This April marked one year since gang violence and political instability surged in Port-au-Prince, triggering widespread disruption across Haiti. In the months since, nonprofits have faced compounding challenges, including open conflict, the closure of air and seaports for extended periods, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. The strain on healthcare systems, education services, and livelihoods has been particularly noticeable in the country’s southern regions.
Yet through these compounding crises, trusted partners of CAF America remain in the area, providing critical support and standing with their communities. Over the past year, CAF America supported $244,000 in grants to programs operating in Haiti, funding educational initiatives in schools, livelihood and leadership programs, and food security projects.
While an international police mission deployed to Port-au-Prince in late 2024 brought a period of relief, security remains fragile. The mission remains underfunded, and gang tension and activity has risen once again in recent months. In April 2025, a number of NGOs and international organizations — including Human Rights Watch, Save the Children, IAHCR, and numerous UN agencies — sounded the alarm on Haiti’s further deteriorating humanitarian situation.
In the face of these ongoing threats, CAF America’s nonprofit partners continue to demonstrate remarkable resolve. We checked in with several of our partners in Haiti to hear their stories and share updates from the past year. Despite ongoing instability and urgent challenges, we’re moved by their resilience as they continue supporting their communities, even in the face of daily uncertainty and unrest.
Charity Spotlight 1: Fondasyon Konesans ak Libète (FOKAL)
About the Organization
Fondasyon Konesans ak Libète (FOKAL) is a Haitian foundation committed to advancing democracy, education, sustainable development, and cultural enrichment. Since 1995, FOKAL has helped strengthen Haitian civil society through grassroots-led initiatives. In response to recent instability, the organization has adapted its programming to meet urgent humanitarian needs while continuing to invest in long-term resilience strategies, with a focus on supporting rural communities through agriculture and livestock development.
April 2025 Update
With support from CAF America grants for the Strengthening Community-Based Food Production and Financing Initiative (ScopFin), FOKAL and its partners expanded their efforts in Northern and Southern Haiti. In Milot, their partner, IF Foundation, supported 276 peanut farmers through zero-interest agricultural loans, providing aflatoxin testing to ensure crop safety, and repairing irrigation systems to restart vegetable production. Additionally, a pilot agroforestry program trained 30 farmers in soil conservation and facilitated the planting of over 1,800 fruit and coffee trees.
In Camp-Perrin, local partner MP3K launched agricultural and livestock support programs for 100 farmers, distributing sheep, yam and vegetable seeds, and providing agroecological training. More than half of the participants were women — a reflection of the initiative’s commitment to inclusive recovery and community leadership.
Amid Haiti’s fragile conditions, these efforts have helped restore livelihoods, strengthen food security, and empower rural communities with the tools to build a more sustainable future. FOKAL’s work exemplifies the power of grassroots resilience in even the most difficult environments.
Charity Spotlight 2: Hope For Haiti
About the Organization
Hope for Haiti has worked for over 30 years to improve the quality of life for the Haitian people, particularly in the country’s southern regions. Through healthcare, education, water, infrastructure, and economic development programs, the organization partners with local communities to deliver both emergency relief and long-term solutions, even in the face of repeated disasters and ongoing unrest.
April 2025 Update
In 2024 alone, Hope for Haiti provided over 100,000 medical consultations through mobile clinics and its Infirmary St. Etienne, reaching rural areas often cut off from care. During the prolonged shutdown of Port-au-Prince’s port and airport, Hope for Haiti ensured insulin remained accessible to patients in Les Cayes. The organization also procured and distributed over $56,000,000 USD in medications and medical supplies through its gift-in-kind program, reaching those most in need.
Hope for Haiti’s education program has also remained strong despite the unrest. With donor support, the organization provided back-to-school kits, teacher training, college scholarships, and school garden programs across its 24 partner communities. These efforts continue to ensure access to quality education for thousands of Haitian children.
As Haiti faces ongoing uncertainty, Hope for Haiti remains a steady force for health, learning, and resilience. With continued support, the organization is creating pathways for long-term development and hope for future generations.
