Global Ministries’ partners are now preparing for the move from emergency relief to recovery and rebuilding in Haiti.  The generous support of United Church of Christ members and friends will allow us to walk with our sisters and brothers through this long, difficult and expensive process.
 
Thank you for sharing your resources and helping to change lives. 
 
How You Can Help:
 
1.  Pray for the people of Haiti their leaders and humanitarian aid workers.
 
2.  Please help the people of Haiti by sending gifts payable to your congregation marked for “Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund” with the request they be sent through your Conference office on to Wider Church Ministries.

Eleven weeks after the January 12, earthquake, Haiti is no longer the lead story in our morning papers or the evening news.  Yet Haiti remains on the hearts and in the prayers of the people of the United Church of Christ.  You are part of a generous outpouring of love and faithful generosity, thank you.  Your gifts are making a difference in the lives of the people of Haiti.   

The situation in Haiti remains a precarious and challenging one.  The Government of Haiti reports a death toll at 300,000; an estimated 1.2 million homeless and long term rebuilding costs in excess of $11 billion.  

We are grateful for a wide span of partnerships which allow the United Church of Christ to be present and accompany our Haitian sisters and brothers.            

Through Global Ministries partners, CONASPEH and House of Hope, we have been able to respond to emergency needs of communities in Port-Au-Prince and beyond.  

Through ecumenical partnerships with Social Services of Dominican Churches (SSID), Church World Service (CWS), the ACT Alliance and IMA World Health, 2,000 Haitian families in a border settlement on the Haiti side of the Haiti/DR border have received food, shelter, and health resources. 

Our partnership with Church World Service has also provided immense assistance to vulnerable children and people with disabilities, as we have coordinated efforts with Service Chretien d’Haiti, ChristianAid (UK), the Ecumenical Foundation for Peace and Justice (COPJ) and House of Hope.  

In support of earthquake survivors who are living with HIV/AIDS or at risk of infection, we are supporting a coalition of US and Haitian AIDS groups to provide access to care and essential supplies. 

With Agricultural Missions and the FONDAMA farmers cooperative we are supporting the provision of  100 tons of seeds, basic tools and training in order to employ FONDAMA member farmers plus 3,000 to 5,000 of the survivors of the earthquake in the rural communities, within the next six to eighteen months. 

Thank you for your generous sharing which makes the UCC response possible.   

As of March 29, 2010, donations received for the UCC Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund total $2.1 million.  Sharing these gifts, the UCC will provide critical, long-term recovery support to our partners in the months and years to come. 

As of March 29, 2010, the UCC has provided: 

$55,000 to Global Ministries for Haiti Relief (for CONASPEH and House of Hope) 

$120,000  to CWS for Haiti Relief 

$100,000 to ACT Alliance for Haiti Relief 

$5,000 to IMA World Health for medicine boxes for Haiti 

$5,000  to UCC Florida Conference for assistance to Haitian congregations 

$10,000 to Housing Works for HIV/AIDS care 

$25,000 to Agricultural Mission for seeds, tools and training 

Y-T-D Provisions Total:  $320,000 

Thank you for sharing your resources and helping to change lives.  

Grace and Peace,

Susan M. Sanders
UCC Minister for Global Sharing of Resources