RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Baptists are moving forward with a “holistic and comprehensive” long-term recovery plan to assist Haitians still suffering from a devastating earthquake on Jan. 12.
An architect’s rendering of the Baptist Children Complex.
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Partnering with three other Baptist entities, the recovery plan will focus on Delmas, an economically-depressed neighborhood of Port-au-Prince that was hit hard by the quake. A primary project will be a multi-building complex that will include an orphanage accommodating about 100 children, a school building for 250 children, a community center and chapel, a cafeteria and a sanitation building.
In addition, a variety of community services will be developed, including rebuilding damaged homes, micro-financing and job creation and using the new community center for job training and other clinics.
“One of our key goals is to concentrate our resources in one community so that long-term relationships can be established and our resources can be leveraged to support each other and not scattered throughout the entire region,” said Dean Miller, who is coordinating disaster relief for Virginia Baptists.
Virginia Baptists’ funding will be provided by the approximately $450,000 donated since January by churches affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia. Additional funding for the projects will come from the other three partners: the Haiti Baptist Convention, one of three Baptist conventions in the country; the Baptist World Alliance; and Hungarian Baptist Aid, which works closely with Baptist World Aid, an arm of the BWA.
A sign — which includes the logo of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board — identifies the building site.
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The Virginia Baptist Mission Board’s executive committee earlier this month endorsed the recovery plan, which was developed by Mission Board staff.
Over the next year volunteers in Virginia and elsewhere will be sought to accomplish the recovery response.
About $85,000 of the nearly half million dollars donated by Virginia Baptists was used for immediate needs following the quake, including food, medical supplies and temporary shelter.
The remaining $365,000 will used for long-term needs, including the building complex, which is expected to cost about $600,000, with additional funding coming from other partners.
The funds also will be spent on other structural needs and supplies at the building complex, including a fresh water well, a rooftop vegetable garden, wind energy and a playground. Other funding priorities will be reconstruction of homes, job training, micro-finance and on-going care, including food, school supplies, furniture for orphans and community feeding.