Haitian Diaspora Organizes to Help Those Impacted in Haiti by Hurricane Matthew

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hillside, NJ, October 7, 2016 — As thousands of Haitians are impacted by Hurricane Matthew, the National Alliance for the Advancement of Haitian Professionals (NAAHP) have partnered with local non-profits in Haiti that are focused on providing food, water, and shelter to help those most impacted by Hurricane Matthew. A fund has been created to help in this effort.

Serge Renaud, NAAHP President, “We are hearing that Les Cayes and Jeremie are the areas where the storm hit the hardest, therefore those are where we plan to focus our efforts. We will also be providing critical information on the NAAHP Hurricane Matthew Relief page to help keep the diaspora informed of all resources available in Haiti that can be shared with loved ones at home. We plan to begin raising money starting October 7, 2016.

At this moment NAAHP is focusing on targeted efforts that will specifically help those impacted by Hurricane Matthew and calling on all our members and supporters to join in on the effort by making a contribution on the website.

Renaud, continued, “We will begin disbursing the funds to our reputable partner organizations working on the ground in devastated areas as soon as proper assessments has been made of the damages. We also encourage people and organizations to reach out to us if specific skill based needs as our members from diverse professions stand prepared to volunteer with their expertise.”

NAAHP recently held its international conference in Washington, D.C from September 29 to October 1, 2016 that was focused on uniting the diaspora to help strengthen the Haitian diaspora and Haiti.

“After having a successful conference that was heavily focused on how the Haitian diaspora can organize and help Haiti, NAAHP is presented with its first call to action post-conference,” says EJ Dupervil, NAAHP Consultant Dupervil, continued, “NAAHP will work tirelessly and effectively as we face this crisis head on. Throughout this process we will exercise the highest level of transparency and accountability to ensure the help gets to those most impacted by the hurricane.”

Reginald Grand’Pierre, Founder, ITIYAH Coffee who has witnessed the devastation of the hurricane is also partnering with NAAHP in relief efforts. He says, “This is an event that happens about every 30 years or so. While we are focusing on short term efforts, it will be a missed opportunity if we fail to consider the medium and long-term strategies that need to be coordinated immediately afterwards. That is where NAAHP will work to bring those in its network with specific expertise to find those solutions to these problems.”

Contacts:
Claslyne Jean-Pierre, +1 877-627-6247, naahpusa.org/hurricanerelief/

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Founded in 2011, the National Alliance for the Advancement of Haitian Professionals (NAAHP) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization established by diverse group of forward-thinking industry experts, youth leaders, faculty, public and nonprofit sector professionals from Haiti and its global diaspora. NAAHP is focused on connecting a global community of peers with career advancement resources as well as fostering transformative relationships between NAAHP members and committed stakeholders to rebuild Haiti through philanthropy and social entrepreneurship.