Healing Art Missions supporters should have received our Mid-Year 2021 Letter and
News Update already, but we wanted to make sure everyone had ample
opportunity to see HAM's priorities and projects as we pass the
half-way mark on 2021.
Living the past sixteen months in a world beset by a pandemic has left us all questioning when life will return to “normal.” But if normal means “usual, average, or typical,” I think it’s safe to say that whatever world we regain post-pandemic, we will not return to normal, but rather we will create a new normal. Like it or not, global change is happening at a quickening pace—the exponential growth of technology, climate change, and the chasm between wealth and poverty. The fundamental question to ask is, how will we adapt to this rapidly changing world? The pandemic has taught us that it is difficult to anticipate exactly what challenges will face us. But we have learned how important individual values and, in the case of an organization the team’s values, are to reacting, adapting to and surviving whatever lies ahead.
For 22 years Healing Art Missions (HAM) has adapted to the many unanticipated changes confronting Haiti. I fully believe that our successful ability to navigate such challenges comes from the solid foundation of HAM’s mission, vision, and values. Whenever we face an unexpected obstacle, HAM’s leadership is able to stand on that sound foundation to determine how we shall adapt. Here are HAM’s foundation pillars:
Our Mission: To collaborate with rural Haitians, connecting communities to healthcare, education, clean water, and employment.
Our Vision: The lack of basic resources creates the condition of structural poverty. HAM helps Haitians access fundamental rights and lift their communities out of the cycle of poverty.
Our Values: We foster the dignity of the individual, respect the ways of the community, and reflect the strength of a loving God.
The new birthing center and midwives sleeping quarters are under construction.
During the past 16 months, HAM has responded to the pandemic’s effect on our Haitian partner communities. Because Haiti has yet to receive a single dose of the COVID vaccine, these communities remain at risk, and HAM must prepare. But a single crisis cannot distract us from our larger purpose. During this same period, HAM has invested in projects to expand our ability to meet the health care needs of the Dumay community into the future. We have expanded the surgery program. We’ve constructed a new Safe Birthing Center to support our burgeoning Safe Birthing Program, which has outgrown existing space in the Dumay facilities. We are also implementing an Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system to replace our paper charting system at the Dumay Clinic to allow us to more effectively track individual patient’s long-term health and treatment, and to monitor health trends in the community overall.
Dr. Jacques is working with Surgical Residents in Dumay.
Here in the U.S. we know the sustainability of HAM’s work relies on our ability to cultivate the funds necessary to serve our mission. To that end, we are focused on enriching our Board’s leadership abilities and, recognizing that an all-volunteer U.S. organization is unsustainable, we are planning to hire a paid Executive Director. Simultaneously, we are increasing organizational transparency for our supporters by joining three of the most trusted nonprofit vetting sites: GuideStar, and Great Nonprofits which have incorporated our data, and Charity Navigator, with which we are in the process of registering. We encourage you to check HAM’s ratings on GuideStar, and we hope you will add your own story of support for HAM to our Great Nonprofits page, since their rating is based on stakeholder evaluations.:
I cannot predict the future just as I cannot know what a “new normal” might look like. But because I fully believe in and support HAM’s foundational principals, I have faith that we will continue to nurture supportive partners like you who want to help make a positive impact in the world. Thank you so much for being on our team!
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Tracee Laing