Vassar Haiti Project
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The Vassar Haiti Project (VHP), founded in 2001, is a nonprofit organization that promotes Haitian art, fosters sustainable development in Haiti, and mentors student and community volunteers in the principles and practice of global citizenship. Through art auctions and sales, VHP supports the welfare of Haitian artists and artisans. These art sales provide the primary means of funding for initiatives in education, health care, water access and purification, and reforestation in Chermaitre, Haiti, a mountain village in the Nord-Ouest Department of Haiti. VHP has a strong educational component, dedicated both to raising awareness of Haitian culture and society in the United States and elsewhere, and to providing a practical education in global citizenship to students, alumnae/i, and friends of Vassar College. The Vassar Haiti Project is incorporated in New York as Haiti Project, Inc., and is a registered U.S. 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
History
The Vassar Haiti Project was founded in 2001 by Vassar College Director of International Services Dr. Andrew Meade and his wife Lila, and is led largely by Vassar student volunteers. It began as a small project that support education and lunch programs at a school in Chermaitre, Haiti, before growing in membership and scope to include medical, water, reforestation, and women's initiatives. VHP’s first capital initiative was to fund the construction of a seven-room primary school, which was completed in 2008. In early 2011, VHP installed a gravity-driven system of cisterns and PVC piping leading to a faucet by the school. In late 2011, the VHP began construction on a clinic in Fierville, Haiti, which will provide health care and education to thousands of residents of Chermaitre and several other remote villages.
Partnerships
The Vassar Haiti Project holds art sales, dinners, concerts, and other fundraising events in a variety of locations in the Northeastern United States. The organization has forged partnerships with schools such as the Calhoun School of New York City, the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich, CT, Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, Fordham Law School in NYC, and high schools in the Poughkeepsie area. VHP has also partnered with church parishes, including Trinity Episcopal Church in Fishkill, NY; Christ Episcopal Church in Sag Harbor, NY; and All Saints Church in NYC; as well as NGOs such as the Disaster Relief Network and Pure Water For The World.