About HATS-Haiti

Hands Across the Sea-Haiti believes that children are the key to Haiti’s future. Our mission is to develop the future leaders of Haiti by investing in families, communities, and in education. As a non-profit organization, we serve needy children and families in Deschapelles, Haiti with a children’s home, a school from preschool to grade 13, and community development initiatives.

Hands Across the Sea-Haiti began in May of 1995 with one very special, determined woman’s dream to make a difference in Haiti. Read more about Karen Huxter on Our History page.

Hands Across the Sea-Haiti is operated by a volunteer Board of Directors, so that your generous donations can go to running our children’s home, school, and community programs. We are a registered Canadian charity and a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the USA. You can read more about our financial accountability on Government of Canada Registered Charities page. *note: Management and Administration expenses refers to operational costs of the children’s home and school. All administration to operate Hands Across the Sea Association is done strictly by volunteers.

Hands Across the Sea-Haiti currently has 15 beautiful children in full-time care, ranging in age from 0-18 years, who are cared for in a loving family-style environment. We are ready to receive additional orphans as the need arises in the community. See our wonderful children on Our Children’s page.

In addition to caring for children in our home, we provide support to needy children and families in the community in order to maintain the family unit whenever possible. By providing financial support, food aid and school sponsorship, we can help families care for their orphaned nieces, nephews, cousins, or siblings. Our goal is for all children to receive the loving care necessary for them to become healthy, contributing adults.

We offer a high quality education to 400 – 500 children from preschool to grade 13 at our safe, well-constructed school campus, Institution Mixte Karen Huxter (IMKH). Registered with the Haitian Ministry of Education, our school follows the prescribed federal school curriculum, while working to incorporate modern approaches to teaching and learning.

Ongoing teacher training and professional development help our teachers provide the highest quality education possible. Our school has an excellent reputation in the community and we are proud of our exceptional student success rate. During the school year, we invite teachers from other community schools to participate in professional development opportunities at our school.

Hungry children do not learn well. In order to help our students achieve their full potential, students are given a nutritious hot lunch each school day and for some children, this is the only hot meal they will have all day. Our meal program is key to help keep children in school. Children who receive nourishment are better able to focus in school and have more academic success.

Hands Across the Sea-Haiti provides ongoing outreach to the wider community through practical assistance including emergency assistance, community development programs and community partnerships. To combat rising malnutrition rates, we are currently providing nutritional support to needy families. Our Christmas food program is a community development initiative that provides families in our community with a gift of food staples to help them celebrate the Christmas season. HATS-Haiti also provides emergency financial aid and clothing distribution to families in crisis.

Hands Across the Sea-Haiti is an integral part of the communities of the Artibonite valley. We employ local staff and pay fair wages as part of our commitment to building strong families and strong communities. Hands Across the Sea-Haiti provides ongoing outreach to the wider community through practical assistance including emergency assistance, community development programs and community partnerships.

Hands Across the Sea Haiti partners with Radio Creole, a local radio station broadcasting commentary advocating responsibly citizenry, strong community values, Christian messages and music as well as community service updates. Visitors to Hands Across the Sea-Haiti are often welcomed to share music and insights live on the radio.

We are also proud to support local community groups and youth soccer teams with soccer jerseys and balls, encouraging young men and women to get involved in healthy activity. In a country with rampant unemployment among young people and very few recreational opportunities, we are happy to offer practical support for this type of community initiative. One of our future goals is to convert land behind our school to a functional grass soccer field to be used by our school students and community groups.