The Healing Haiti mission is two-fold.

• Bring clean water, food, housing and education with a goal of providing opportunities to build a strong Christian faith to the most poor and vulnerable in Haiti.
• Share our experiences and educate people in the U.S. how blessed we are and how we need to be obedient to God and serve the poor. Encourage those around us to take a leap of  faith and see our world through a different lens. Be an example of living with significance.

Our Story

Our story begins long ago but more importantly, is still being written everyday. After 25 years of working in our own business, we — Jeff Gacek and Alyn Shannon are now blessed with the opportunity to seek our God-given purpose here on earth with a focus on faith, transformation and living our lives with significance.

It is a challenge in the world we live in to put God at the center of our lives, and keep Him there, but that is what we seek to do every day. When we get to heaven, and we stand before our Lord, and He asks, “What did you do with the gifts I gave you?” we want to say “We used them for Your purpose that You put us on earth to fulfill. We worked hard to become more like You and live a life of love.”

Why Haiti?

After years of supporting missions financially, we took the time and went on our first mission trip to Haiti in January of 2006. What we saw there tore our hearts wide open. People living in extreme poverty, with no clean water, no electricity, no toilet, garbage everywhere, little food… where 10-12 people live in a one-room shack with a dirt floor, and where the floor turns to mud during the rainy season. Can you even imagine?

This is a country right in our back yard—considered One of the Americas—and yet the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Bono from U2 says, “The accident of longitude and latitude should not determine whether you live or die.” We are so blessed to have been born in the longitude and latitude of the United States. Through our faith, God has blessed us with so much and through our walk in faith, we believe these blessings should be given away.

As Bill Hybels would teach us, we had our Popeye moment—how the poor, yet  faithful people of Haiti live, became our Holy discontent.

Making an Impact

In Haiti, there are many challenges and opportunities to make a difference in the lives of the poor. We have so many stories and experiences to share. Here are just a few.

2006

In the spring of 2006, by the grace of God and with the generous help and support of our “friends and family”, we were able commit to helping a small school in the mountains of Lespinasse, Haiti. Reiser Heights was built by Fr Reiser and other charities from Minnesota years before. It is the only school in this rural mountain area and was beyond capacity and overflowing with students.

In the summer of 2006, we broke ground on a 4-room school addition, a 30,000-gallon cistern (to collect clean water off the roof of the school), a 4-stall sanitary block (concrete outhouse) and a kitchen to replace the tin shack that was being used to prepare food for the children. We finished construction and dedicated the project in July, 2007.

2007

In 2007, we funded a 3500 gallon water truck delivering 364,000 gallons of clean water each month for free in the slums of Cite Soleil and with the help of ECOsmarte and Reiser Relief were able to ship a second 2500 gallon water truck to Haiti.

In the summer of 2007, we began supporting a small orphanage in the village of Titanyen who live in two 8x10 rooms.

2008

In the 2008, with the help of our donors, and only by the Grace of our living God, we purchased 16 acres of land that will provide the foundation for Grace Village, a place where God's loving grace can touch the people of Titanyen.

We shipped and distributed another 270.0000 meals from Feed My Starving Children.

Healing Haiti met with about 40 community leaders in Titanyen to share our vision of Grace Village and ask for community input on how we best could meet their needs.

Working with MSAADA Architects, a Non-Profit organization who specialize in the developing world, designed plans for Grace Village.

Tried an experiment. Our director Jean Fils-aime asked if we would be willing to send 10 street kids to school, who wash windows at intersections he drives through every day. We agreed and had a requirement that they boys needed to show report cards every quarter for the support to continue. Only four boys continued through the entire 2008 school year.

Photo Gallery

2009

Ship and distribute another 273,000 meals from Feed My Starving Children.

The day before we were to leave Haiti, God put Gulliam, a desparate yet faithful man, in our path. He approached us in the parking lot of our hotel. He pleaded for help for 30 children he was taking care of in an old abandoned school in Cite Soleil. We didn't have time to visit him on this trip, so we called him the next day and offered him some emergency money if he could get to us. It turned out that he couldn't make it back to see us and collect the money and something just nudged us to not let this need and faithful man go. We had our friend Kevin, who lives in Haiti about 6 months a year, do a surprise visit to the orphanage to see if it was a legitimate request. Kevin called us the next week at home and said the orphanage was in dire need of help. 30 children were sleeping on the floor and they had this small orphanage in Cite Soleil providing rent, food and emergency medical care.

We begin paying teachers salaries at The Christian School for Poor Children in Ttitanyen as a way to support the community that Grace Village will be ia part of.

We met Marie Alice at the prayer cabin, told her story and received a donation to build her a house. We actually built her an extra room for visiting missionaries to stay. And we installed a modern toilet (minus plumbing) that she says we can use anytime!

Another shipment of food is off from Feed My Starving Children and also includes hand made wooden toys for Christmas distribution. We distribute food to families in Cite Soleil, Titanyen, Bobby Duvall’s soccer program, the two orphanages we support and the three schools we support.

Marie Alice dedicates our land  to God for Grace Village and asks for blessings. Construction starts and digging the foundation through all the rock proves to be hard work.

We decide to give our street boys experiment another try. We have them to the hotel for a pizza party. The first time Jeff met with these kids for pizza, they did not know how to use silverware. After listening to the reasons why so many dropped out of school, we learned that most of them needed to continue to work, so the could pay rent and have a roof over their heads. So with some negotiating we agreed to pay their rent as long as they stayed in school. 10 boys live in 3 groups, so we also agreed that if one drops out in their group the funding stops for the entire group. They understood that the support of everyone in their groups would be an important part of their own success. We will continue to encourage these boys, pray and hope for the best.

Held a medical clinic for all 53 orphans. Only one child did not need any medication. We discovered a bad water source that was making the children sick, anemia, malnutrition, swollen tonsils, hernias, fevers, and a need for more protein in their diets. Our water truck is now delivering water to them and all prescriptions have been filled.