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New Building for House of Hope
Post-Earthquake 2010 The Ecumenical Committee for Peace and Justice (COPJ) is a non-profit, ecumenical, Christian Committee that sponsors House of Hope in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. House of Hope is a program for children laboring as domestic servants (restaveks). House of Hope also assists young moms, single girls, and a few elderly women who have been abandoned by providing them with a safe place where they can learn social skills such as conflict resolution and a professional trade. House of Hope also has a broader program to promote peaceful resolution of conflict within the community through leadership development for community leaders and former gang members. This project addresses the needs of more than 200 children and adolescents from Carrefour-Feuilles and from Lasaline and other shanties in Port-au-Prince and has helped meet the needs of hundreds more in response to the January 12, 2010, earthquake. While many economic resources have been provided by the international community to Haiti, most of these funds have not reached the shanty communities where many live in hunger, misery, and inhuman conditions. Children of these communities are subject to a modern form of slavery and live in constant danger and threat of rampant violence. Impoverished girls go into prostitution or domestic slavery, impoverished boys beg and steal, youth give in to violence and hostage-taking to garner money on which to live. The earthquake has exacerbated these existing needs and the grave economic and social circumstances of these communities before and after the quake necessitate the urgency of immediate intervention to assist these children and rebuild the capacity of House of Hope. After the earthquake: One result of the January 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince was that House of Hope's rented facility in Carrefour-Feuilles was damaged beyond repair. The building must be demolished because it is not structurally sound after the earthquake and the subsequent aftershocks. The COPJ has been searching for a new location in Carrefour-Feuilles which will provide space for programs. Property prices are volatile with land prospectors taking advantage of the situation to purchase land, knowing that businesses and organizations need to rebuild. Despite this, a new location for House of Hope has been identified and is available for a reasonable price. The rented property at Lasaline continues to be used for House of Hope II. The building which COPJ hopes to buy for House of Hope is a large house near their current site. Because it is nearby, House of Hope will be able to continue to serve the same community. The house has twelve rooms and provides lots of space in the yard for children to play and participate in programs. The property already has a water reservoir and is connected to electricity. A power inverter, telephone line, and internet access will be added. They plan to build restrooms behind the house. Additional work to be done includes repairing the ceiling and repairing the security wall around the property which was damaged during the earthquake. These repairs and the move into the new building will be done by COPJ.
The down payment for the house is to be $130,000. The remainder of the cost must be paid within six months. Thus far, a total of $90,000 has been provided by the Mennonite Central Committee and Church World Service. This leaves $40,000 to be raised as soon as possible and an additional $59,000 to complete the purchase within six months. There are other organizations interested in the house so $40,000 must be raised as soon as possible so that House of Hope can finalize the sale and continue their crucial programming. Costs for the installation of the internet and phone connections and for the power inverter cannot be figured until House of Hope takes possession of the property and can bring in technical experts. Because damage to the previous location was so extensive, some of House of Hope's equipment and furnishings must be replaced. The following needs have been identified:
House of Hope plans to continue to offer educational classes which give youth and adolescents alternatives. The courses offered include sewing, embroidery, cooking, cosmetology, computer classes, and training to be an electrician, plumber, or mason. The new location offers more space so it will be possible to serve more young people. To see a summary of gifts sent to Global Ministries partners in Haiti as of May 19, click here: http://globalministries.org/news/lac/haiti-earthquake-response.html |
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