Helping Haitians Help Haitians
Golf Tournament Postponed! Watch here for 2024 date! Learn More
Ride 2023Learn about our Bike Ride for Haiti Learn More
Bishop Cote Visits HaitiCelebrating Mass at Christ Roi Learn More
HospitalityHospitality Learn More
EducationOpening doors to a better life Learn More
Medical CareOffering a hand to heal Learn More
TwinningUniting communities in faith Learn More
Food For ChildrenSustaining the hungry Learn More
OrphanagesProviding for the most vulnerable Learn More
Community DevelopmentHelping to build & restore Learn More
Emergency ReliefGiving aid in desperate times Learn More

Welcome to Outreach to Haiti!

Outreach to Haiti has been working in the Caribbean nation for over 35 years. We offer health care services, student sponsorships and other educational support, parish twinning, support of an orphanage, as well as a neighborhood nutrition program for children.  We look forward to returning to taking travelers to Haiti when the situation allows. We have a newly rebuilt guest house, where you can stay short- or long-term. We also be arranging immersion visits for traveling groups to learn about Haiti - its people, culture and land.

Watch a video about our programs!

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Diocese of Norwich, Four County Catholic

 

God does not give up on us. . .

 

 . . . We Should Not Give Up on Each Other!

Posted on March 14, 2024  

Throughout my life, I have been thankful that God has not given up on me, or anyone else. He has taught me that we should not give up on each other, particularly when our brothers’ and sisters’ needs are at their greatest.

This is important to remember, especially right now, as Haiti is at the forefront of U.S. International news because of a frightening surge in violence and increasing gang activity due to the assassination of their sitting President on July 7, 2021, and the subsequent lack of a legitimate government. This situation is unlike any other in Haiti’s recent history.

I am very sad when I hear some people say, “Oh, Haiti is at it again. What’s new.” It is as though they were saying let’s give up, but we know we will not give up on our Haitian brothers and sisters. The Diocese of Norwich Outreach to Haiti has been walking with the people of Haiti for about forty years. Our ministry was founded by Bishop Daniel Reilly, Laypeople and Clergy who visited the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince and took a great interest in helping the Haitian people. Our Diocese officially twins with the Archdiocese. Bishop Daniel Hart and our present Bishop Michael Cote have continued their support for this Ministry.

Our operations in Haiti have an all-Haitian staff of approximately 24 men and women at our Center in the Christ Roi neighborhood of Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. Through our Parish Twinning Program, we work in 14 parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince. Our services include clinics, healthcare services, food and nutritional supplement programs, education programs and opportunities, small business development initiatives, and many other programs.

Haiti is the poorest and most densely populated country in the Western Hemisphere. More than 11.5 million people live in Haiti and 3 million live in the Port-au-Prince area. Our staff remains vigilant and committed to serving the men, women, and children who come to us for help in Christ Roi and the surrounding neighborhoods as most clinics and healthcare services have closed or are temporarily shuttered. Our Twin Parishes in the U.S. (Diocese of Norwich and other Dioceses throughout the country) remain committed to helping their Haitian Twin Parishes. This past week when most of the country shut down, our staff in Haiti closed our doors for only a few days before reopening because the need was so great. Indeed, more than 80 people visited our Clinic this past Monday.

We need your help. First, and most importantly, we need you to pray for Haiti. Secondly, we ask you please to support our work in Haiti, which helps Haitians directly through our many services and programs.

Donations can be made online at OutreachToHaiti.org or by sending a gift to:

Diocese of Norwich Outreach to Haiti
815 Boswell Avenue,
Norwich, CT  06360
.

You can be assured all donations to the Diocese of Norwich Outreach to Haiti go directly to our programs and services.

In closing, I know personally that most Haitians are hardworking, creative, diligent, and have great faith in God. They want what most of us want, which is to have a roof over their heads, a table with food on it, and educational opportunities for their children. For the great majority of Haitians they have no choice but to go out to work daily and find food no matter what ill deeds may befall them.

We remind our Haitian brothers and sisters that God has not forgotten them. They teach us to have hope even in the most trying times of life. Each of us has the opportunity to let God’s light shine. We are reminded in Romans 12:5, “We belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.”      

