say they could take at least six more
than that if necessary. They say they will not turn away a child. They have just started building a new orphanage for 80 on land outside
La Chapelle, Haiti.. The couple works closely with UNICEF and the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Haiti. They also receive funding from
the Episcopal church they attended in South Carolina. They spend roughly $2,500 each month taking care of the children and
estimate it will cost $50,000 to build the new orphanage. So far, they have spent $60,000 of their personal savings.
Cyril Ross Nursery
http://www.svdptt.org/cr_nursery.htm
The lone orphanage for HIV-positive children in Trinidad and Tobago is the Cyril Ross Nursery. Founded by the Society of St. Vincent De
Paul, it began as a hospice for dying AIDS babies in the 1980s but now has 40 children living on its premises and administers out-
patient care to 42 others who have families to care for them, according to Hyacinthe Cross, manager of the home.
Dare to Care
http://www.mustardseed.com/children/ dare_to_care.html
Dare to Care is the HIV/AIDS program of Mustard Seed Communities, a Catholic charity that houses 45 HIV-positive children in two
homes in St. Catherine and Kingston, Jamaica. Two more are planned. The children come from all over the island, and most were
abandoned by parents sick with AIDS or were orphaned after their mother or father died from AIDS. Many of the children were
transferred from other orphanages, where children still face discrimination if their HIV status is revealed. It is the only recognized
orphanage specializing in HIV orphans in Jamaica.
FHI
http://www.fhi.org
Family Health International is one of the larger medical organizations in the Caribbean, supporting projects to help AIDS orphans,
support HIV prevention, and provide medical care for women in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Guyana. It is funded by
private donors and U.S. government agencies such as USAID, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Friends of the Orphans
Http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org
International non-profit operates St. Helene, an orphanage for orphaned, abandoned and disadvantaged children in Port-au-Prince,
Haiti. Through funding provided by the Catholic Medical Mission Bureau and PEPFAR, the home treats 18 of its children for HIV/AIDS
and 15 others as outpatients. The group has announced plans to open a free hospital in Port-au-Prince this month Dec. 2006 and offer
HIV/AIDS treatment .
GHESKIO
http://www.haitimedical.com/gheskio
GHESKIO is the center of AIDS treatment and research in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Haitian Study Group on Kaposi's Sarcoma and
Opportunistic Infections (GHESKIO is the acronym for the title in French) was created in 1982 by Haitian physicians. It was the first
research group on HIV formed after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recognized AIDS. Cornell University Medical College is one of
the center's chief sponsors, and GHESKIO works closely with agencies such as UNAIDS and the Pan American Health Organization.
Partners in Health
http://www.pih.org
Founded in Haiti's rugged Central Plateau region soon after the first cases of AIDS emerged, PIH is one of the leading medical
charities in the world. Led by Paul Farmer, a Harvard physician and author, the organization pioneered the techniques that are now
used to get AIDS drugs to the poor in rural areas. It trains Haitians to be health care workers and serves at least 500,000 residents from
its hospital complex in the village of Cange.
Rainbow House
http://www.maisonlarcenciel.orgv in French
http://www.haitianministries.org/ la_maison_larc-en-ciel.php in English
Rainbow House, La Maison l'Arc en Ciel in French, runs a 36-bed home for children orphaned by AIDS. It also runs a community
outreach program that offers in-home care to more than 100 families affected by HIV, and it trains teachers, social workers and other
community leaders how to help families affected by AIDS. Its total budget is roughly $500,000 a year, paid by groups like UNICEF,
Oxfam, and religious and humans rights organizations in the United States and Canada. Rainbow House was founded by Danielle Reid
Penette, a Canadian living in Haiti, and Robert Penette, her Haitian husband, in 1996.
AND FOOD DONATED BY UNITY COALITION|COALICION UNIDA,
NEAT STUFF & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE
UC|CU, Ambiente & Neat Stuff’s Vanessa Brito to travel on UN mission
to Haiti in the next few days – First & only So. Fla. LGBT leader to do so.
