The Final State of the Union
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Summary:
The earthquake in Haiti happened a year ago and many organizations and individuals stepped forward to help those impacted. Here, Joshua DuBois highlights one partner who achieved significant milestones in aiding the people of Haiti.
After the one year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, I wanted to highlight some of the great work our nonprofit and faith-based partners have been doing to help the Haitian people rebuild and recover. From such a tragic event came an outpouring of giving and companionship for our brothers and sisters in Haiti. Led by the great folks at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), we have been working hard to assist in feeding over 3.5 million people in partnership with the World Food Program as well as distributing emergency shelter materials to more than 1.5 million people.
One of the partners we work closely with is the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s (JDC). The JDC has a proud history of giving time and resources for humanitarian relief projects in over 70 countries, and the devastating earthquake in Haiti is no different. One year later JDC’s relief efforts have directly impacted over 240,000 Haitians. With $7.7 million dollars in donations, JDC has demonstrated the power of successful collaboration. Together with Haitian, Israeli and other NGOs, JDC and its partners have delivered medical services to more than 53,000 Haitians and additionally aided more than 800 people and fitted more than 70 prosthetics through its state-of-the-art rehabilitation clinic at l'Hôpital de l'Université d'Etat d'Haïti and nearby prosthetic lab. JDC also ran 10 schools in tent camps in Port Au Prince and ensured that 150,000 displaced Haitians had access to 80 emergency water tanks.
We are proud of the outstanding work that JDC and many of our partners are doing in the effort to rebuild Haiti. As USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah said in his recent ‘Modern Development Enterprise’ speech, “Organizations of faith not only express the moral values of millions of Americans, they also provide some of the most dependable support systems for millions in the developing world… Our success depends on listening to communities of faith, connecting with them deeply, and supporting the vital work they perform around the world.”
To learn more about JDC and their work in Haiti visit www.JDC.org and read their Haiti Relief One Year Report.
If you would like to comment about this posting or to receive more information, email Ari Alexander at fbci (at) usaid.gov.
Joshua DuBois serves as Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships
