Tom Fackender
Email:  tom.fackender@gmail.com
Phone:  850-509-5438
 
Betty Serow
Email:  bettyserow@yahoo.com
 
Art Wright
Email:  artnole@aol.com

Almost all of the work is done here at home.  Very few of us go to Haiti!

 Please consider doing one or more of the following:

• Join a working group

• Be part of a team that goes to Haiti

• Help plan future projects

• Join our mailing list

The Haiti Outreach Ministry has partnered with St. Dominque Parish, in Marigot, Haiti to help the people of that area.  

Good Shepherd has done great things to support self-sufficiency at St. Dominique parish in Haiti! 
During the first phase of our mission to help this community become self-sustaining, Good Shepherd provided 120 female goats to church families.  We are happy to report that the livestock program is thriving at the main church and its five remote chapels. The goat population has grown to 181, a fifty percent increase, including the birth of 42 females. Farmers have already been contributing their first-born female to the program. Females will be bred, and males will be sold by the families as needed to pay for school tuition, uniforms, health care and home improvement.
 
In 2019, from donations provided by Good Shepherd parishioners, a Village Bank was established. The bank makes 12-month loans to families to start or expand small businesses.  For the first round, loans were set at $200 per participant. In May 2019 the bank made loans to thirty St. Dominique members. The first village bank is operating as planned, and we anticipate that a second cycle of loans will be made this this summer.
 
Recently, members of the Good Shepherd Haiti Outreach Ministry traveled to Marigot to meet with new pastor Andre Levielle and parish leaders to review our current partnership programs and to exchange ideas on additional ways we can help improve the lives of St. Dominque members. In addition to attending Mass at St. Dominque, they visited St. Michael, St. Theresa and St. Andrew chapels. At St. Michael, they were able to see new pews and altar furniture provided by a contribution from Good Shepherd. Previously, members either sat on crude benches or were required to bring their own chairs.
 
In their discussions, it was asked that we consider providing a limited number of additional goats, which would include large breeding males at each chapel. As a result of our conversations, other program ideas under consideration include new pews for two additional chapels, establishment of a business training program for church members, a liturgical training program for chapel directors and the creation of a parish store.
 
The ministry will be developing recommendations and a fundraising plan this Spring. We are also looking forward to a visit to Tallahassee from Father Levielle in October.
 

The Mission of the Haiti Outreach Ministry is to help the Catholic families of Haiti become economically self-sufficient.  

• Local people identify the problem and determine the long-term solution.

• We undertake no project, nor fund any service or activity that is not sustainable.

• We require full accountability and stewardship so recipients know their responsibilities and donors know their gifts are being used wisely. 

• Our commitment to any one parish is time-limited.  "if they are still dependent on us in 5 years, we've failed."