January 17, 2010...Miami, Florida- The stream of cars & donations kept coming all
day to Neat Stuff’s headquarters in Miami for the Haiti Relief Centers set up by
South Florida LGBT organization Unity Coalition|Coalicion Unida (UC|CU) &
Ambiente Magazine. Drop off points sponsored by both Neat Stuff & Hispanic
Coalition helped to fill the first of several 26 foot trucks - loaded with medical
supplies, food and other much needed items for the people of Haiti.
The donation drive hosted yesterday was an immediate response to help
alleviate the crippled Caribbean country its capital city of Port-Au-Prince this
past Jan 12th, leaving over 100,000 dead and millions homeless and without basic
services & care.
Understanding the critical need for medical supplies above all other physical
donations, Unity Coalition, Neat Stuff, and Ambiente Magazine made an urgent
request to its members and supporters within 24 hours of the catastrophe. A
multitude of locals, tourists
and community leaders arrived to donate crutches, wheelchairs, boxes of gauze,
syringes, surgical equipment, oxygen machines, orthopedic equipment, compact
food, and many other needed items.
The donations were loaded up by UC|CU volunteers and delivered to the City of
North Miami collection center destined for Delmas, Haiti. Robinson Elie of HMIpix
said “My people are indebted to you. You guys brought a huge truck full of
medical supplies and much more. I just hope that I will be able to return the favor
one day. The medical supplies are very much needed and to bring this much.”
Yesterday’s efforts have also yielded a request by the United Nations medical team to ask that Unity Coalition and Neat Stuff board
member and Ambient features writer, Vanessa Brito, accept an advisory role with the response crew currently on the ground in
Dominican Republic and Haiti. Brito will be the first & only South Florida LGBT leader to make this important gesture & trip to Haiti.
Vanessa Brito, Haiti Relief event coordinator for UC|CU & Ambiente added “When we decided to host a donation drive, we
recognized the importance of collecting the supplies that can save lives. This entire effort is about one thing – there are people
suffering, dying, and desperate for help who need support. I am humbled by the opportunity to help and hope our team can make a
positive dent amidst this tragedy.”
Unity Coalition & Ambiente Magazine have a tradition of serving and giving back to not just the LGBT & Latino Communities, but to
ALL communities in need of assistance, leadership or equality. I can’t think of a more deserving & immediate need than the Haitian
people right now. We’ll be collecting needed supplies for them today, next week, month & however long it takes to get that
community back on its feet.” said UC|CU president and Ambiente editor, Herb Sosa.
Frank Monjarrez, Exec. Director of Neat Stuff, Inc. said “This is a very personal issue for me, and giving back to our community is
paramount for myself & the Neat stuff family. When catastrophic events as this occur, they not only affect those living through it,
they affect all of us”.
Along with UC|CU, Neat Stuff & Ambiente Magazine, many wonderful organizations, businesses & individuals have joined our efforts,
including Hispanic Coalition, SAVE Dade, Milancita.com, Miami Coalition Against Breed Specific Legislation, Flower Bar,
BigIdeaWraps.com, and many others.
ABOUT
Unity Coalition|Coalicion Unida | UNITY COALITION|COALICION UNIDA is the leading Latino|Hispanic gay civil-rights initiative,
offering leadership on issues that concern LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Latino|Hispanic and other minority groups across
the U.S. www.unitycoalition.org
Neat Stuff | a 501c3 organization, Provides free brand new clothing, shoes, accessories and gifts to meet some of the basic needs of
abused, neglected and other children in distress, allowing them to dress with pride and dignity, inspiring their self worth.
www.neatstuffhelpskids.org
Ambiente Magazine | AMBIENTE Magazine is an LGBT publication with items of interest in English, Spanish & Portuguese, produced bi-
monthly, offered free of charge, and distributed digitally around the globe to thousands of our readers.
www.ambiente.us
American Red cross
www.redcross.org
The American Red Cross helps prepare communities for emergencies and keep people safe every day thanks to caring people who
support our work. Text the word HAITI to the number 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts.
It'll show up on your phone bill. Or donate online at RedCross.org.
