About Us

THE LEGACY OF HANDS UP FOR HAITI

After 15 years of providing medical care for the people of northern Haiti, Hands Up for Haiti will cease as an independent 501 (c) (3) non-profit on August 31st. Our programs will officially merge with Second Mile Haiti on September 1st. We are immensely proud of the work that HUFH has accomplished over the years and the thousands of people- men, women, and children- we have helped. Moving forward, we are excited to partner with Second Mile Haiti to continue our mission and ensure our legacy.

Founded by Pediatricians, Drs. Jill Ratner, Mary Ann LoFrumento, and Pediatric Nurse Judy McAvoy in 2010 in response to the devastating earthquake, Hands Up for Haiti became a trusted partner with the communities in and around the city of Cap Haitian. 

We are thankful for our dedicated Haitian staff and the hundreds of volunteers who traveled to Haiti with us to provide medical care and community education. Over the years, HUFH partnered with MSPP and appreciated the support of the former Director, Dr. Jasmin for all of our programs. HUFH supported several clinics and hospitals through our alliances with other non profit organizations we connected with through the Cap Haitian Health Network. We are grateful for the support of our friends at Konbit Sante, Hope Health Action, Care 2 Communities, Hospital Serving Sante, Sonje Ayiti, Open Door Ministries, and Crudem Foundation and to the staff and leadership of hospitals such as  Justinian University Hospital, Sacre Couer Hospital, Ft. St. Michel and New Hope Hospital. 

We built clinics in remote areas such as Bois de Lance and Bod me Limbe and and in the slums of Shada and more recently in areas in and around Cap Haitian. In these Mobile Sante clinics, thousands of men, women and children received medical treatment over the years with our Global Health and Volunteer Medical teams and our in-country medical staff which took over these clinics when we could no longer safely travel to Haiti in 2020.

HUFH has treated over 7000 malnourished children through the Medika Mamba Program, restored the vision of hundreds via surgery and medical treatment by our Saving Vision and Eye Team, screened and treated hundreds of women with early stages of cervical cancer with our See and Treat Cervical Cancer Program provided monthly medication to prevent strokes through the Hypertension Screen and Treat Program , supplied communities with clean water by digging over 16 wells with our Clean Water Program , trained more than 200 matrones and midwives to save babies at birth with programs like Helping Babies Breathe and Survive, and saved many children's lives with our Emergency Hospitalization and Surgery Program.

Thank you to all our volunteers, donors, supporters, and current and former board members. We could not have achieved this without you.

HUFH's mission and legacy will carry on through Second Mile Haiti via the Kairam WellBaby Clinics (honoring our dear colleague Dr. Hemant Kairam), the three Second Mile Haiti Maternity Centers, their innovative malnutrition program, and many other initiatives that truly make a difference for the communities they serve.

HUFH PROGRAMS OVER THE YEARS

  • Medika Mamba Malnutrition Program- to identify, treat and prevent Childhood Malnutrition
  • Judy McAvoy Prenatal Care Program- to support pregnant women with screening, nutritional support and education
  • Helping Babies Breathe and Helping Babies Survive Programs- to train matrones and midwives in newborn resuscitation skills
  • Saving Vision- to provide surgery and medical treatment to restore vision and training ophthalmologists in training in Haiti
  • Cervical Cancer See and Treat Program- to screen and treating women in early stages of cervical cancer
  • Kairam Well Child Clinics -to provide care from birth through the fifth birthday
  • Mobile Sante Clinics- to provide clinical care to men, women and children in the communities we served
  • Emergency Hospital and Surgical Fund -to provide emergency and specialized care for our pediatric patients
  • Hypertension Screen-and-Treat-to prevent strokes in Adults by treating hyperstension 
  • Clean Water in Communities- to build and maintain 16 wells built by HUFH in partnership with the communities they would serve

Jill Ratner, MD, cofounder of HUFH

Our Story

A group of volunteer doctors and nurses arrived in Haiti in 2010, the year of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that killed over 250,000 people and displaced millions. We began our work in the north of the country where many children were sent who had survived the disaster. After establishing connections in the Cap Haitien region,  Hands Up for Haiti was formed as a medical humanitarian organization to continue providing care to those in need.

From 2010 to the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020, HUFH sent over 100 medical teams to Cap Haitien and the surrounding region. Our volunteers included physicians, nurses, students, educators and others who provided direct patient care and created an infrastructure for health care in areas where there had been none. Throughout this decade, we worked closely with our Haitian medical counterparts and provided education, equipment and medical supplies as well as financial support. This ongoing support allowed us to transition to a model of Haitian Run, Haitian Led programs and leadership during the pandemic and the political unrest that followed the assassination of the President of Haiti when our teams could no longer safely travel to Haiti.

Now it is time to evolve one more time and partner with Second Mile Haiti, an organization that will continue the HUFH mission and ensure our legacy within their programs.

                                   We came in response to a disaster.
              We stayed to build a better future for the children of Haiti.
                 We succeeded with the help of dedicated people like you.

 

Hands up for Haiti"During our first trips, many of us heard the phrase, 'You can leave Haiti, but Haiti will never leave you.' Many of us who participated in those first missions carried a piece of Haiti in our hearts after we returned home. Out of that inspiration, Hands Up for Haiti was born and sustained us throughout the years allowing us to achieve our mission.

Mary Ann LoFrumento MD, cofounder of HUFH and Executive Director

Haiti Facts

Life expectancy in Haiti is only 63 years. 

1 in 4 children in Haiti currently suffer from malnutrition, a 30% increase in the past year. 

Infant mortality in the first year of life remains the highest in the Western Hemisphere: 45 per 1000 births. 

Under five mortality rate (those children who do not live to their 5th birthday): 58 per 1000 live births.

Maternal mortality rate: 1 in 285 women die in childbirth in Haiti.

Waterborne illnesses, such as typhoid and cholera, and other causes of chronic diarrhea, account for more than 50% of deaths in Haiti every year.