Habitat’s Relief Efforts in Haiti

On January 12th, Haiti was impacted by a devastating earthquake that has claimed the lives of over 150,000 people. Organizations and individuals around the world have responded by providing aid and assistance to the country. Habitat for Humanity-International (HOHI) is one of those organizations on the ground in Haiti and is responding to the housing needs of families.

HOHI has committed to help with a three-fold response to the disaster. One, Habitat is helping in the clean-up efforts by removing debris from home sites. Second, Habitat is providing recovery starter kits for families. The kits will provide building materials and tools that will allow families to make immediate repairs to their homes. The kits include items such as hammers, nails, buckets, rope, buckets and handsaws. Volunteers in the Dominican Republic and in Atlanta, GA have assisted in packaging together the recovery kits. The third response Habitat has committed to is repairing and rebuilding homes through the transitional housing method.

Habitat for Humanity has had a presence in Haiti for 26 years and worked with over 2,000 families. They have assisted in a variety of housing ways; including new home construction, progressive building and home repairs and improvements. All of the Habitat-Haiti staff members are safe, but unfortunately all have been deeply impacted by the earthquake. The Habitat office in Haiti was among the buildings that collapsed during the quake, but they have established offices in a new location.

The Habitat-Disaster response team has been in Haiti since January accessing the damage and reviewing best ways to move forward. The Habitat disaster response team has been in existence for over 10 years and focuses on housing needs that arise from natural and human conflicts. The team has assisted in past disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in Asia and the earthquake in China.

Habitat-McLean County tithes 10% of all unrestricted contributions to Habitat-International. The tithes provide for Habitat-Haiti and Habitat-Nicaragua to assist additional families’ secure safe, affordable housing.