The HAITI INITIATIVE was created in 2013 with a donation from the William and Vivian Joel endowment fund left to the First United Methodist Church to be used in support of the Haitian people.

Since its inception, a board oversees funds that have been used to house, feed, empower, employ and educate the Haitian community in Haiti and South Florida.

Initially, the board worked with members of the local community in the Pignon area of Haiti to support schools with teacher training, help repair orphanages, pour concrete floors and build new homes.

In recent years, our efforts in Haiti have focused on a rural area called Donne, where we have built a new school that serves over 100 students. We support the administration of the school, pay the salaries of the faculty and staff and feed the students a daily meal. We have also financed the installation of a well for clean water at the school and started a garden initiative for the students and the community. Our goal is to make the Haitian people in the area more self-sufficient.

In South Florida, we have developed relationships with Haitian schools and churches in our community. Through food, clothing, toys and furniture drives, we have supported local Haitians in our area.

Our mission has been sustained by church members’ sponsorships, cash donations and partnerships.  Through local food drives, mission trips, contacts in the Pignon region and the Internet we will continue to support the Haitian Community in Haiti and South Florida. For more details and pictures, please CLICK HERE. For more information, please contact Dan Bertotti.