07/13/2023
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT - CHI Haiti Winding Down Operations in Haiti
We are reaching out with the sad news of the closing of Community Health Initiative, Haiti. The board of directors and our executive directors have worked hard over the past several years to avoid this, but the situation in Haiti, with political instability, rampant violence, skyrocketing inflation, and our inability to travel there over the last four years, has proven to be insurmountable. Our US staff members have taken pay cuts, and we have borrowed as much money as we reasonably could, but in the end, it was just too much, and we are simply out of options.
None of this work would have been possible without you. Many of you have been with us for years and we will be forever grateful for your generosity. We cannot thank you enough for the resources; financial, personal, and professional, that you have entrusted us with in order to carry this work forward. We will always be grateful to you for our time together, as will our friends in Haiti.
The true heroes of this story, though, are our staff in Haiti. They have been running clinics on their own for four years now. They have not had a raise in eighteen months, but they have kept working because they understand how important the work that they do is. In the last few years, as the violence has spread from the capitol to Arcahaie, they have continued to care for people, despite tremendous personal risk. When it was too dangerous to run clinics, they have been going door-to-door to make sure that people get the care that they need. Despite burning tires and barricades, our incredible CHW’s find a way to get the sickest patients to the hospital. Dr. Daphene Pierre, our heroic medical director, has scoured the dangerous streets of Port-au-Prince for medications to distribute and has braved unspeakably horrifying conditions to get to Arcahaie. There are many, many others without whom this organization could never have been successful. We could never have hoped for a more committed, compassionate, and courageous team, and we will never have words enough to thank them for everything they have done. They have exceeded our wildest dreams.
Donations to CHI may still be made via the CHI website (https://www.chihaiti.org/) until July 30, 2023, as well as by check after that date (CHI Haiti, P.O. Box 1143, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406) until further notice. Those donations will be applied to outstanding obligations, as well as providing Haitian staff with a bit of a cushion during their transition to life without the financial support of CHI.
It breaks our hearts to see CHI come to an end, especially as the needs of both our communities and our staff have never been greater. But, as individuals, we will continue to look for ways to provide support in the hopes that once things are more stable, we can reunite.
We ask you to keep everyone in Haiti in your thoughts.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support.
Sincerely,
Leah Mathiason, Executive Director
Kim Riley-Adams, Board President
Chris Buresh, Co-Founder
———————————————-
To read the full letter from the CHI Executive Team click the link below or in our bio.
https://mailchi.mp/1b0b9cecde73/5sydh1vuss-16872920
