HAITI MICAH PROJECT INC

The Haiti Micah Project (HMP) invests in the future of Haiti's poorest children, one child at a time. It is a nonprofit, Christian organization committed to addressing the needs of impoverished and uneducated children in the City of Mirebalais, Haiti. The HMP provides the basic needs of these children: shelter, food, clean water, healthcare, education, and emotional nurturing. We help orphans and street children in Mirebalais and provide them with the care that all children need as they grow into self-sufficient members of society. Our ultimate goal is that, as these children grow into healthy and well-adjusted adults, they will take care of themselves and others around them, planting hope for a better future in Haiti.

1. Provide clean and safe shelter: Operate a children's residence to serve orphaned and at-risk children in the Central Plateau of Haiti. Provide meals, shelter, healthcare, clothing, and tuition to attend nearby St. Peter's Episcopal School and other local high schools. Upon accepting a child into the residence, the organization commits to fully supporting him/her until the child can successfully set out on his or her own as a healthy, contributing member of society.

2. Feed hungry children: Provide a nutritional, hot meal to 500+ children each day. A typical hot meal includes rice, beans, meat and a vegetable. Funding for the meal program is provided by HMP, and food is purchased fresh from local vendors. The meals are prepared by cooks employed by HMP and served on the property of St. Peter's Episcopal School in Mirebalais.

3. Provide safe drinking water: On October, 2010, ten months after the catastrophic January 2010 earthquake in Haiti that killed over 200,000 people and displaced over 1 million, cholera first struck Haiti and the epicenter of the disease was in Mirebalais. In the ensuing months, the threat to the children of Mirebalais became evident and the HMP embarked on a project to ensure a reliable source of safe drinking water. The following year, working in cooperation with Living Waters for the World, HMP dug a new well, and installed a purification and distribution system. This new source of clean water supports our children's residence and the feeding program, as well as St. Peter's Episcopal Church and School and the surrounding community. The system includes a well, pump, and purification system, enhanced by a solar energy source and clean-water storage tanks. The program conducted technical training and selected one local resident for a paid position to manage the ongoing system operation. The project also includes hygiene education to the local community.

4. Support education: The Haiti Micah Project believes that education is the principal way to break the cycle of poverty yet there are no publicly funded schools in Haiti. Through its Sponsor-a-Child program, the HMP provides support for the meal program and educational support for the children's residence and those in the meal program. HMP provides assistance to the children at the residence and in the meal program in the form of tuition, school uniforms, shoes, and school supplies.

5. Train for jobs through vocational training: The Haiti Micah Project built and supports a vocational training center in Mirebalais. Through a needs assessment, the program offers sewing, carpentry, computer repair, computer literacy and cosmetology. These teach useful and marketable skills to older children, offering them a trade and potential employment when they become adults. The HMP also has a designated fund to help students pay for vocational training or college tuition.

Provide clean and safe shelter - This program area requires an operating budget which is provided through donations by individuals, churches, and non-governmental organizations, and charities. The Sponsor-a-Child program also contributes to the operating budget. The Haiti Micah Project has the following resources:
Safe and secure home to accommodate 28 children.
6 full-time staff.
Clean water from the HMP well.
Improved sanitation (toilets, showers and hand washing facilities).
Food, food storage and cooking facilities.
Provision for primary healthcare at the clinic associated with St. Peter's Church and School.
Tuition for nearby schools
Funding for clothes and clothing donations

Feed hungry children: This program area requires an operating budget which is provided through donations by individuals, churches, and non-governmental organizations, and charities. The Sponsor-a-Child program also contributes to the operating budget. The Haiti Micah Project has the following resources:
Kitchen, Food, Food storage
Serving facilities, including dishes and utensils
A staff of cooks
Outdoor serving area

Safe drinking water: This program area requires an operating budget which is provided through donations by individuals, churches, and non-governmental organizations, and charities. The Sponsor-a-Child program also contributes to the operating budget. The Haiti Micah Project has the following resources:
Water well and pump
Solar energy source
Structure to house the system
Clean water storage tanks
Purification system
Paid technician/manager

Provide education: This program area requires an operating budget which is provided through donations by individuals, churches, and non-governmental organizations, and charities. The Sponsor-a-Child program also contributes to the operating budget. The Haiti Micah Project has the following resources:
Tuition support where needed to over 20 local schools
Funding or donations for uniforms and shoes
Funding for school supplies, or school supply donations
Agreement with St. Peter's Episcopal School to accept students referred by our project
Access to a local health clinic
Daily meals and other basic needs

Vocational training: This program area requires an operating budget secured through donations by individuals, churches, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and charities. The Sponsor-a-Child program also contributes to the operating budget. The Haiti Micah Project has the following resources:
Donation of the center building on 1/4 acre land
Instructors from the community
Full-time administrator
Tuition support for need-based students

The Haiti Micah Project started in 2005 in response to the challenges identified by the community leaders in Mirebalais, Haiti, a city located in the Central Plateau. It is an organization committed to addressing the needs of impoverished and uneducated children in Haiti. The HMP is a non-profit corporation under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia and it has a Haitian counterpart, “Solidarite et Action pour Les Enfants de Sion." Each day we walk the streets of Mirebalais to reach out to the homeless and hungry children.

What we have accomplished:
- In October 2006, the Haiti Micah Project joined its partner in Mirebalais, St. Peter's Episcopal Church, to meet the needs of children on the streets of Mirebalais and children and families at-risk in the community
- We consistently provide food, clean water, healthcare, education, and emotional support for each child brought into our care
- By 2009, we had procured rental space and founded the child residence that currently cares for 28 children who receive 24-hour care by a staff of six adults. The children attend school and are thriving in the safe and loving environment we offer
- Through our meal program, we provide food for upwards of 450 children a day
- We provide educational opportunities through tuition assistance, school uniforms and supplies
- We have established a scholarship program for post secondary school education and vocational training
- We successfully installed an improved water source for our children's residence, St. Peter's Episcopal School, and the surrounding community
- We hired an operational manager to consistently provide an improved water source to this community
- We established several designated funds to contribute to the operational budget and future programming
--Alma Bishop Fund to collect donations toward the construction of a new orphanage
--Sponsor a child program
--Joshua Tielking college scholarship fund
- Built new vocational training program in 2016 partially powered by solar energy.
- Hired a Haitian college graduate to complete booking responsibilities in Mirebalais
- Hired a young adult to administer the feeding program
- Hired a young adult with teaching experience to administer the vocational training program
- 13 students have graduated from High School and passed the Haitian exams

What we have not accomplished: One could say that our work will never be done and that our results could never be measured. We believe, however, that each meal, each glass of water, every class, a new pair of shoes, and every act of kindness -- anything we can give to Haiti's children makes a world of difference and we accomplish this every day. Goals we set before us to further our mission include:
- Expansion of our Sponsor-a-Child program
- Provision for post-secondary education for outstanding students, and we hope to award the first scholarships in 2015
- Create curricula for vocational training