The Haiti Project, Inc
We are committed to the sustainable development of Northwestern Haiti.
Our Mission
The Haiti Project Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization incorporated in the State of New York, working collaboratively with Vassar College students incorporating the following purposes:
Global Citizenship
To engage and educate students in the theory and practice of global citizenship and ownership of projects.
With a strong educational component, we are dedicated both to raising awareness of Haitian culture and society in the US and elsewhere, and to providing a hands-on, practical education in global citizenship.
Art
To promote Haitian art and raise the nation’s narrative through art.
Through art auctions and sales, we directly support the welfare of hundreds of Haitian artists and artisans.
Sustainable Development
To foster sustainable development in Haiti.
These art sales in turn provide means of support for funding education, healthcare, water access and purification, reforestation, and women’s initiatives in Chermaitre, a mountain village in the Northwest department of Haiti.
What We Do
Founded in 2001, the Haiti Project Inc. is a collaborative, volunteer 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that engages Vassar students in a life-changing experiential education in global citizenship, promoting Haitian art and fostering sustainable development in Haiti. Vassar students take ownership of projects such as organizing art auctions and sales throughout the year, which support the welfare of hundreds of Haitian artists and artisans and provide means for funding the six initiatives: Art, Education, Healthcare, Water Access and Purification, Reforestation, and Women’s Co-Operative in the mountain village of Chermaitre, Haiti. Additionally, the Haiti Project brings a student group to Haiti yearly to engage in conversation and development with its partners and create new possibilities that help to transform the narratives surrounding Haiti. (However, due to Covid-19 and the current political instability in Haiti, trips have been canceled since 2019.) We invite you to learn more about our projects in Haiti. Welcome to the family!
Our Initiatives
Our Impact
18 trips to Haiti
A total of 170 students, faculty, staff, and community residents
$3M funds raised
$1.75 million through art sales
$1.25 million through donations and grants
6,000 pieces of artwork sold
How We Work
The Haiti Project operates as a 3-way partnership
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The Haiti Project works closely with a student organization at Vassar College called the Vassar Haiti Project. We seek to broaden the global perspective and cultivate global citizenship among our student volunteers. Participants face real-life circumstances and challenges in which they practice and apply their curricular learning. We teach students how to navigate differences in order to make positive change in the world. This program, unique among liberal arts peer schools, engages students with curriculum in a deep, profoundly educational, experiential, and practical way.
The Haiti Project, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization incorporated in the state of New York. Haiti Project, Inc. buys and sells original art from Haiti. The proceeds of art sales, grants, and donations provide the funding to support sustainable development initiatives in Chermaitre, Haiti.
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We partner with community organizations, institutions and businesses to both educate and raise awareness about Haitian culture and society.
Where We Work
Since 2001, the Haiti Project has partnered with Chermaitre, a village in northwest Haiti. We have annual student trips to Haiti in the Spring and smaller trips in the winter where we work closely with our partners in Chermaitre. Located on a hill 2,500 feet above sea level, accessibility is limited. There are no roads, electricity, or running water.
We are privileged to partner with the wonderful people of this village to improve their conditions towards sustainable livelihoods. We learn from their strength, diligence, resilience, and care for each other.
Our March 2018 student trip to Haiti.
*This is our most recent trip to Haiti due to political instability. Visiting Haiti is a critical part of our organization and we are eager to resume our annual March trips.
Click this link learn more about Chermaitre and our trips to Haiti.
Who We Are
The Haiti Project, Inc. Board of Directors
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Candice Lowe Swift
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Jerry Wonda
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Sahara Pradhan ’15
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Christopher Bjork
PhD
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Caryn Halle
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Jackie Eiting
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Daniel Katz
M.D.
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Andrew Meade
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
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Lila Meade
Co-Founder & Executive Director
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David Schwartz
Vassar Haiti Project Student Executive Board
Student leadership is the foundation of the work that is accomplished in the VHP. Our student Executive Board is composed of 20 students who oversee the programs we focus on which is collectively determined during the beginning of each academic year at our Leadership Retreat. Our context is always coming from creating what is possible (and sometimes impossible!) and we reimagine new possibilities for our goals. We engage with each other and with Haiti building connections and strengthening our partnership with the people we support.