HaitiClinic.org
www.haiticlinic.org
The Early Vision of Haiti Clinic: Having been born of a simple request by a neighborhood resident to “come and do a clinic”, the first
effort of this group was just that. In late June, 2007, several Florida practitioners from Brevard and Indian River Counties held a
makeshift clinic in Cite Soleil and treated 263 patients in 2 days under less than optimal conditions.
Haiti Clinic is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is dedicated to improving healthcare in the impoverished nation of Haiti. Our
aim is to provide the resources necessary to utilize the vast knowledge and abilities of healthcare practitioners and other volunteers
to impact the lives of some of the poorest people in the Western Hemisphere. This includes access to medications and physicians,
basic necessities such as clean water and adequate nutrition, as well as education and sanitation. A dedicated space that is
adequate to the task is a must and we have been extremely fortunate to find just that in the Mission Ranch.
Our volunteers come from all over to support this wonderful cause. The people who volunteer their time, talent and resources have a
wide variety of backgrounds, religious affiliations and political views but their one commonality is the desire to bring help and hope
to the suffering citizens of Haiti.
We create teams that function together as a network – enhancing our ability to bring the needed clinical, physical and financial
resources to those in dire need. Moving forward, our aim is to train Haitian community members in healthcare practices and other
professions, so that the Clinic will someday function on its’ own. Ultimately, Haiti Clinic envisions itself as a Haitian-run facility, with
health staff augmented by periodic visits from American clinicians, generalists and specialists.
LGBT community organizes and fundraises to help Haiti recover & rebuild
As lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, we know and have seen the power of a family standing together in support, and the
pain of it falling away. Being part of the human family also comes with responsibility to our larger family. Today, our Haitian brothers
and sisters are facing an enormous crisis and need our support.
Whatever members of the LGBT community may be doing as individuals in the wake of this tragedy, a community response is also
necessary and appropriate. Please help to provide an organized LGBT community-wide response to this human catastrophe.
Here's what you can do to help:
SAVE Dade in partnership with other LGBT organizations, and the Dade Community Foundation have set up the:
"LGBT Community Response to the Crisis in Haiti Fund" to ensure that our dollars are delivered to the most needed and deserving
efforts. The Dade Community Foundation is in communication with major charitable relief efforts and will make quick and timely
distribution of funds to the most urgent efforts.
Contributions can be made online by clicking here.
If the link doesn't work you can copy and paste: (http://www.dadecommunityfoundation.org/Site/wc/wc233.jsp?menuid=198) into
your browser; and then click on "Donate"; copy
"LGBT Community Response to the Crisis in Haiti Fund" and paste it into the "Purpose" box.
Checks can also be sent. They should be made payable to: LGBT Community Response to the Crisis in Haiti Fund at the DCF and mailed
to:
Dade Community Foundation
200 S. Biscayne Blvd., Suite 505
Miami FL 33131-2343
Donations of materials and supplies are also very much needed and being excepted.
The more than 70 million online Brazilians may donate to Haiti relief efforts using a new Portuguese website called
www.AjudaPanamericana.org
Apelo urgente para o Haiti
Com as consequências do terremoto 7.0 que devastou o Haiti , indivíduos estão sendo estimulados a fazerem doações à Fundação
Pan -Americana de desenvolvimento. As doações serão usadas para compras e transportes necessários para os haitianos. Você
pode doar aqui ou ligar para um número gratuito especial para fazer a doação: (877) 572-4484.
Casa Rosada
Email: lacasarosada2001@yahoo.com
Casa Rosada, or the Pink House in English, is the only orphanage in the Dominican Republic that will accept children with HIV/AIDS. It is
home for 50 children, ages 10 months to 15 years, whose parents have died or abandoned them in hospitals near Santo Domingo. It is
run by Catholic nuns and recieves funding from public and private organizations, including the Catholic church. Anti-retroviral
medicine is provided by the Dominican government.
UNICEF is seeking donations to the ongoing emergency relief efforts in Haiti and the Caribbean region through www.unicefusa.
org/haitiquake or call 1-800-4UNICEF.
UN TECHO PARA MI PAIS REACTS IMMEDIATELY TO HELP THE RECONSTRUCTION OF HAITI
Organization aims to build 100 emergency houses for the families affected by the 7.3 Richter scale earthquake that occurred in Haiti.
