examples of Grant Making results

2021 earthquake recovery

HDI‘s approach to disaster response is to bring resources to local organizations through grantmaking to empower them to be the agents, not objects, of disaster assistance for their communities. Local organizations in remote and marginalized communities have been their first responders and only safety net, and work to advance community development for the long term.

HDI conducted a competitive grant process open only to Haitian-led community organizations based in the earthquake zone.  This approach allowed affected communities to articulate their most salient needs and propose solutions for long term recovery. We launched an RFP in three languages, disseminated it and promoted the call for proposals to ensure local organizations were aware of the opportunity. HDI received 90 proposals and following thorough due diligence selected 36 for grant awards totaling $595,500. We prioritized organizations that work to create viable rural communities through initiatives to boost rural livelihoods and serve the most vulnerable, especially through empowerment of women, girls and youth.

Funded projects and programs directly benefitted almost 7000 people in significant and sustainable ways, including:

• provided farmers with tools, equipment, seeds, cuttings, trees and fertilizer

• installed irrigation pumps

• built and equipped agricultural product storage and processing facilities

• provided training in food processing

• supported mutual savings and loan groups that help members support each other and their micro-enterprises

• constructed a school, houses and a community park

• provided training on disaster risk management and resilient building techniques

• created and distributed remote learning tools for enrichment education

• developed and strengthened animal husbandry programs and nurseries

• distributed goats to vulnerable families and provided training on care and breeding

• supported community-serving institutions offering IT training, children’s clubs, youth leadership programs and services for disabled people.

Thousands more family and community members have benefitted indirectly. Importantly, these grants helped people and organizations acquire assets and capacity that will continue to help reduce vulnerability going forward.

See the detailed report below showing the projects and programs funded by completed grants as well as the results achieved by these local organizations.

Dominican Haitian Statelessness Crisis

Thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitian migrants (many children) were forced to flee following the Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court decision to deny citizenship even to people born and raised in the DR, followed by violent deportation efforts.  Refugee camps sprang up on the Haitian side of the border between the two countries filled with people who had lost everything, many of whom had no Haitian hometown or citizenship.

HDI worked with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to raise awareness of this crisis in the philanthropic community.  We also convened stakeholders to devise a funding strategy that targeted the areas of greatest need, and administered 12 grants to support the refugees.

Humanitarian support:

• 526 unaccompanied children received at border crossing, registered, and fed in Malpasse;

• 2,500 children and adults provided food, clean clothes or water and sanitation assistance 

Education: 

• 650 children enrolled in schools, received school supplies/uniforms

• 60 teachers and school administrators trained; 14 teachers’ salaries paid for one academic year;

• 300 students received hot meals at Ecole Pentecostale de L’Anse a Pitres and Ecole Notre Dame de Lourdes for part of the school year
  

  Documentation:

• 114 migrant children obtained birth certificates in Haiti and 20 in the DR;

• 825 people in the DR received support to obtain legal documentation;

• 431 people successfully obtained legal documentation

Resettlement:

• 69 families (173 individuals - 78 children, 38 women, 40 men) resettled from Anse-a-Pitre camps into the Anse-a-Pitres area or their home communities;

• 100 heads of household – with an average of four children per family –received training and seed funding to start an income generating activity

• 143 children fed, clothed, housed, and reunified with their families across Haiti;

Advocacy: 

• advocacy plan with key messages developed 

• thousands reached through press media, 10 community film forums, public convening, peaceful demonstrations

Hurricane Matthew Response

In October 2016, Hurricane Matthew devastated much of the southern peninsula of Haiti.  More than 2 million people were affected, as the hurricane destroyed fruit bearing trees, cattle, agricultural fields, irrigation canals and micro-enterprises that support livelihoods, as well as rural infrastructure like schools.  HDI was able to use its connections on the ground to reach the organizations that would otherwise have been left out and provide much-needed assistance in remote areas.

Summary of Grantees’ Cumulative Accomplishments: 

• 74 women received a small loan to rebuild destroyed small businesses; 

• More than 7,000 people regained access to drinking water; 

• 40 farming families received seeds to rebuild their livelihoods; 

• 13 community residents’ homes were rebuilt; 

• 322 community residents’ homes were repaired; 

• Four organizational offices/complexes were repaired; 

• Three electrical systems were put back in operation; 

• School activities resumed for children at three local schools