Haiti quake: Boston resources and events
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Here is a list of Boston-area resources involved with the Haiti earthquake, and community actions in support of victims:
Governmental Organizations
The city of Boston is staffing an emergency response center at the headquarters of SEIU Local 1999 on for 150 Mount Vernon St. in Dorchester for those who are trying to contact relatives in Haiti. The center has phone lines, computers with Internet access, translators, and grief counselors. The hotline is 617-284-1199.
Haitian Consulate in Boston: Marie Andrine, Consul Général
Tel: 617-266-3660, Fax: 617-266-4060
Relief and Development Organizations
Partners in Health, Boston-based non-profit that has worked in Haiti for 23 years and is treating the wounded at several facilities. PIH is seeking donations and other support.
Oxfam America, which is based in Boston, has created an emergency relief fund. Oxfam has a staff of more than 200 people in Haiti, the Boston headquarters notes, and 15 disaster specialists who are already at work organizing relief. You can make a $10 donation to Oxfam's Haiti Earthquake Response Fund by texting OXFAM to 25383.
Grassroots International is a Boston-based development group that has worked in Haiti for 20 years, and has set up a Haiti emergency relief fund.
United Way of Massachusetts has committed $40,000 for aid to Haiti and for helping local Haitians in Boston. The United Way also has set up a tool on its web site to make donations easily. The aid will also support the Haitian Multi-Service Center in Dorchester, which assists Haitian newcomers and immigrants.
The Boston Foundation has created a Haiti Relief and Reconstruction Fund that will look toward longer-term relief and rebuilding. Donations are being matched dollar for dollar by Jim and Karen Ansara.
Church World Services is the national umbrella relief organization for 17 Protestant and Orthodox denominations, and its New England director, the Rev. Bert Marshall, has been active in Haiti for many years.CWS is coordinating donations and relief work on behalf of many churches. Donation link here.
The United Nations Children's Fund,
or UNICEF, is responding to the disaster with an initial $500,000
donation and support in the field. UNICEF has worked in Haiti since the
1940s.
Information about donations is available at the US Fund for UNICEF and the Boston office is reachable at 617.266.7534.
A group called Partners in Development, based in Ipswich, Mass., has a medical clinic in Port-au-Prince and is organizing to send a medical team there. Phone: 978-471-9922.
Catholic Charities is also at work organizing relief, raising funds, and accepting donations.
Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley has authorized a second collection in the parishes of the Archdiocese of Boston. Parishes may choose either this coming weekend, Jan. 16 and 17, or the weekend of Jan. 30 and 31 to take the collection. Funds collected will be sent to Catholic Relief Services to assist in relief efforts in Haiti.
Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the umbrella group for Boston-area Jewish philanthropy founded in 1895, has set up a Haiti quake relief fund to support Boston-based Partners in Health as well as the broader national Jewish effort through The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, a human rights group based in Cambridge, has launched an earthquake relief fund.
AmeriCares, a disaster response organization based in Stamford, Ct., has high ratings for its efficient use of donor resources. It has set up an emergency earthquake fund, pledging $5 million for victims.
Doctors Without Borders is a highly regarded humanitarian service that responds quickly to disasters around the Globe. MSF, as it it known by its French acronym, already had medical teams on the ground in Haiti and they are treating hundreds of victims.
The Wayland-based organization, Bread of Compassion, says it had long ago planned a medical mission to Haiti on March 1, and now is stepping up preparations and seeking contributions for the trip by 20 medical professionals to bring more medical supplies on the journey.
Local Haitian organizations
The Haitian Multi-Service Center in Dorchester is part of Catholic Charities and has been serving Haitian immigrants in Boston since 1984.
The Center for Community Health, Education and Research has compiled a useful list of Haitian organizations in Greater Boston.
The Association of Haitian Women in Boston works to empower low-income women in Haiti.
The St. Boniface Foundation, based in Randolph, runs a hospital in Fond des Blancs, about 70 miles west of Port au Prince.
Also in Fond des Blancs, Haiti Projects Inc, run by Sarah Hackett, a nurse from Gloucester, offers family planning and other services in these remote mountains.
Local Media
The Boston Haitian Reporter has an impressive live blog on developments in Haiti and updates on available resources.
Jean Filias hosts a Haitian radio program on Radio Energy (1620AM) in Dorchester.
The Boston Haitian Reporter also has a list of Haitian community resources and organizations.
Haitian Embassy in Washington, hotline: 202-332-4090.
Sen. Paul G. Kirk's Boston office says it will try to connect people with relatives in Haiti. Call 617-565-3170.
National Resources
The Center for International Disaster Information has created a website with links to organizations that are accepting donations and other resources related to the earthquake.
The CIDI, funded by the US Agency for International Development, has guidelines on how to contribute appropriately to disaster relief. The key point is that the best contribution is money, not clothes and food, because money can be directed more quickly and efficiently to meet the needs of victims.
The United Nations World Food Program is quickly mobilizing aid resources for victims, and is accepting donations.
Action Against Hunger has hundreds of staff members in Haiti and has deployed emergency teams to assist victims.
The Episcopal Church is collecting donations and organizing relief, through its relief agency Episcopal Relief and Development.
The Salvation Army has worked in Haiti since 1950 and is organizing immediate assistance. The Salvation Army is accepting monetary donations to assist in the effort via, www.salvationarmyusa.org, 1-800-SAL-ARMY and postal mail at: The Salvation Army World Service Office, International Disaster Relief Fund, PO Box 630728, Baltimore, MD 21263-0728. Donors can also text the word “HAITI” to 52000 to automatically give $10 to The Salvation Army’s relief efforts.
The State Department Operations Center has set up the following number for Americans seeking information about family members in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747.
Red Cross: Simply text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.
Reuters Haiti help page
Haitian Education & Leadership Program
International Committee of the Red Cross
Direct Relief International is a non-profit based in California that has a range of health partners in Haiti and has pledged a $1 million emergency donation.
Mobile Giving
A number of organizations are accepting donations through mobile phone text messaging. Here's an update from the Mobile Giving Foundation, which works with a number of non-profits.
The quickest way to provide monetary relief to those affected by the recent earthquake in Haiti is mobile giving. By texting a keyword to a designated short code via a mobile phone, a micro-donation of $5 or $10 can be made to aid the millions of people affected by this tragedy. 100 percent of your donation goes to the recipient charity, and the donation appears as a charge on your carrier bill. Standard rates may apply.
Text the word “Yele” to 501501 to donate $5
On behalf of the Yéle Foundation, the leading contributor to rebuilding Haiti founded by Wyclef Jean
Text the word “Haiti” to 85944 to donate $5
On behalf of the Rescue Union Mission and MedCorp International
Text the word “Haiti” to 25383 to donate $5
On behalf of the Internal Rescue Committee
Text the word “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10
On behalf of the Red Cross in the US
Text the word “Haiti” to 45678 (In Canada Only)
On behalf of the Salvation Army in Canada
About this blog
About James F. Smith
Jim Smith came home to his native Boston in 2002 to become the Boston Globe's foreign editor after spending 22 years abroad. He was previously based in Buenos Aires and Mexico City for the LA Times, and in Johannesburg, Tokyo and The Hague for the AP. In 2007 he became the Globe's national political editor, coordinating presidential campaign coverage. He is a Yale graduate, and has an MBA. He is married to Maxine Hart and has two sons, Matthew and Daniel.
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