All those who want to collaborate can make their donation through| www.untechoparamipais.org
Operation Helping Hands, a joint community project of The Miami Herald and United Way-Miami, will be collecting donations to
support the relief effort in Haiti.
To make a contribution, go to www.iwant2help.org
Checking on relatives in Haiti:
Mercy Corps established a Haiti Earthquake Fund, PO Box 2669,Portland, OR 97208, www.mercycorps.org, 1-888-256-1900
The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) -- the natural disaster relief arm of the OAS -- was asking people who want
to donate to visit its special relief website called www.PanAmericanRelief.org.
Doctors Without Borders is asking for donations to help the emergency response teams in Haiti. Donate with a debit or credit card
at https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org.
Also, U.S. citizens wondering about family in Haiti can ring the U.S. State Department's American Citizen Services line at 1-888-407-
4747.
Project Medishare, Miami, brings medical care to northeast Haiti. Make a donation at projectmedishare.org; 305-762-6448.
Hope for Haiti, Naples, Fla., is an education and relief charity that will send supplies by private plane. Donate at hopeforhaiti.com;
239-434-7183.
Agape Flights, Venice, Fla., services American missionaries throughout the Caribbean with supply flights, the next scheduled for
Thursday. Donate at agapeflights.com; 941-584-8078.
American Jewish World Service is a New York-based worldwide relief organization with a Haitian disaster fund. Donate at ajws.
org; 212-792-2900.
Haitian Education Project, St. Leo University, north of Tampa, is organizing relief efforts to support people on the ground. For
information: haitianeducationproject@saintleo.edu; 800-334-5532 or 352-588-8331.
ORPHANAGES IN HAITI
Agape Home
http://www.plantingpeace.org
Agape Home for HIV Positive Children, a four-bedroom home that cares for 10 children infected with HIV, is run by Aaron Jackson of
Hollywood and John Dieubon, a Haitian translator and missionary. The home opened in June near another orphanage Jackson and
Dieubon established for orphans without HIV. The budget for Agape Home is roughly $2,000 a month, which includes food and school
tuition for the children and a local staff of two. The budget is paid by the Homeless Voice, a 9-year-old homeless advocacy group run
by activist Sean Cononie. Jackson regularly travels to Haiti to help manage the orphanages. Agape Home is part of Planting Peace,
an organization created by Jackson and sponsored chiefly by the Homeless Voice.
Albert Schweitzer Hospital
http://www.hashaiti.org
For 50 years, the Albert Schweitzer Hospital has provided medical care and community health services to the 385,000 impoverished
people in the Artibonite Valley of central Haiti. It has begun to help children infected with HIV and has community health workers who
travel hundreds of miles to take medicine to children and adults in remote villages.
Batey Relief Alliance
http://www.bateyrelief.org/mt
Batey Relief provides clinics, mobile medical units and educational programs in bateyes, communities of ethnic Haitian migrants who
worked the sugar cane fields in the Dominican Republic. In recent years, Batey Relief's work has increasingly dealt with HIV/AIDS. An
estimated 200,000 Haitians live in the bateyes, born in the Dominican Republic but not considered citizens. They face discrimination
and poverty, which has led to poor health care and HIV infection rates two to three times higher than the rest of the country.
CAD
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti_28368.html
The Centre d'Aide au Développement works with street children and other orphans in central Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It has a school,
dormitory and recreation center for about 280 children. Hundreds more street children are helped. Despite political turmoil and
sporadic funding, the center is trying to begin testing and to provide medical treatment for HIV-infected street children and
restaveks, child servants, common in Haiti. Most of its funding comes from UNICEF and countries such as Japan and Taiwan.
