News of the devastation in Haiti wasn’t just headlines to one of our SPACE team members.  Shelly was a member of Friends of Haiti Organization (FOHO), a non-profit that serves the people of Haiti by building churches, schools, wells, stores, orphanages, and more.  She was secretary of that organization for 7 years.

FOHO has a list from which several projects are picked each year for work teams to take on.  Shelly’s worked on building projects, in the hospitals and clinics, and at the orphanages.  In the last 10 years, raising money to repair water wells in Haiti has been a major focus for Shelly.  The wells break due to overuse, so Shelly’s husband created a nylon bushing to slip around the rods to prevent wear.  One well will provide water to about 5,000 people.  This pictures shows Haitian people using one of the wells.

Shelly traveled to Haiti several times during her tenure with FOHO.  She first went in 1993 and her last trip was in 2004.  Twice she took her son, Chas.  She made several friends in Haiti and maintains contact with them to this day.  She’s received updates throughout the weeks since the earthquake about friends and their family members lost in the quake.  She learned that the FOHO building was completely demolished.

The Saginaw Chapter of AlTrusa has sponsored a Haitian child for several years, but no one from their organization has ever been to Haiti.   After learning of Shelly’s commitment to Haiti, Altrusa contacted her to speak at one of their meetings.  After her presentation and the Q & A session, the chapter gave a donation to FOHO and one member gave a personal check. 

Shelly’s work in Haiti and her continued involvement with its people and their needs takes SPACE’s core value of community service to the international level.  Now she’s sharing that value with other organizations who are, in turn, helping Haiti.