Medical Advisory Board
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Dr. Daniel Katz
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David Cho, M.D.
CHAIR
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Diane Cicatello, M.D.
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Ingrid Dodard-Brown, M.D., F.A.A.A.P.
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Kimberly Heller, M.D.
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Nancy Belok
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Partners in Haiti
The Haiti Project, Inc. is based in New York but our partners on the ground in Haiti are the true heroes who ensure that all of our programs are facilitated and executed with integrity at its core. The partners work closely with the Board of Directors, the student Executive Board and the Medical Advisory Board to communicate the needs of the people of Haiti and in partnership with us, continuously and fastidiously oversee the programs that we determine are necessary. Our trust in them has evolved over twenty years towards mutually realized goals.
Grant Partners
Art Sale Partners
Our art sale partners are a crucial part of our Haiti Project family. Over the years we have been able to put on art sales across the Northeast through the energy of dozens of local partners who had the courage to say “Yes!” Art sale partners invite us into their communities and create the magic we are.
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYC, NY
Beacon Second Saturday, Beacon, NY
Central Valley Catholic School, Barre, VT
Christ Episcopal Church, Sag Harbor, NY
Convent of the Sacred Heart School, Greenwich, CT
Cos Cob Elementary Public School, Cos Cob, CT
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, Arlington, MA
Fordham Law School, New York City, NY
Fordham University, New York City, NY
Harlem School of the Arts, New York, NY
Jewish Community Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
Millbrook Library, Millbrook, NY
Nathaniel Witherell Nursing Home, Greenwich, CT
Northeast Utilities, Berlin, CT
PBS (Public Broadcasting System), Washington, DC
Poughkeepsie Day School (pds), Poughkeepsie, NY
Queens College, New York City, NY.
Second Congregational Church, Greenwich, CT
Solomon Schecter School of Westchester, Hartsdale, NY
St. Anne’s Roman Catholic School and Church, Avon, CT
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Greenwich, CT
St. James Roman Catholic School and Church, Setauket, NY
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Washington, CT
St. John’s University, New York City, NY
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Washington, DC
The Calhoun School, New York City, NY
Trinity Episcopal Church, Fishkill, NY
Unison Art Gallery, New Paltz, NY
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
Vassar College Dept. of Music, Poughkeepsie, NY
YWCA, Greenwich, CT
Zion Episcopal Church, Wappinger Falls, NY
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Arlington High School, Poughkeepsie, NY – Interact Club
Haldane High School, Garrison, NY – International Club
John Jay High School, Hopewell Junction, NY - Interact Club
Spackenkill High School, Poughkeepsie, NY – Youth Against Racism Club
Rhinebeck High School, Rhinebeck, NY – Interact Club
Staples High School, Westport, CT – Project Lavi
Our History
Origins
The Vassar Haiti Project was created after 9/ll when Andrew and Lila Meade decided it was time to do something positive for our world. Why Haiti? Andrew Meade lived in Haiti as a teen where his father worked for the Foreign Service at the US Embassy and coincidentally, Lila Metres Meade had her own roots in Haiti, where her Mother lived as a young child in Port au Prince in the 1920’s. Haiti runs deep in the hearts of Andrew and Lila.
2001
The idea of the Vassar Haiti Project is first proposed to the Dean of Vassar College.
VHP holds its first art sale, and starts supporting the lunch program in L'ecole St. Paul.
2002 - 2021
Construction of primary school.
First running water in Chermaitre.
Femmes de Chermaitre is formed.
First trees are planted on a community plot.
Medical clinic opens.
Secondary school scholarship program launched.
Today
Initiated plans to construct a gallery & studio, honoring Lucinda Franks and Robert Morgenthau, in Gros Morne in partnership with Benoit Profelus and Patti Kenner. Learn more →