Comfort House
http://www.haiticomfort.org
Ray and Trisha Comfort took in their first child orphaned by AIDS in 2004, and they now care for nine children in a rented three-
bedroom home in Verrettes, Haiti. The home can hold 10 children comfortably, but the couple say they could take at least six more
than that if necessary. They say they will not turn away a child. They have just started building a new orphanage for 80 on land outside
La Chapelle, Haiti.. The couple works closely with UNICEF and the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Haiti. They also receive funding from
the Episcopal church they attended in South Carolina. They spend roughly $2,500 each month taking care of the children and
estimate it will cost $50,000 to build the new orphanage. So far, they have spent $60,000 of their personal savings.
Cyril Ross Nursery
http://www.svdptt.org/cr_nursery.htm
The lone orphanage for HIV-positive children in Trinidad and Tobago is the Cyril Ross Nursery. Founded by the Society of St. Vincent De
Paul, it began as a hospice for dying AIDS babies in the 1980s but now has 40 children living on its premises and administers out-
patient care to 42 others who have families to care for them, according to Hyacinthe Cross, manager of the home.
Dare to Care
http://www.mustardseed.com/children/ dare_to_care.html
Dare to Care is the HIV/AIDS program of Mustard Seed Communities, a Catholic charity that houses 45 HIV-positive children in two
homes in St. Catherine and Kingston, Jamaica. Two more are planned. The children come from all over the island, and most were
abandoned by parents sick with AIDS or were orphaned after their mother or father died from AIDS. Many of the children were
transferred from other orphanages, where children still face discrimination if their HIV status is revealed. It is the only recognized
orphanage specializing in HIV orphans in Jamaica.
FHI
http://www.fhi.org
Family Health International is one of the larger medical organizations in the Caribbean, supporting projects to help AIDS orphans,
support HIV prevention, and provide medical care for women in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Guyana. It is funded by
private donors and U.S. government agencies such as USAID, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Friends of the Orphans
Http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org
International non-profit operates St. Helene, an orphanage for orphaned, abandoned and disadvantaged children in Port-au-Prince,
Haiti. Through funding provided by the Catholic Medical Mission Bureau and PEPFAR, the home treats 18 of its children for HIV/AIDS
and 15 others as outpatients. The group has announced plans to open a free hospital in Port-au-Prince this month Dec. 2006 and offer
HIV/AIDS treatment .
GHESKIO
http://www.haitimedical.com/gheskio
GHESKIO is the center of AIDS treatment and research in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Haitian Study Group on Kaposi's Sarcoma and
Opportunistic Infections (GHESKIO is the acronym for the title in French) was created in 1982 by Haitian physicians. It was the first
research group on HIV formed after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recognized AIDS. Cornell University Medical College is one of
the center's chief sponsors, and GHESKIO works closely with agencies such as UNAIDS and the Pan American Health Organization.
Partners in Health
http://www.pih.org
Founded in Haiti's rugged Central Plateau region soon after the first cases of AIDS emerged, PIH is one of the leading medical
charities in the world. Led by Paul Farmer, a Harvard physician and author, the organization pioneered the techniques that are now
used to get AIDS drugs to the poor in rural areas. It trains Haitians to be health care workers and serves at least 500,000 residents from
its hospital complex in the village of Cange.
Rainbow House
http://www.maisonlarcenciel.orgv in French
http://www.haitianministries.org/ la_maison_larc-en-ciel.php in English
Rainbow House, La Maison l'Arc en Ciel in French, runs a 36-bed home for children orphaned by AIDS. It also runs a community
outreach program that offers in-home care to more than 100 families affected by HIV, and it trains teachers, social workers and other
community leaders how to help families affected by AIDS. Its total budget is roughly $500,000 a year, paid by groups like UNICEF,
Oxfam, and religious and humans rights organizations in the United States and Canada. Rainbow House was founded by Danielle Reid
Penette, a Canadian living in Haiti, and Robert Penette, her Haitian husband, in 1996.
| . |
| Community Resources | Recursos Comunitarios |
Quake hits Haiti; tsunami warning issued for parts of Caribbean
EQUALITY
Est. 2002
The Red Cross is taking donations via
text messages.
Text the word HAITI to the number 90999
to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts.
It'll show up on your phone bill. Or donate
online at RedCross.org.
text messages.
Text the word HAITI to the number 90999
to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts.
It'll show up on your phone bill. Or donate
online at RedCross.org.
