Cambria Hts Haitian group gets $250K

cross-posted on Queens Village Times

By Ivan Pereira

Thursday, August 27, 2009 9:17 AM EDT

A Cambria Heights nonprofit dedicated to helping the neighborhood’s Haitian community received a major boost to expand its operations Tuesday.

State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) joined other southeast Queens elected officials outside the Haitian Americans United for Progress offices at 221-05 Linden Blvd. to award the group a $250,000 capital allocation.

Elsie St. Louis Accilien, executive director of HAUP, said the money will be used to help fund the organization’s new, larger headquarters.

“Through its dedicated staff and critical services offered, HAUP improves the quality of life for over 15,000 members of the southeast Queens community on a yearly basis,” Smith said in a statement. “The funds I have secured for HAUP will allow them to continue the extraordinary work they do for the Haitian and immigrant communities in southeast Queens.”

HAUP, which has been in operation for more than 30 years, runs 18 free programs out of its office for Haitian families. Some of the programs include immigration and citizenship classes, after-school programs, job training and cultural events.

“Through the leadership of Elsie St. Louis Accilien … and her staff, this organization is a place where those who need support, guidance, encouragement and services are welcome,” state Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village) said in a statement.

The group also sponsors programs that help immigrants lend a hand to their friends and family who are still living in Haiti. In the fall it helped to donate clothing and supplies to the nation after several hurricanes devastated many of its towns and villages.

The senator said HAUP’s offices had been in need of an expansion and renovations. Although the group raised $3 million for the proposed $3.5 million construction project, Accilien said they needed a lift to make the project a reality.

“I was losing faith that we weren’t going to get money for our new building, and then when we received word from Sen. Smith about the money, we were ecstatic,” she said.

HAUP will demolish its current offices and replace them with a new, two-story building with private meeting rooms, new offices, classrooms, a kitchen and a conference room, according to Smith. The design of the front of the building, scheduled to begin construction next year, will reflect Haitian culture with a drum shape design, the senator said.

Smith and his fellow electeds pledged to help the center during the construction to make sure that it can open with a reinvigorated spirit as well as a new home.

“It has been my privilege to work with HAUP on numerous projects assisting the immigrant community here and abroad, and I look forward to continue working with my colleagues in government to ensure that this project becomes a reality,” City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) said in a statement.

Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.