Hope for Haiti works to provide relief to those affected in Haiti

The devastation happening over in Port Au Prince, Haiti has taken a toll on those there and people in the Southwest Florida community. The CEO of Hope for Haiti has been a service to Haiti for about 30 years and says this is the worst condition he has seen the Caribbean country in.

“First and foremost, it’s heartbreaking to watch this unfold. And it is incredibly difficult for the people who are living in Haiti, especially those who are in Port Au Prince,” said Badenoch.

Badenoch says the problems Port Au Prince is currently facing are due to several factors.

“If I were to point to three big wounds, it would be disastrous foreign policy, it would be systematic corruption, and ultimately, the disinvestment of important development things at components of a country’s growth, like education and health care,” said Badenoch. Those are just three of the things that I think are causing the situation right now.”

The Hope for Haiti is a humanitarian relief organization that serves humanitarian services throughout Haiti.

“Right now, there are an estimated 4 million people who are suffering from food insecurity and even more who have an acute lack of access to health care and so as we face those challenges, it is daunting,” said Badenoch.

Badenoch credits the Hope for Haiti in Naples for continuing to provide services effectively to those in need.

“Our office is headquartered right in Naples and what we love about the Southwest Florida community, Naples and Fort Myers, is they have been a foundation of support for Hope for Haiti for more than 35 years, said Badenoch. With leaders in Haiti doing the work, seeing patients providing support for education, and bringing millions of dollars of medication and medical supplies, the Naples community has trusted us in the work. We’ve shown that we can do the work given the resources.” 

One of those leaders is Linda Thelemaque, who’s been with the organization for two years and serves as the chief program officer.

“We have programming in health care, education, economic development, wash and sanitation,” said Thelemaque. I can’t wait to get back down there and be there with my team and really be a part of the process to help them navigate.

Thelemaque is currently stuck in the U.S. due to governmental flight restrictions to Haiti. In the meantime, when she waits to get the green light to depart, this is her message to the people of Haiti and her team.

“We will get through this. Like we’ve gotten through every other situation but it will be hard,” said Thelemaque. There will be, you know, a day when we can say and put this in the history books and say it happened. We lived it but we survived it.”

Hope for Haiti is currently working on raising $20 million to help fund healthcare access to 300,000 people in Haiti.

To learn more on how to donate or to join the program, click on their website to learn more.