Hurricane Matthew Recovery in Haiti: FFP Exceeds Goal and Builds 1,086 Housing Units in 114 Days

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (March 7, 2017) Food For The Poor’s campaign to build 1,000 housing units in 100 days in Haiti has been completed on time. Thanks to our compassionate donors, the charity was able to build 1,086 housing units in 114 days.

Shortly after the storm, the charity set an aggressive goal to build 1,000 housing units in 100 days to give people hope and move them quickly into sturdy shelter.

Now, when hundreds of families go to sleep at night, they no longer have to worry about rain pouring through a makeshift roof. They are now living in a safe, secure home, built by generous donors who answered Food For The Poor’s call for help in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, which slammed into the country’s southern peninsula on Oct. 4.

“Our generous donors allowed us to respond immediately and consistently with aid to Haiti,” said Robin Mahfood, President/CEO of Food For The Poor. “For three decades, Food For The Poor has been a servant of the poor, and with God’s blessing, we will be here as long as we are needed.”

To date, in addition to building the new homes, Food For The Poor teams in Haiti also have:

• Repaired 411 homes.
• Installed six water filtration units, providing safe, clean water to tens of thousands of people.
• Repaired 11 fishing village gear sheds and rebuilt five new gear sheds.
• Repaired three schools and three community centers.

Haiti’s already dire housing needs were compounded by Hurricane Matthew, which battered the country with Category 4-strength winds of 145 mph. The storm flattened homes and crops along the southwest coast, damaged schools, swept away livestock and cut off transportation.

By providing simple, sturdy homes to the poorest of the poor, Food For The Poor knows it can change the lives of entire families by giving them the security of a safe, dry place to live. When teams arrived to assess the damage from Hurricane Matthew, grateful residents shared how they had taken shelter in Food For The Poor buildings during the storm.

But the hurricane also left many of Haiti’s most vulnerable citizens homeless and hungry and without access to clean water.

Food For The Poor is trying to build as many homes as it can for destitute families in Haiti. You can help with a gift to build a home or to donate a home in memory of a family member or friend by going to www.FoodForThePoor.org/100days.

“It is important that we help people get their lives back and start again. A solid, safe home is the cornerstone of a poor family’s life in Haiti,” said Mahfood.

Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. Over the last 10 years, fundraising and other administrative costs averaged less than 5% of our expenses; more than 95% of all donations went directly to programs that help the poor. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

Michael Turnbell

Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]