Hope for Haiti Inc.
Learn. Rise. Thrive.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Poverty reduction in southern Haiti through a sustainable communities model
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Education Program
Education is the cornerstone of our connecting strategy and our legacy. In 1989, JoAnne Kuehner, Hope for Haiti Founder, first visited Haiti while volunteering on an emergency airlift mission organized by AmeriCares. The poverty of the country had an immediate and lifetime impact on JoAnne. So much so, that she was determined to do what she could to help the Haitian people move out of destitute poverty. JoAnne deeply believed that the only way to do that was through education. Hope for Haiti was thus founded with education being the foundation for all of the organization’s programs and initiatives, with a particular focus on the Haitian children.
Centering our involvement on connecting children and adults with Education is critical to developing lasting sustainability. We believe the pinnacle of connection with the greatest leverage of impact through supporting educational professionals with the tools, training and resources they need to be successful. By supporting 24 partner schools in the greater south of Haiti with teacher salary subsidies and support for specific community or classroom needs (i.e. construction, school materials, benches/blackboards, teacher training, first aid supplies, clean water, etc.), Hope for Haiti is impacting 300 teachers and over 6,000 students each year.
Objective: To provide the children of Haiti with access to a quality education.
Although the Haitian Constitution explicitly states "...education shall be free. Primary education shall be compulsory. State education shall be free at every level,” the reality of the Haitian education system is far from what the 2013 Millennium Development Goals mandated of all participating countries. According the World Bank, 50% of children do not attend school, and 80% of those who do attend private schools - public schools can accommodate less than 10 percent of the school age population. Without qualified teachers or adequate textbooks, the quality of education is generally poor. This has resulted in poor test scores, grade repetition and high dropout rates.
A 2004 World Bank household vulnerability study determined that in addition to initial enrollment and quality-related problems, families often pulled children out of school in the face of economic distress. As a result, kids end up cycling in and out of school with the result that today, three-fourths of children in primary school are on average two years too old for their grade level.
Hope for Haiti made the decision to partner with community and religious private schools in order to increase access to education. By providing necessary assistance to private schools, Hope for Haiti can help to increase student enrollment as well as the overall quality of education.
Healthcare Program
Haiti’s current healthcare system is insufficient to meet even the minimum medical needs of its people. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) states that only 60% of Haiti’s population has some form of access to healthcare, whereas the other 40% rely on traditional medicine in the rural areas. Limited access and poor quality in the Haitian healthcare sector cause significant delays in the country’s development. A lack of medical treatment or medications can keep men and women from working and children from going to school. Keeping the Haitian people healthy is critical to the overall development of their country.
Although Hope for Haiti began with a focus in education, in 1997, Founder JoAnne Kuehner joined forces with Dr. Keith Hussey, a gastroenterologist, to incorporate healthcare and nutrition into the organization’s mission. Hope for Haiti quickly discovered that providing this additional support is absolutely critical to promoting educational success. During its work in the area of education, the organization found that clinics and medical facilities were available, but that their capacities were severely limited by a lack of materials, medications, and well-paid staff. In response, we began procuring the items that these local facilities needed and transporting them to Haiti where they could be used to benefit the poorest of the poor. Since 2008, the organization’s Healthcare Program has expanded drastically, primarily thanks to the opening of Hope for Haiti’s Infirmary St. Etienne, a Haitian-staffed outpatient primary healthcare center and pharmacy in downtown Les Cayes. The Infirmary now hosts full-time three doctors, a dentist and dental assistant, nine nurses, a laboratory technician, an electronic medical records data officer, and two administrators. It specializes in low-cost quality primary care for approximately 12,000 patients annually, many of whom are seen regularly for chronic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, and asthma. With a dedicated Haitian medical team and a reputation for quality primary care in the South, the organization has been able to lessen its need for outside medical mission trips and now proactively requests training from key National and International specialists when needed.
Hope for Haiti touches the lives of over 500,000 people by providing financial and medical support to over 20 healthcare and nutrition centers. The objective is to improve the overall health of partner communities with the patient at the center of this process in a three-pronged strategy: 1) Prevention and Outreach- Distributing medications and supplies to rural partner facilities throughout the South and providing school-based public health outreach to students and their communities. 2) Treatment & Follow-up Care- Providing patients with low-cost quality primary, laboratory, dental, surgical, and wound care at our Infirmary St. Etienne. 3) Capacity Building- Organizing opportunities for Haitian medical professionals to receive advanced medical training.
Water
For many places around the world, water is often the center of the community. People come to wash their clothes, drink, bathe, water their animals, cook and so on. Hope for Haiti’s clean water program started in 2007 after witnessing several challenges Haitians faced when it came to clean water: access, quality and consistency. We now have UV purification systems and wells located in 15 strategic locations including our Infirmary St. Etienne, other community schools and healthcare clinics, and an orphanage. Along with safe and great tasting water, this program provides critical education on the importance of using clean water and how the water systems work. Our clean water technician has trained one community member on monitoring and maintenance of the system.
Infrastructure
Our Investments in lasting Infrastructure improvements remove barriers to progress and catapult a community’s potential forward. In addition, through careful planning and emergency response, we can ensure that these families have the tools they need in the wake of a disaster. Every community needs to invest in infrastructure, but in low-resources settings like rural communities in Haiti, a relatively small investment in the construction of a school building, solar power, or basic materials can make all the difference.
