Grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Provides New Homes and Projects in Haiti
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Aug. 27, 2015) – Thanks to support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, more than 500 people in Haiti now have a safe and secure new home. The 90 homes built by Food For The Poor are located in two different communities – 40 in Aquin and 50 in Fond des Blancs, Haiti. Both towns are within the country’s peninsula, a dry mountainous region, and are approximately 20 miles apart.
The Kellogg Foundation partnered with Food For The Poor on the housing project and with assistance of in-country partners from the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation, the charity has recently completed the project, which included the establishment of an animal husbandry program of 52 goats and 600 layer hens.
Each hen is expected to lay approximately 23 eggs a month, which could produce more than 160,000 eggs a year. Haiti currently imports 17 million eggs per month from the Dominican Republic. Local egg production can provide a substantial income for the families, who can sell their eggs for a profit in the local markets.
“The layer hen project is a wonderful example of why self-sufficiency is so vitally important,” said Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food For The Poor. “The grant provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the assistance of the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation has allowed our charity to transform lives in Aquin and Fond des Blancs, strengthening the development of these communities for future generations.”
Each of the concrete block houses has an inside bathroom consisting of a flush toilet with a dual-chamber sanitation system, a shower and a cistern for water. In the wake of the cholera outbreaks in Haiti, the residents were given hygiene courses to learn how to prevent the spreading of this waterborne disease.
All of the homeowners attended sessions to learn how to maintain their property. They also received training sessions on how to care for their livestock of goats and hens. Every family also received a solar light kit for a source of illumination in their new homes, which is providing a sense of security, comfort and peace of mind.
Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor 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, with more than 95 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.
Wanda Wright
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6079
[email protected]