With so many displaced people in Haiti, what can YOU do to help? What can you do that will enable families to begin to rebuild their lives? What would be culturally relevant, give families a sense of normalcy, and security as well as give them dignity?
RMI is excited to introduce you to Homes for Haiti, our Transitional Homes Program. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians who are homeless need more than tents or temporary shelters as they face the rainy season and hurricane season. The refugees that left Port-au-Prince for the countryside need Transitional Homes as well. The families and friends that took them in were struggling to survive before these extra people arrived! To help them truly begin to re-build their lives, they need a home of their own – one that they can trust to not fall down around their heads, one that will give them security and safety, one that will give them a sense of normalcy AND dignity.
RMI consulted national Christian leaders to determine what features would best meet Haitians’ needs. These features were identified by them as being key elements to providing a culturally relevant structure that will enable these very traumatized families to feel some stability, security, and at home.
The Transitional Homes that we are building will do all of that and more. RMI’s Transitional Homes meet or exceed the requirements of the International Hurricane and Earthquake Building Code. The 10 ft x 20 ft home on a concrete slab will have a small porch added to the front as they spend much of their time outside the house. It will have 2 locking doors so they will feel secure as well as have 2 ways of egress from the house. There will be 2 locking windows for light, air flow but also security.
It will give jobs to Haitians as well since we will be using Haitian labor for our production site and assembly team. We are working at hiring several of the newly handicapped that now have new prosthetics as part of our labor team. However we are needing individuals and teams from the US to assist in assembling the homes onsite. RMI will be working with these same national leaders to determine the recipients and sites for these homes.
Each transitional home costs $4400. This cost includes: prefabrication, shipping to Haiti, concrete slab, transportation, labor, placement, assembly in place, follow-up, and a Haitian Bible for every family.
2 ways you can be vitally involved:
1) YOU CAN BE A PROVIDER OF A HOME!
You can cover the cost of a home, or you can help with a part of a home.
2) YOUR CHURCH OR GROUP CAN BE A PROVIDER!
Ideas of groups who can provide a house:
* A church can commit to provide several houses.
* A Sunday School class or Bible study group can provide a house.
* A business can collect funds to provide a house.
* Civic organizations such as a Rotary Club, the Elks or Lions can raise funds for several houses.
* Foundations, schools, etc. It is limited to your imagination.
We need your help to make this happen!! We have to have 25 houses ordered in order for us to get our first shipment. Can you provide a house? Can your church provide a house? We want to have our first order placed by the end of April. We already have orders for 5 houses. We need 20 more to place that first order!
And teams, did we say we needed teams to help assemble the homes at their sites? Modular assembly will be done at the Retreat Center, then taken to the site. Several homes can be assembled in one day! What an awesome chance to “get your hands dirty” and your whole body engaged in the Lord’s work ministering to hurting Haitian families!!
You can donate: 1. Online via www.rminet.org, RMI’s website.
2. Send a check to RMI designated “Homes for Haiti”.
For more information (to schedule a team, join another team, get brochures to promote the program, etc.) call 239-368-8390, email us at kim.rose@rminet.org, or visit our website at www.rminet.org.
RMI’s “Homes for Haiti” is not just providing shelter. You are providing a “Home today for Haiti’s Tomorrow”! Let’s meet this urgent need together!
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