Economy
Bolstering the local Economy by increasing access to credit, making connection to markets, supporting business training and marketing, and injecting resources into identified businesses and opportunities, fuels the communities we serve to become self-reliant, self-sufficient and self-made success stories.
By investing in community Infrastructure and Economy, we Empower our partners to reduce their reliance upon Hope for Haiti and increase reliance upon themselves. Self-reliance is the ultimate objective of true sustainability and the goal of our empowerment strategy, which seeks to strategically and significantly reduce community program distributions/financial support over a 10- year time horizon to foster the creation of Connected, Healed and Empowered Sustainable Communities.
Where we work
Awards
REAL Award 2014
Save the Children
Classy Award Winner - Social Innovation 2021
Classy.Org
Classy Award Top 50 Finalist 2022
Classy.Org
Auggie Award Finalist 2022
AWE
Silver Winner 2023
Anthem Awards
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of clients participating in educational programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people, Academics
Related Program
Education Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of students enrolled at our school partners. Number of students in FY21 decreased due to COVID-19 pandemic and devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
Number of gallons of water filtered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adults, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Water
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Gallon tracking meters were installed in May 2011.
Number of teachers provided with subsidized salary
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people, Academics
Related Program
Education Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
2016: A total of $222,000.00 in salary support was distributed to primary and secondary school teachers at our 24 partner schools. Number of partner schools decreased from 40 to 24 during FY14.
Number of patient visits
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adults, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Healthcare Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Visits increased in FY2013 post-Hurricane Sandy. FY2010 numbers do not reflect disaster relief efforts after the earthquake.
Number of students provided with health education
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Healthcare Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of students provided with school lunches
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Education Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of teachers trained
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people, Academics, Adults
Related Program
Education Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of Haitians provided with employment
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Economy
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Employment through our office staff, clinic staff, farmers and day laborers.
Number of computer labs installed & maintained
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people, Academics
Related Program
Infrastructure
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
2016: 15 labs (563 computers).
Number of seedlings grown in school gardens (reforestation)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adults, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Economy
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of patients treated at mobile clinics
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adults, Seniors
Related Program
Healthcare Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of academic scholarships awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Young adults
Related Program
Education Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of Sawyer Water Filtration Systems distributed to families
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families
Related Program
Water
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
With experience running poverty alleviation programs in Haiti since 1989, Hope for Haiti has emerged as one of the most trusted non-profit organizations working to improve the quality of life for the Haitian people, particularly children, in southern Haiti. The organization’s team and network of partners provide people with better access to education, healthcare, water, and economic development opportunities. Through Hope for Haiti's partnerships, the organization aims to create sustainable communities that catalyze generational and transformative change in the Greater South of Haiti. Hope for Haiti has a rich legacy of impact beginning with JoAnne Kuehner's first visit to Haiti in 1989. JoAnne launched Hope for Haiti on the program foundations of Education and Healthcare, with a specific focus on children.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Hope for Haiti is working in long-term partnerships with local communities to initiate sustainable development. With the school at the center of the community, Hope for Haiti designs, implements, monitors, and evaluates initiatives in response to identified needs. Hope for Haiti is now positioning itself with a vision to create lasting sustainability within the communities it serves, centered on a 5 Core Area model. The model Connects through Education, Heals through Healthcare and Water, and Empowers through Infrastructure and Economy.
To increase the sustainability of our school-based program, Hope for Haiti has partnered with Yunus Social Business Haiti S.A. This partnership has already provided micro-credit to local residents, facilitated community dialogue, and trained local leaders on finance and administration. Over the long-term, we aim to promote and develop social business in Southern Haiti – a replicable model to solve problems created by poverty and increase a community's capacity to generate income which can then be invested in the education and health of the community.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Hope for Haiti has been operating solely in Haiti for 30 years. With a board of directors committed to good governance and fiscal responsibility, the organization maintains a low overhead (less than 5%) and ensures that over 95 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to our programs on the ground. In addition, our organization has built up a strong dedicated team of over forty professionals working in Haiti and eight in the United States to create transformational change for the next generation.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Hope for Haiti hasn't yet been fully successful in empowering school communities with economic opportunities to be able to pay their school fees at 100%. This is the ultimate goal of the organization: to empower our school communities through job opportunities and ultimately allow Hope for Haiti to decrease educational subsidies to schools, so that we can focus on impacting even more people!.
By committing to long-term, sustainable development in partnership with these communities, Hope for Haiti is committed to achieving results towards our vision of eliminating extreme poverty.
Hope for Haiti continues to be limited by resources and donor commitments. Hope for Haiti can only focus on long-term measurements of progress when multi-year funding can accompany the sustainable development program. Hope for Haiti encourages donors at all levels to make long-term commitments (5 year increments) to programs so that short and long-term indicators can be tracked and strategic development planning can take place to make each philanthropic investment the most impactful. This type of commitment by the donor, Hope for Haiti, and the program beneficiaries, has proven successful in providing lasting solutions.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Hope for Haiti Inc.
Board of directorsas of 08/23/2023
The Honorable Mary E. Sommer (Ret.)
Michael Gay
Brad Galbraith
Gregory Hunter
Carl Labossiere
Jennifer Lang
Liz Longmore
Vladimir J. Mathieu
Brett McNaught
Courtney M. Price
Philip Regala
Jean Marie Saintyl
Tim Savage
Evena Williams
Patrick Eucalitto
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/15/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.