At 8:29 a.m. EDT on August 14, 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Petit-Trou-de-Nippes on Haiti’s southern peninsula, about 90 miles west of Port-au-Prince. At least 1,400 people are known to have died, over 5,700 injured, and approximately 12,000 houses and other buildings have been destroyed. The affected area is also home to seventeen Episcopal schools, and an Episcopal college.
NAES would like you to know of the reputable organizations already at work in Haiti, whom you might wish to support. Though far from a comprehensive list, the agencies listed below are personally known to those working in the Haiti Partnership Program and assessed by the following criteria:
- Increasing Haitians’ capacities for managing their own future
- Haitians involved in the management of the agency
- Moving toward sustainability
- Low or zero fundraising administrative overhead
- Providing employment for Haitians
- Driven by needs and goals of Haitians, not by donors’ wishes
Following this earthquake—even stronger than the quake that devastated Haiti in 2010, killing well over 200,000 people—there is an urgent need for assistance. First responders are overstretched, hospitals are beyond capacity, and medical personnel and supplies are scarce.
Please help support these organizations. The vital work they do to support everyday Haitians will become even more critical in the weeks and months following this disaster.
Episcopal Relief & Development
Works in collaboration with church partners and local organizations to facilitate healthier, more fulfilling lives in communities that are struggling with hunger, poverty, disaster and disease.
Currently working through partner agencies already on the ground in Haiti.
Haiti Nursing Foundation
HNF improves health in Haiti by supporting quality nursing education, primarily at the Faculté des Sciences Infirmières de l’Université Episcopale d’Haïti, located in Léogâne.
Their graduate RNs and Family Nurse Practitioners are vital partners in the relief efforts.
Maison de Naissance
Sponsored by Global Birthing Home Foundation, a modern maternal health center supporting healthy mothers and healthy babies in Haiti.
Located near the epicenter, their buildings sustained heavy damage. Until facilities are repaired, staff is attempting to continue to provide safe deliveries and post-natal care outdoors.
Partners in Health
Provides a preferential option for the poor in health care, through long-term relationships with sister organizations based in settings of poverty.
Sent medical and patient transport teams to Haiti’s southwest to deliver equipment and help stabilize and transport patients to undamaged hospitals in other parts of the country.
St. Vincent’s Center
A school for 200 children in the greater Port-au-Prince area. Teaches approximately 100 deaf, 60 blind, and 40 physically-challenged children daily, many of whom are in wheelchairs.
Dispatched its team of five orthopedic surgeons to the southwest to join with doctors there in treating and stabilizing crush injuries.
For information about other ways to support, to be added to the Haiti Partnership e-mail list, or to inquire about possible long-term partnerships, contact Canon Serena Evans Beeks at serenabeeks@cs.com.