Susan Wallace
Executive Director
860-800-3604

 

 

 Buy Haitian Crafts

   

Our craft items are always available at Mercy-By-The-Sea Retreat Center gift shop in Madison, CT. Call them for hours. They are also available online at Haiti's-back-porch

 

 

 

 

Phase 1 Completed!

Thank you to our wonderful donors!

Phase 1 was officially completed in mid December! The initial focus was on completing the office space, allowing us to move our offices out of rented space in October and to stop paying rent.  Finishing on the rest of the building followed, and the final inspection occurred in December, with clinic operations moving in right after. 

While achieving this milestone was a long time coming, it is also a huge achievement. The success has been in spite of a presidential assasination with associated unrest, a pandemic, and occasional hurricanes. It was possible due to the perserverance and dedication of our Haitian partners in the building project:  UGC Construction, headed by Jean-Renet Carier, La Promesse Construction, headed by Leandre Mondestin, and our oversight/liaison firm UOC/Proche, headed by Stephan Destin, with project managers Rose-Pascale Durosier and Ruddy Narcisse. They have delivered a high quality building in very difficult circumstances. Thank you!

We are greatly excited to be all together in this one building, and to have this wonderful foundation for our ministry in Haiti.

We still need to raise money for Phase 2 of the building which will make the building more energy efficient (shading, solar energy, fans, etc.), add finishing touches (exterior painting, two small exterioir buildings, parking lot etc.), and replace our very old and worn out generator.

Of course, all of this was made possible by the generosity of the many people who donated the money to enable us to build this wonderful structure. Words can not adequately express our gratitude.

Click here to see photos showing the progression of the building.

 

Fr. Matt and St. Mary's welcome James Michel

Outreach to Haiti board member James Michel traveled to Newmarket, New Hampshire to talk about Outreach to Haiti and seek their support. He received a warm welcome from Fr Matt Mason and the St Mary's parish, and used a personal anecdote to demonstrate the faith of the Haitian people before telling them about the work of Outreach. Our thanks to St Mary's for sharing his talk online! Hear his talk by clicking here

 

Gala 2024

  

 

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19th Annual Hope for Haiti!

It was a special evening at St. Patrick Church in Farmington, CT.  If you weren't there you missed a great event, great food, comraderie and a wonderful presentation by Mary Lou Bozza about the history of our dental work and hopes for building a permanent dental clinic.  

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2023 Bike Ride

9th Annual Ride for Haiti!

The 2023 Ride Took Place the Week of September 25!

Our Outreach to Haiti team of riders once again rode 337 miles over 5 days. The bike ride was a "virtual trip" across Haiti, and we visited some of the parishes and schools in Connecticut that are twinned through Outreach to Haiti with parishes, orphanages, and schools in Haiti.

The purpose of the ride is to raise awareness and funds to support our mission in Haiti. Donations from this ride are being earmarked for our dental program and to support our educational program.

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers for a safe and successful ride, and thank you if you have already donated to the ride.

To learn more, see the routes we rode, and to follow our progress during the ride, click here

After reading this, you are probably thinking to yourself that you would love to join at least part of a future ride. You can find out more by contacting Tom Campbell at [email protected], or Dan O'Sullivan at [email protected]

So far, we raised over $22,000, bringing the total raised over the 9 bike rides to over $200,000!! If you have not yet donated -- it's not too late!

To donate now, click here

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Outreach Celebrates 35 years in Haiti!

Outreach to Haiti reached 35 years of service in Haiti in 2020. We celebrated hat milestone on November 8, 2021, at Mercy High School in Middletown. As with our 30th anniversary celebration, we honored several people who have significantly contirbuted to our mission in Haiti. Those individuals are:

            Most Reverend Michael R Cote, D.D,

                       Ellen Flynn, RSM

                    Reverend Gerald Kirby

                     Mr Daniel E O'Sullivan

 

              Our inaugural Works of Mercy Award

                                    to 

               The Padre Pio Foundation of America

We thank all who joined us for this celebration, and contributed in honor of this anniversary. It is your support that enables our ministry in Haiti.

You can still donate for our anniversary by clicking here

 

Diocese of Norwich Outreach to Haiti, Inc.
815 Boswell Ave.
Norwich, CT 06360

Phone: 860.800.3601
Email: [email protected]

© 2024 Outreach to Haiti