15 Years of CORE’s Work in Haiti

Marking 15 Years of CORE’s Work in Haiti

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti shortly before 5 pm. With an epicenter only 25 km away, the quake devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital and most populated city. More than 220,000 lost their lives, and over 1.5 million were displaced from their homes.

As the dust settled, people fled to open spaces, fearing the collapse of damaged homes and multiple intense aftershocks. The Petionville Club golf course was one of the largest open spaces around. Overnight, the country’s only golf course became a residence for tens of thousands of Haitians. It was there that our organization was founded, originally as J/P HRO, which is now CORE.

As CORE marks 15 years of our robust response in Haiti, we want to recognize the unprecedented struggles that the country continues to face at this moment and celebrate the uplifting work that’s been done — and the resilient spirit of the Haitian people. CORE’s work has changed the lives of countless Haitians for the better, and we remain committed to this beautiful country and its people.

CORE founder Sean Penn loads rice donated by J/P HRO and the Salvation Army onto a US military transport bound for Cap Haitien in February 2010. Seeing the suffering in Haiti on the news motivated Sean to gather medical supplies to fly into Haiti shortly after the earthquake. From there, J/P HRO soon supported the 82nd Airborne Division in administering the camp, taking full responsibility for it as they withdrew.

A woman sweeps the path in front of her tent shelter in the Petionville Club Camp in early 2010. At its height, more than 60,000 displaced Haitians called the Petionville Club camp home. There, J/P HRO offered medical and dental services, set-up a school and community center, and assisted with relocations as part of camp management.

The Haitian flag is retired at the Haitian National Palace as demolition gets underway in September 2012. With extensive prior experience in rubble removal work, the Haitian Government tasked J/P HRO with handling the demolition of the official residence of the Haitian President that was severely damaged by the earthquake.

Workers demolish a damaged building by hand in June 2013. Many neighborhoods in Port-au-Price have narrow, tight corridors, limiting access to heavy machinery. In these areas crews demolished earthquake-damaged homes with hand tools, one floor at a time, from top to bottom. J/P HRO maintained a robust engineering department that repaired and retrofitted homes where possible and demolished them when not.

Chèrefrère François and family are in her new home built by J/P HRO in November 2013, after three years living in the Petionville Club Camp. J/P HRO assisted displaced Haitians by building new homes, repairing and retrofitting damaged homes, and through rental support. In early 2014, the Petionville Club Camp closed following the successful relocation of all residents.

Timeline: 2014-2018

A student in the pilot special needs class at J/P HRO’s Ecole Soleil d’Espoir, known today as the School of Hope and Sunshine, plays in November 2014. Ecole Soleil d’Espoir started in the Petionville Club Camp, and as its students returned to the community so did the school. 2014 saw the start of the special needs pilot program, which lead to full special-needs integration across all classrooms. In 2017, the office of Haiti’s Secretary of State for the Integration of Handicapped Persons presented J/P HRO with the Accessibility Prize for contributions to the process of inclusion for handicapped persons in Haiti.

Dentists at the J/P HRO Dental Clinic use a handheld device to take an X-ray of a patient’s teeth in August 2015. In its earliest iterations in the Petionville Club Camp, the clinic provided extraction services with the tools on hand. By 2014, the clinic had modernized and could provide restorative and preventative services in the Delmas 32 community.

Students in J/P HRO’s Plezi Mizik program play a concert to close out the program’s first full term of music education in August 2015. In partnership with Music Heals International the Plezi Mizik program grew to extend music education to 300 students at 8 teaching sites across Delmas 32 and surrounding communities. In 2020, students from the advanced class took the stage and performed during the PAP Jazz festival.

A J/P HRO mobile medical clinic operates at a shelter for people displaced by Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti in October 2016. We launched an immediate and comprehensive response after the Category 4 storm devastated much of southern Haiti. J/P HRO cleared and stabilized roads, removed storm debris from towns, recruited members of the community to tarp damaged roofs, and delivered immediate food and water aid.

A student at a school in Delmas 32 cleans her hands at a washing station set up as part of a March 2018 Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) initiative. WASH has been a cornerstone of our work in Haiti, reaching more than 55,000 individuals overall through addressing cholera epidemics, fostering school and community WASH programs, constructing toilet facilities, and rebuilding water systems in rural Haiti damaged in rural Haiti.

Timeline: 2019 - Present

Staff hand out seedlings for tree planting at an Earth Day event in April 2019. Environmental resiliency in Haiti has been a focal point of CORE’s work since 2015, with the launch of Haiti Takes Root along with multiple sustainable agroforestry and fishing initiatives to date.

Students from Delmas 32 Schools march in a Flag Day Parade on May 18, 2019. CORE works closely with a network of 28 schools throughout Delmas to provide training, foster the sharing of educational resources, and put on community events.

Heavy machinery demolishes an earthquake damaged structure in Haiti’s Grand Anse Department following the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti in August 2021. CORE launched an immediate response that provided emergency medical aid and mobilized heavy machinery to clear rubble and damaged structures.

A group of fishermen participating in CORE’s Ecosystem Based Adaption (EBA) program pose in their boat in Haiti’s Nippes Department in December 2023. As part of the EBA program CORE works with local fishers to develop a participatory management plan to reduce overfishing in shallow waters to preserve the ecosystem, encourage the renewal of key fish species, and increase fisher income.

A group of school children at CORE’s School of Hope and Sunshine in February 2024. Amidst growing political turmoil in Port-au-Prince, CORE’s school has remained open and functional for over 200 students – only closing temporarily as the security situation demands.

CORE carries out a food distribution in Delmas 19 with World Central Kitchen in June 2024. CORE and World Central Kitchen delivered 2,800 food kits to families in need, the equivalent of over 1.2 million meals between April to August 2024.

If you’d like to stay up-to-date with our ongoing response in Haiti or want to support this important work, please visit our Haiti Response landing page.