Statements

Mission

St. Joseph Worker Foundation is dedicated to the personal and educational development of individuals and groups in Haiti. In addition, the Foundation provides care and relief for Haiti's medically ill and impoverished.

Background

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere where extreme poverty prevails. The people suffer from chronic hunger, unemployment, illness and lack of education or opportunity. St. Joseph Worker Foundation was established to bring hope to these people by providing for the education, health and welfare needs of children and families in Haiti.

Impact

We are currently providing financial assistance to 29 students in Haiti so that they can get a good education and have hope for a brighter future. We have provided 18 individuals and families with emergency assistance for basic living needs and medical care totaling $10,600. With exceptionally high unemployment in Haiti, many of the students we have sponsored in the past have been unable to find work. We are working with a group of them to help them to develop necessary skills and to create employment possibilities so that they can provide for themselves and their families

Gang violence and kidnappings along with high inflation and lack of fuel and basic necessities in Haiti are making it more difficult for the poor to provide for their families and afford for their children to attend school. Our goals for the future include increasing the number of students we are sponsoring, increasing the amount of emergency financial assistance with basic living needs and medical that we provide, and continuing to develop employment possibilities for our former students.

Needs

Currently 25 Haitian students are waiting for sponsors to enable them to attend school. We request $500 per year for each student but accept any amount sponsors choose to give.
Haiti's rising prices and high unemployment along with the added stress of the gang violence make it difficult for parents to feed their families, pay the rent or afford medical care or other basic living needs. We would like to increase our emergency assistance income to $14,000 in order respond to the many more families in need. We need to raise $2000 to support our job creation efforts with our former students for the coming year.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	International, Foreign Affairs, and National Security  - International Development
Secondary Category:	Education  - Elementary & Secondary Schools
Tertiary Category:	Human Services  - Emergency Assistance (Food, Clothing, Cash)

Areas Served

Haiti makes up the western third of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Haiti is about the size of the state of Maryland and is three fourths mountains with a population of 11 million. The economy is primarily agricultural and consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming. Haiti is considered to be the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Poverty affects Haitians in many ways including a lack of adequate housing, nutrition, education and healthcare, and high infant mortality.

International