Haiti earthquake

Since the massive earthquake struck Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, Habitat has committed to helping 50,000 low-income families rebuild and recover from the devastating disaster.

The earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti just 10 miles west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The U.N.-sponsored Shelter Cluster estimates that 105,000 houses were destroyed, and more than 208,000 were damaged. Millions of people were affected, and nearly 1.5 million people were left displaced or homeless.

More than one million people now live in temporary shelters in Port-au-Prince, though 600,000 have left the affected areas to seek shelter elsewhere in Haiti. The damages and losses are estimated at nearly US$11.5 billion.

Habitat’s response in Haiti
Habitat has implemented immediate relief efforts and is addressing long-term shelter solutions. Reconstruction and development is aimed to initiate projects that address the structural causes that allowed this earthquake to affect the country so much. Habitat’s particular focus is on six cities: Cabaret, Léogâne, Jacmel, Carrefour, Port-au-Prince and Croix-des-Bouquets.

Based on current information and past experience with international disasters, Habitat developed a multi-phrase strategy of response:

Phase one: relief

• Emergency shelter kits
  Emergency shelter kits are designed to help families make immediate repairs and construct emergency shelter. They are distributed to families by Habitat for Humanity’s distribution partners.
• Re-establish operations
  Habitat has been operating in Haiti for over 26 years, and though the Habitat Haiti office in Port-au-Prince was destroyed in the earthquake, a new office is now fully operational.

Phase two: rehabilitation
Cleanup and reusable and recyclable solutions

• Habitat is helping families remove or salvage debris from their home sites, organizing unaffected families to host affected families and constructing transitional shelters.
• Transitional shelters give Habitat the ability to help more families in a shorter period of time. Reusable and recyclable transitional shelters are provided on land with unsecure tenure.
• Their materials can be reused or recycled into components of a permanent shelter. They may also be accompanied by a toolkit.

Phase three: reconstruction
Assessments and repairs
Habitat has trained local engineers in the internationally-recognized ATC-20 method of post-earthquake building safety evaluation. Based on a visual inspection, the engineers recommend repairs where possible or complete demolition where it is not.

Habitat is repairing homes and building onto existing host family homes as needed.

Upgradable transitional solutions and whole communities
Upgradable transitional shelters have a permanent foundation and represent the first stage of a core house. Upgradable transitional shelters are provided on land with secure tenure.

Habitat will also design and plan whole communities.

Habitat resource centers
Habitat implements its disaster response in Haiti through Habitat resource centers. These centers identify gaps within the response and reconstruction effort and develop programs to address them. In Haiti, program services include construction, structural assessments, construction technical assistance, training and management, financial literacy education, production of construction materials and employment opportunities in construction trades. Habitat resource centers have operated in Cap-Haïtien, Gonaives and Cabaret for several years. A new center is now operational in Léogâne with additional centers planned for Jacmel, Carrefour and Croix-des-Bouquets.

Habitat is establishing an active employment policy by supporting micro-enterprises, strengthening vocational training, incorporating principles of labor-intensive works and by involving Haitian firms, local labor and communities.

Habitat partners with other organizations to strengthen recovery efforts, avoid duplication of services and assure that communities have sustainable, holistic solutions.

Learn more about Habitat’s response in Haiti

• Download a .pdf with more details about Habitat’s commitment to rebuild Haiti: Progress in Haiti (2.2MB .pdf).
• Read Habitat for Humanity sets goal of helping 50,000 earthquake-affected families in Haiti improve shelter conditions.
• Get a first-hand perspective of the earthquake and Habitat’s response. Read a Q&A with the national director of Habitat Haiti, Claude Jeudy.
• Read about Habitat’s work with Haiti, six months after the disaster: Habitat for Humanity’s three-fold disaster response benefiting Haitian families affected by the earthquake.

Habitat’s partners in Haiti
Through all aspects of our work, we will cultivate partnerships with local residents and other humanitarian organizations that can multiply the effectiveness of our response in Haiti.

• Read about our partnership with the Ricky Martin Foundation and his Habitat for Humanity Haiti Recovery Fund.
• Learn about our support from Hope Help & Relief Haiti, a foundation created by New York business, fashion and music icons.

How you can help

• View a slideshow of information on ways you can Help Habitat for Humanity Build and Repair Homes in Haiti.
• Donate to support Habitat’s efforts to rebuild in Haiti.
• Get ready to volunteer. To be notified when Habitat begins recruiting volunteers, take the Haiti volunteer interest survey. This survey will collect your demographic and basic skills information and will sign you up for a periodic e-mail with updates regarding Habitat's response in Haiti.
• Learn about even more ways you can help Haiti.