Young women from Center for the Arts Port au Prince with a community handwashing station.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been life-altering in all corners of the world, but in places where resources were limited before the pandemic, it has the potential to have even more devastating impacts.

Decades of neoliberal policies and a gutting economic model, along with the fallout from the 2010 earthquake, have left Haiti the poorest country in the hemisphere. Even before the onset of the pandemic, Haiti’s health care system faced challenges, and access to clean water and other basic resources was not guaranteed. 

Abundance Foundation has deep relationships with organizations and communities in Haiti. When the pandemic hit, we reached out to our partners and grantees on the ground there to understand what they needed in order to keep their communities safe. 

After hearing from long-standing partner and grantee, Center for the Arts Port au Prince, we quickly mobilized funding to support their incredible efforts to respond to the pandemic in a country where the basic need for sanitation and access to clean water is more pressing than ever.

With our rapid response funds, they were able to install 4 handwashing stations in the communities of Siole, Laboule 22 and Rue Frere Cas Gros. Center for the Arts Port au Prince works with adolescent girls to empower them and create income-generating activities in the arts. These handwashing stations are for the girls, their families, and their entire communities, and will contribute to efforts on the ground to stop the spread of COVID-19. Our support also allowed the organization to provide each girl a supply of food for her home and family, something that’s a challenge to do in places like Port-au-Prince. 

Center for the Arts is doing important grassroots work to support their networks in Haiti. Help them continue their life-saving efforts and join us by donating here.