“We’re immensely grateful for our partnership with CAF America and the generosity of its donor community. Hope For Haiti’s CEO Skyler Badenoch recently returned from a trip to Haiti, where he spent several days in the field witnessing the impact firsthand. While there, he recorded a special message to share with the team and the wider CAF America community.”
Charity Spotlight 3: Respire Haiti
About the Organization
Respire Haiti was founded in 2011 by Megan Boudreaux after she met a young girl and learned about the term “restavek.” Restaveks are modern-day child slaves, and it is estimated that there are between 300,000 to 500,000 of them in Haiti today. In January 2011, Megan started a feeding program on Bellevue Mountain, which soon led her to open a school. Within three years, the school grew to over 600 students, prompting the inception of a medical clinic to serve both the school and the community. The organization has grown into a critical support system for the Gressier community, operating schools, medical clinics, and over 20 programs until gang violence forced major disruptions to their campus operations.
April 2025 Update
When the ongoing violence made its way to Gressier, Respire Haiti immediately jumped to action. Their initial response was tailored to crisis relief, addressing urgent medical and safety needs of those who were forced to flee their homes. Since then, the organization has expanded to administering consistent needs assessments to adapt to the growing needs of our community in this unpredictable time. While they are not able to operate on their campus within their normal scope, Respire Haiti have been successful in adapting to these incredibly difficult and unpredictable times.
Their work now focuses on three core programs:
- Mobile Clinics: Through mobile clinics, they have provided thousands of people with life-saving medical and mental health support, filling a critical gap in areas that would otherwise have no access to these essential resources. Additionally, when the need arises, their staff provides filters to those who do not have access to clean water.
- Physical and Occupational Therapy: The staff has located patients in their physical and occupational therapy program and has launched home visits to ensure they will receive ongoing therapy, no matter the circumstances.
- Sports Discipleship: The team is also addressing the growing crisis of gang recruitment among youth. Many of the children they work with have said they see no future outside of gang life. Respire Haiti’s Sports Discipleship Program, which brings together hundreds of young athletes every week, offers a safe space, mentorship, and resources for youth to see a brighter future.
With limited resources and an overwhelming need, Respire Haiti remains committed to serving their community, bringing healing, hope, and safety to communities in crisis.
Charity Spotlight 4: Haiti Development Institute
About the Organization
The Haiti Development Institute (HDI) is a Haitian nonprofit working to build more stable, hopeful, and prosperous communities by investing in their local leaders and organizations through grants, and training, and supporting civic engagement. Founded from The Boston Foundation’s Haiti Fund’s post-earthquake recovery efforts, HDI is dedicated to community-led development and strengthening nonprofit capacity in rural areas, focusing on governance, financial management, and program delivery. As a grantmaking intermediary, connector, and civic hub, HDI helps credible Haitian nonprofits access funding, scale their impact, and collaborate across sectors. Guided by values of equity, inclusion, and decentralization, HDI envisions a new Haiti shaped by local leadership and shared opportunity. Its long-term, community-centered approach is especially critical amid Haiti’s current crises, where local resilience is key to resisting gang recruitment and incursion.
April 2025 Update
HDI’s work in its headquarter city of Arcahaie exemplifies its mission. Through grant funding, HDI has supported the community in managing both the arrival of people fleeing gang violence near Port-au-Prince and the ongoing unrest within Arcahaie itself. HDI supported five camps the community established to house displaced people. It also made grants to local organizations to help farmers continue to access seeds and help women merchants continue to access micro-credit. These investments bolstered livelihoods and food security threatened by gang blockades of the major roads. Another grant empowered a community in the mountain outside Arcahaie to build a road to improve their access to the city.
Recently, HDI has collaborated with the local government to install solar lamps, making downtown areas safer. It supports a youth leadership and entrepreneurship program helping young people feel empowered to improve their community and pursue economic opportunities. HDI also continues to support community mental health, partnering with a local music education nonprofit Hope On A String to host community-building music concerts attended by over 10,000 people. This holistic philanthropic support to livelihoods, civic engagement, and community building has helped the people living in Arcahaie persevere in these challenging times.
These are just five brief snapshots of the powerful work funded by CAF America donors, whose contributions helped local organizations fund their essential programming, ensuring that Haitians continue to receive the vital support they need.
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