St. Joseph’s Family Ministries
Started in 1985 by Michael Geilenfeld, a former Brother in Mother Teresa’s Missionary of Charity Order, St. Joseph’s Family is composed of three facilities: St. Joseph’s Home For Boys and Guest House in Delmas, Port-au-Prince; Wings of Hope in Fermathe; and Trinity House School in Jacmel.
St. Joseph’s Home For Boys and Guest House
This wonderful home the Delmas area of Port-au-Prince is alive with positive energy from 20 boys, ages 8 to 18, who enchant everyone with singing, dancing, smiles, laughter and hearty hugs upon arrival. The boys make a large portion of their livelihood by running the Guest House.
When they are not attending classes at the local private Lutheran school, they do everything from preparing meals to cleaning, to creative arts, to dance with the Resurrection Dance Theatre, which performs on their rooftop theatre space, as well as touring around the world. All these boys were found on the streets or brought to the Home. “Graduates” from the Home include “Maya” Luckner Fondrose, who has gone on to be Director of Wings of Hope, and today is the Servant Leader for Advancement for the entire St. Joseph’s Family.
“Wings of Hope” Disabled Children’s Home and Guest House
Another warm and welcoming home, this place is also the premier facility in all the Caribbean for the care of severely disabled children. Conceived by Michael Geilenfeld and the older boys from St. Joseph’s Home, who could not sit by and watch these children be “thrown away,” Wings of Hope will touch your heart and prove to you the power of God’s love and gospel hope. The Haitian Timoun Foundation has made substantial investments in the equipment and the environment of this place. Visitors are always delighted in the mountain setting and the fresh air; and they are moved and inspired by the kids and those who care for them. While there, visitors also will get to participate in their daily routine, including meals, classroom time and play time. Visiting Wings in Fermathe is the high point for many on any journey to Haiti.
Trinity House School (Lekol Sen Trinite)
Located in Jacmel, atop a rise that overlooks the Caribbean Sea, Trinity House (Lekol Sen Trinite, or LST) is the newest of the St. Joseph’s Family Ministries, and the one undergoing the biggest changes. Over the past year, HTF has partnered extensively with LST to build their large school building, from walls to ceiling to rooftop. Students who attend are from the poorest of the poor in Jacmel, and fees are nominal. There is elementary education, along with vocational training programs just getting started in auto repair and in bread baking (there is a bakery on the premise, also an income generator for the School). The newest project just being launched is a coffee co-op, offering fair trade prices for mountain coffee farmers, roasting the beans, then marketing them in Haiti and North America under the “St. Joe’s Java” brand. Francique is the Haitian Director of LST.
Grace Children’s Hospital
Founded in 1967, Grace Children’s Hospital is the flagship ministry of International Child Care. It is recognized as Haiti’s leading medical facility dedicated to the treatment of children with tuberculosis. The entire staff is composed of Haitian nationals. The hospital recently inaugurated HIV/AIDS treatment services to protect against the double threat of TB and HIV, two of the most urgent public health issues in Haiti today. HTF is also partnering with GCH on nationwide immunization projects, under the project name “Give A Kid A Shot.” In addition, we are brokering partnerships with medical equipment and pharmaceutical industries to access and ship much needed technology and medicines.
“House of Blessings” Home
Phil and Lonnie Murphy, two spirited people from the Mississippi coast, arrived in Haiti about 20 years ago and established this foster home in Kenskoff for orphaned children. Their vision has expanded to include a beautiful home for the kids, and extensive farming projects, designed not only to provide for the home but to teach the latest and “greenest” agricultural techniques.
Phil and Lonnie officially left House of Blessings in November 2007, placing its management into the capable and loving hands of an all Haitian staff made up of their former foster kids. In November, Phil and Lonnie came to Abiding Hope to inspire us, not only with their story, but in their willingness to start again and trust in God. We look forward to continued work and inspiration for them in the next year.
Fonkoze
“Fonkoze” is a Haitian Creole acronym for Fondasyon Kole Zepol, which means, “The Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation.” The word itself conveys the meaning, “in the midst of sharing.” Fonkoze is “Haiti’s Alternative for the Organized Poor” – the largest micro-finance organization offering a full range of financial services to the rural-based poor in Haiti. Its mission is to build the economic foundations for democracy in Haiti. Established in 1994, Fonkoze currently has over 115,000 depositors, over 45,000 active borrowers (99% of whom are women), and 32 branch offices spread throughout every department of Haiti. As of December 31, 2006, Fonkoze had over $9.5 million in savings deposits, and over $9 million in loans outstanding. The services offered by Fonkoze include:
o Solidarity group and individual loans that are used to start or expand a small business.
o Savings products geared towards meeting the needs of the poor.
o Currency exchange services that allow Haitians to change US dollars into Haitian gourdes at a preferential rate.
o Money transfer services that allow Haitians living overseas the opportunity to transfer funds to Haiti at a very low cost.
o Literacy, business skills, and good health practices training.
Louverture Cleary School
“A Louverture Cleary education can change a life, and through that life, a thousand more.” This is the vision of “The Haitian Project,” a Catholic mission that supports and operates Louverture Cleary School, a tuition-free co-educational secondary boarding school for the poorest yet brightest Haitian children. Founded in the early 80s, today LCS now enrolls 350, and provides one of the finest classical educations available in the Caribbean.
Graduates are fluent in at least four languages (Creole, French, English and Spanish); in fact, they alternate learning various subjects IN each of those languages! Students live at the school Sunday evening through Thursday, then spend the weekend with family.
H.E.L.P. (Haitian Education and Leadership Program)
The Haitian Education and Leadership Program (HELP) provides merit-based university scholarships in Haiti for top high school graduates who could never afford the tuition. HELP serves bright, motivated young men and women with a proven record of academic achievement for whom the only obstacle to a university education and a better future is the lack of financial resources. HELP scholarships contribute to the growth of Haiti’s professional class and change long-standing inequities and rigid class structure. Founded through the partnership of one American teacher, Conor Bohan, and one student, Isemonde Joseph, in 1997, who later went on to medical school and is now an MD in Port-au-Prince, HELP is now the hope of many bright young people who are working to transform their nation and their world.
TetKole
Verbo Jean Julien, a Haitian lawyer, has a passion for reuniting street kids with their families. Based in Jacmel, TetKole (with means “heads together”) is 100% funded by HTF. Verbo locates street kids, brings them in, feeds them, clothes them, provides their education, reconnects them with their relatives, and counsels entire families to give them tools to remain together.
PAZAPA
PAZAPA Center for Handicapped Children in Jacmel was established by Jane MacRae in 1987. The mission of PAZAPA (in Creole, “Step by Step”) is to support the treatment, education, and development of over 500 mentally and physically handicapped children in Jacmel and throughout southern Haiti, and to integrate them into the community at large. Children live at home with their families and come to PAZAPA one or more days a week. Jane continues as Executive Director, but due to illness she turning operations over to Haitian staff and to her daughter, Marika, sooner than she had expected.
