Other Community Events

January 24, 2010, 3pm to 9pm

Madison High School, 75 Malcolm X Boulevard, Roxbury, MA

Friends of Haiti, members of the community, college students in particular are invited to use their cell phones to make donations to the Red Cross or contribute check/cash donations to Earthquake Disaster Fund established with Citizens Bank.  The 6-hour concert, with major Haitian performers, and artists and writers displaying their work, hopes to attract thousands of people to make their donations, as well as callers pledging on phones manned by student volunteers.  Our current list of performers include:

Guest Performers

• Carole Demesmin from Florida
• Nicky Christ from Haiti
• Toto Laraque from Montreal
• Manno Charlemagne (invited)

New England Haitian Area Performers

• Pierre Gardy Fontaine
• Michael Besson
• Sebastien Lucien
• Jean Dauphin
• Idi
• Mirlande Rouzard
• Rebecca Zama
• Malaika Lucien
• Didi Jeremie
• Guest artist

Musical Groups

• Gifrants’ Sextet
• Group Zili Mizik
• Group Melanj

In addition, local writers, poets and visual art artists from the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts (HAAM) will have artworks, books and CDs on display to help raise funds for the event.

For more information, visit our website, call 617.698.6360, or email info@haitianquakerelief.net.  For the logistics of the concert or media inquiries call 617.401.1763.

January 20, 2010

Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) & Association of Haitian Women in Boston (AFAB)

A meeting today about immigration status for Haitian leaders … Forwarded from Carline Desire, Director, The Association of Haitian Women in Boston

Dear Friends and Colleagues, The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) and The Association of Haitian Women in Boston (AFAB) invite all Haitian Community Leaders to attend an urgent meeting with the Director of the Boston District Office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Denis Riordan. At this meeting, USCIS Director Riordan will give an update on the status of all pending Haitian immigration applications covered by the Boston Dirstrict Office. The meeting will be held today, January 20 at Catholic Charities/ Haitian Multiservice Center at 185 Columbia Road, Dorchester at 4:00 PM. Please make an effort to attend this important opportunity for our community.

Best,

Carline Carline Desire

Executive Director Association of Haitian Women

330 Fuller Street Dorchester, MA 02124

T: 617-287-0096 F: 617-287-0170 www.afab-kafanm.org

Mental Health Services

Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) Mental Health Services

Additional hours for mental health counseling have been set this week at the following CHA sites.  Those from the community interested in going to one of the sites for a mental health visit, should contact the site at the below listed numbers to schedule an appointment.

Cambridge

• Cambridge Pediatrics, 617-665-1264
• Teen Health Center, Cambridge 617-665-1548

Somerville

• Somerville High School, Teen Connection 617-575-5690
• USFHC 617-665-3370
• Somerville Pediatrics 617-284-7000

Everett

• Everett High School 617-843-0700

Malden

• CHA Malden 781-338-0500

Donation Ideas & Information

On January 12, 2010, at about 5:00 pm an earthquake of a 7.0 magnitude hit Haiti, with at least 2 dozen aftershocks following, devastating the capital and many surrounding cities.  With the death toll climbing, there is need for immediate action.

The Haitian Coalition is actively working with the City of Somerville to provide immediate relief to survivors of this horrific natural disaster.

Ways you can help:

• donate money – all proceeds raised will go directly to support the Haiti Earthquake Relief

The Haitian Coalition is currently collecting medical supplies to transport to Haiti in the near future.  We are looking to collect:

• masks
• gloves
• Band-Aids® (all sizes)
• First Aid kits
• A+D® Diaper Rash Ointment
• Cotton balls and swabs
• Alcohol
• Hydrogen Peroxide
• Medical Tape
• Saline Spray
• Non-prescription painkillers (Tylenol®, Advil®, Alive®, Motrin®, Aspirin®)
• Gauze pads
• Ice/heat packs
• Burn dressing
• Soap
• Hand sanitizer
• Braces (neck, back, knee, hand)

• Donate your time: please consider spending an hour or two a week volunteering your time at the Haitian Coalition office.

The Haitian Coalition of Somerville, a 501 (c) (3) not for profit organization, has not provided any goods or services, in whole or part, to you in consideration for any voluntary contributions.

Please visit the contact page for our address and phone number.

Family Location Websites

Here are websites you can use to look for information about family members in Haiti.

http://haiticrisis.appspot.com/

http://www.familylinks.ICRC.org/Haiti/locate/fre (French)

http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/WFL_HTI.NSF

http://submit.nytimes.com/Haiti-missing

Volunteer Opportunities

EWB-USA Supports Haiti

In light of the recent devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the EWB-USA community offers our thoughts and well wishes to the people of Haiti.  While EWB-USA does not work in the field of disaster relief, our chapters do partner with the various communities within the country to work on community and infrastructure needs.  EWB-USA projects directly support communities and work closely with local partners to design and implement sustainable engineering projects.

If you would like to get involved in supporting Haiti, here are three ways you can make a difference:

1. If you would like to make a contribution to one of our projects in Haiti, please click here.
2. If you would like to make a donation that directly affects victims of the earthquake, please visit the Red Cross.
3. There is an immediate and dire need for French speaking Civil or Structural Engineers and on the ground organizations are in critical need for skilled assistance.  If you are an experienced engineer and speak French or Creole please click here for more information.

The American Red Cross

The American Red Cross is looking to deploy 100 Creole interpreters to work on the hospital ship USNS Comfort, which will be harbored outside Port-au-Prince.  Volunteers need to be fluent in Creole and English.  Other skills are helpful but not required.

Things to keep in mind:

1. The ship will be deployed for a month;
2. volunteers won’t be able to leave the ship during that time; and
3. they will not have luxurious quarters.  It is important to stress the second point:  The interpreters will stay on the ship to assist and won’t be able to get off the ship to see family in Haiti.

We are looking for volunteers to be in Miami no later than Wednesday night/Thursday morning (January 20/21).

The Red Cross may be able to provide accommodations for those coming from out of town.

All volunteers would be fully trained, either in Miami, or at their home chapters of the Red Cross before they come to Miami.

Again, no skills are required beyond speaking both Creole and English.

Anyone interested in this opportunity will be contacted ASAP with additional steps.

Please communicate to me immediately if you have persons who can do this.

Michael A. Blake

Deputy Associate Director

The White House – Offices of Intergovernmental Affairs & Public Engagement

(202) 456-4772 – Office

(202) 503-5649 – Cell

Welcome to our new blog!

Welcome to the new blog for the Haitian Coalition of Somerville. We welcome your contributions! More information will be available soon about:

• Upcoming events in Somerville and Boston metro area
• Family location sites
• Donation ideas and information
• Volunteer Opportunities