Gonaives is located approximately 106 miles north of Port-au-Prince on Haiti’s west-central coast, and is the country’s third largest city. It is an extremely arid, dusty city with saltpans and brackish lowlands on the east side and deforested mountains overlooking the city to the west. 

The majority of its estimated 70,000 inhabitants live below the poverty level and exist on less than $2 a day.

Many residents of Gonaives still remain homeless due to the devastating hurricanes in 2003 and again in 2008. The city’s water system is in ruin, due to damaged/missing water well pumps, mud-clogged drains, and contaminated water.

The Caring House Project in Gonaives will promote community development by providing safe housing, nutritious food resources, education facilities, potable and accessible water, and a multi-purpose facility for community engagement for the residents of Ponte Quenepe in Gonaives. 

Here are some of the self-sustaining elements:
 
1)  Construction of 35 concrete double-unit homes. Each home will also include an individual sanitation unit, inclusive of pit latrine and shower stall.

2)  Distribution of 35 sets (3 each) of fruit trees for every home built.

3)  Construction of a 9-classroom schoolhouse, which also includes an office for school administration and a separate office for teachers. The campus will also feature a playground area for outdoor activities. Sanitation facilities will consist of 2-indoor units, and one sanitation block housing 8 pit latrines.

4)  Construction of a multi-purpose community center building for skills and vocational training.

5)  Implementation of an animal husbandry initiative, which will provide a goat to each housing recipient. Also 24 milking cows will be purchased and deposited on a 300-acre farm where they will be raised for the production of dairy products. Food products from the farm will be donated to the school, and made available to the community.  

6)  Establishment of a vegetable and fruit tree farm, complete with irrigation system, which will be situated on the aforementioned 300-acre farm. The horticulture project will provide for the cultivation of mango trees, avocados, breadfruits, and cassava sticks, and assorted vegetables and fruits. All produce will be accessible to villagers, distributed to local feeding programs, and sold at market.  Revenue from sales will be reinvested back into the farm. Local residents will maintain the farm.

7)  The construction of a concrete cistern, installation of a submersible pump, and plumbing and pipe fixtures.

The Caring House Project in Gonaives will improve the lives of 20,000 people living in the impoverished community of Ponte Quenepe and provide needy families with basic resources that will radically change their lives, resulting in a healthier and promising future.

Please scroll below or visit our Donate Page at http://www.frank-mckinney.com/donate.aspx to pledge your support today for Gonaives, Cabaret, Jeremie and other projects today.

Remember: "Each of us are fortunate to be blessed with the ability to succeed at some level. This success is not for our sole benefit however, but so we might apply the result of our success to assist those less fortunate." 

Here is an excerpt from a letter from a new resident of a recently completed CHPF village who also works in the school:

I am grateful for the provision of  the Testasse village. We found this little 4 year old girl in a shack in the swamp with her two sisters, one 5 years the other 1 year. They were alone, all very hungry. They are our newest residents to move to Testasse Village along with another set of three children who just lost their mom last week. The youngest child of this family had her hand broken in several places. Her mother had symptoms of an illness that would cause her to fall constantly. She fell on the baby several times breaking her hands. God Bless you and those who made Ange Village possible - Delane Baily.

I know this page is getting long, but I am excited to share our innovative plans for the new village to be built in Cabaret, Haiti.

Cabaret, formally known as Boucassin, is a city north of Port-au-Prince. The region was renamed Cabaret, because it was the common name of the Central Point. In 1957, when Papa Doc rose to power, he wanted to thank the population of Cabaret for voting him into power, and so he renovated the central point. He then renamed the entire community “Duvalier-Ville.”  In 1986, after overthrow of the Duvalier regime, the population returned to the old name, Cabaret. Currently, Cabaret has a population of 77,000.

Within a few weeks of each other, hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hannah and Ike hit Haiti in 2008 bringing destructive winds and heavy rains. The whole country suffered from the devastation, but Cabaret was most affected. 

In Cabaret the heavy rain unleashed floods and mudslides, gushing down unrestrained through the deforested hills. The local river could not contain the ensuing water and the banks overflowed.

In less than 20 minutes, water barreled through Cabaret, washing away vulnerable homes and what little possessions the residents had. Sadly, people were also swept away as they slept in their beds, many of them children. The 2008 hurricanes caused 800 deaths.

The brutal storms of 2008 literally wiped out the infrastructure in Cabaret. Homes and personal belongings have been washed away. Agricultural patches and farms have been inundated with floodwaters. Community buildings and structures have suffered serious damage. Roads and bridges have been washed away, making it difficult for people to move about and for agencies to deliver supplies and resources to the needy populace.

The number of homeless families is in the hundreds. Their previous homes were unable to withstand the brutal effects of a hostile natural environment. They lived in tents or dilapidated shacks made of cardboard, plastic, tin, or whatever materials they could scavenge from the garbage heaps. These rudimentary dwellings had dirt floors and offered no protection against the brutal weather conditions. 
Food supply is severely limited. 

Between llate 2007 and early 2009, the price of basic food commodities in Haiti increased by up to 65 percent. This increase has led to food shortages and widespread civil unrest throughout the country.

The onslaught of the hurricanes only intensifies an already perilous situation. The people of Cabaret need help to rebuild their communities.

Our Caring House Project Foundation will promote community development by providing safe housing, sanitation, renewable food resources, a multi-purpose community center, clinic and potable water for the residents of Cabaret.

The Caring House Project Foundation will establish a village consisting of 50 double-unit homes for families left homeless by the recent floods.

These 50 homes will provide shelter for 400 men, woman and children. The homes will include a small kitchenette, and the homeowners will also have an individual sanitation unit and shower closet.

A community center with a built-in clinic will be constructed. The building will be used for providing health care, skills and vocational training, community meetings and prayer. 

50 individual cisterns will be constructed, each with a capacity to hold 450 gallons of water, and a catchment system will be constructed as well. 

Eight hundred fruit trees such as mangos, avocados, breadfruit and citrus will be planted. Coconut and plantain/banana trees will also be planted for mass production. The implementation of this food initiative will serve as both a readily available food source and viable products for sale.

Caring House Project will benefit the entire community of Cabaret.

Look below.

Please choose the involvement where you desire to make the most impact: orphanages, schools, homes, water, renewable food, community centers (worship) or clinics.

Or, if you would like us to choose where the need is the greatest, then choose that option at the very bottom of the list.

There are varying donor levels and commitments can be made monthly. You can feel secure knowing your donations are being put to use where your heart calls!

"Somane Hilaire se yon je-n fiy-li kontan pou-l benefisye yon kay nan Ange Village. Sa pral bay diyite epi kontyans nan Lavi-a. Mwen pa fe jalouzi pou moun ki gen kay."

Somane Hilare is a previously homeless resident of another village recenlty completed known as Ange Village. Translated from her native Creole, she says-"I have waited long to see this happen! This gives me a sense of dignity and confidence in life. I won't be jealous of anyone having a home."

After choosing a donation option below, scroll to the bottom of this page to read more about the history of the Caring House Project Foundation and about some of the projects we have completed around the world since 1998.