Fundraising: Green Door Haiti
STRATEGY
From 2015-2018, I traveled to Haiti to document the growth and expansion of the Green Door Project. With this program, I documented multiple stories over the years that was able to help with the constant, steady growth of Green Door: Haiti. When I first traveled to Haiti, I documented the first 3 homes that were built in order to start the campaign to build more homes. After that, businesses and supporters jumped on board and the project has continued to grow. These stories were used for annual capital campaigns, personalized donor reports to key businesses and donors, social media strategy, email strategy & reports, and the main web platform for a capital campaign.
This ongoing project displays how storytelling + strategy can be used on a consistent basis to stabilize and expand growth.
RESULTS
Through this campaign, Children’s Relief International was able to build their very first Green Door Home in Haiti and it continues to grow quickly as new donors and businesses have heard the stories and responded to the cause. Enjoy a quick story below of one of the first families to receive a home after Hurricane Matthew.
STORY
MEET BELLAB
Bellab and his mom, Janet, will be receiving a Green Door home in the coming months. International partners, Jean and Jean Marie invited Bellab to join Hesed Bible Club because of his family's vulnerable and dire circumstances.
Before Hesed, he would often be found playing in the streets and searching for mangos to eat. His mom, Janet, wanted to send him to school, but could not afford it since her husband died last summer. She learned how to make bread, but she could still barely make ends meet. The family would sometimes to up to three days without food.
So Janet enrolled Bellab in Jean and Jean Marie’s program Hesed Children’s Club. He's been part of it for over a year now. Hesed allows him to attend school, receive tutoring, eat snacks, and learn about Jesus. There, he also received basic hygiene products like toothpaste so he could stop cleaning his teeth with a bar of soap.
His mom notes, "his behavior has completely changed since Hesed. He asks if he can go somewhere before running off to play with friends." He even dreams of becoming a doctor who delivers babies one day.
Hope is soaking up Bellab's life, but not just his life. Hope has dripped into his mom's heart too. Even when Hurricane Matthew flooded in last fall, it did not wash away her hope.
During the storm, the family stood in the middle of their home and hoped it would not crash in on them. The winds grew strong and the rains rushed in. Trees fell to the ground, but not one tree fell on their home. The roof was damaged and one side of the house collapsed, but they survived untouched.
With the Hurricane Matthew Relief Fund, Jean and Jean Marie provided cement to patch leaks and tin sheets to repair roofing. While this has helped Bellab's family manage, it has barely been enough. And so, a team from the states raised funds to give them a Green Door home and will fly to Haiti soon to join our building crew.
The builders will construct cement walls and a tin roof to keep the family dry in a storm. Once the home comes to a completion, Bellab's mom will receive a key to lock their door and keep them safe at night. Now Bellab's mom, Janet, can focus on her job and not worry over the upkeep of a decaying home.