UUSC Responds to Escalating Crisis in Haiti

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The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee advances human rights through grassroots collaborations.

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Support Haiti in the wake of Hurricane Matthew

October 6, 2016

Updated October 13, 2016: For an update on UUSC’s advocacy work to support Haitian immigration to the United States  and how you can take action in your congregation to support efforts during this recovery period, please click here.

Hurricane Matthew slammed into the southwest coast of Haiti yesterday, packing 145-mph winds and destroying houses and other buildings, crops, roads, bridges. Getting accurate information on conditions in Haiti is a challenge. But here’s what we know for sure—this struggling country has suffered another devastating blow, and its people need our help.

Immediately.

The United Nations has already called Matthew “the largest humanitarian event” in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake and warns that more than 4 million children are threatened by cholera and other waterborne diseases.

The tens of thousands of Haitians whose homes were destroyed in the earthquake and are still living in tents were especially vulnerable when the monster storm roared across the country—and they remain most vulnerable in the aftermath.

UUSC is working with our local partners to conduct an assessment of the greatest threats survivors face and put together an emergency crisis response. Meanwhile, we’re also working to strengthen our emergency response capacity—a capacity that can be a matter of life and death for the most marginalized and the most vulnerable. 

We’ll focus especially on the “stateless” refugees deported from the Dominican Republic and stranded along that country’s border with Haiti, vulnerable families living in shelters, and other groups most likely to fall through the cracks of traditional rescue and relief efforts.

They’re counting on UUSC. And we’re counting on you.

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