In the last three weeks, while attending to the concerns of our constituents, providing accurate information and reassurances when possible, we have taken pain to inform public opinion and welcome the many gestures of care and solidarity of friends and neighbors.

On January 18, The local Asian American leadership, joined by local black, white and Hispanic leaders, welcomed Elsie Accilien, executive director of Haitian Americans United for Progress, a Cambria Heights nonprofit aimed at helping New York City’s Haitian-American and other immigrant communities, to the event by donating more than $3,000 to charities working to help the people of Haiti. You can read the rest of the story here.

http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2010/01/21/queens/queenspiirwks01202010.txt

On January 27 and 28, Ms. Accilien provided answers to questions posed by the readers of the New York Times. The questions and answers can can be found here through this link: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/answers-about-new-yorks-response-to-haitis-earthquake/

NY1 broadcast a story on a Haitian orphanage supported by HAUP.  You can read the story here http://www.ny1.com/8-queens-news-content/top_stories/112356/orphanage-director-plans-return-to-haiti

Accilien was quoted in “Three Steps to Making Smart Haiti Donations,” an article published by the NYT about the right way to help Haiti. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/nyregion/24critic.html 

We would appreciate your feedback on the actions we have taken and the guidance we have  provided so far. Please do not hesitate to get in touch.

HAUP will hold a Haiti Relief Service Fair at Sacred Heart School in Cambria Heights, NY.  The 6 hour fair which starts at 10 AM and ends at 4 PM will address the concerns of community residents.

There will be free counseling to Haitians on applying for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a benefit which the Obama administration triggered in response to the quake, as well as other immigration counseling. Questions regarding adoptions, entitlements, and available community resources will be handled by trained and qualified personnel at the fair. For children, there will be a fun zone where they can play.

Sacred Heart School is located at 115-50 221st street in Cambria Heights. Please call 718.527.3776 ext 17 to speak to Warren or Sophia for additional information.

Statement of Haitian-Americans United for Progress

New York, January 14, 2009 – Haiti suffered a major blow when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, the capital city and several other cities to south and west late Tuesday afternoon. The death toll is not yet known but the images coming out of Haiti foretell of the need for reconstruction efforts that will test the will and generosity of people the world over.

HAUP has taken several steps to respond to the immediate emergency. The non-profit organization has joined forces with New York City and New York State elected officials to build support for the relief efforts. We are urging all people of good will to provide monetary support to charities that have proven themselves in Haiti emergency responses in the past as well as in other similar emergencies. These charities include the International Red Cross and World Relief. We do not and will not collect food, clothing and other similar donations. Monetary donations are the only donations that we will allow at this point in time.

Moreover, we are very much aware that beyond the immediate emergency the rebuilding efforts will take time and will require of Haitian-Americans and of friends of Haiti a sustained commitment. Such commitments can and should take the form of volunteering time and expertise as well as providing monetary support. HAUP will plan for such efforts and urges all people of good will, and in particular Haitian-Americans to commit to such efforts.

Through years of facing natural and man-made calamity, Haitians have shown a remarkable resilience. We expect that this time will not be different. Though the loss of lives may be much greater and the emotional and physical aftershocks live with them for quite a long time, we believe that a renewed and stronger Haiti can and will emerge in the not-too-distant future. Key to Haiti’s revival however will be the support of individuals and groups to these efforts.

HAUP will take steps to take part in the rebuilding effort, including managing, training and deploying volunteers, offering tangible assistance and working with lawmakers and policymakers stateside to ensure that these efforts are a success. We look forward to working with the leaders of the NY City Council and the NY State Legislature, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and with the Obama Administration to make the dream of building Haiti back better a reality.

The Committees on Civil Rights and Immigration of the New York City Council held a joint hearing on  November 19 to discuss the city’s efforts to ensure a higher count next year when the census is carried out, and to vote on two resolutions which expressed the sentiment of the City’s elected leaders that persons incarcerated  in far away places should be added to the count of the community that they lived in prior to being thrown in jail. The Haitian-Americans United for Progress was invited to testify. Following are the relevant parts of the testimony.

Ensuring that New York City’s Hard to Count Populations Are Identified
and Encouraged to Participate in the 2010 Census

Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued Executive Order No. 127 five months ago to emphasize the city’s determination to ensure that the 2010 census reflects more accurately the city’s population size. It is an open secret that in the past New York City may have lost its fair share of federal dollars because the census count has regularly failed to reach the hard-to-count populations in the city. The Census 2000 response rate for New York City was 55 percent, well below the national average of 67 percent. Given that a lower than average response rate deeply affects the quality of life in our communities, we wholeheartedly subscribe to plans and campaigns that aim to get residents of our great city to provide information to the census either via mail or when the census workers come knocking at their doors.

Everyone who is involved with the census count understands that networking and extensive cooperation are essential to the success of this effort. The cooperation of our group, the Haitian-Americans United for Progress (HAUP) is a given. In recent weeks, we have welcomed to our offices several Census district leaders to whom we have provided information about the communities that we serve in Queens and Brooklyn and with whom we have shared outreach strategies. We believe that the Haitian immigrant communities – which are concentrated in the Greater Cambria Heights area of Queens and in East Flatbush, and Crown Heights in Brooklyn – fit the definition of hard-to-count communities, because of language barriers, the level of misunderstanding that may exist as to where the information collected ends up, and doubts as to whether it will lead to positive difference in their lives. These obstacles can be overcome when confidence is built up through trusted institutions like HAUP.

Yet as we all know, trust does not spring eternal. It must be constantly nurtured and gained. We have gained much experience in doing just that through our 34 years of service delivery to our communities. It bears emphasizing that in this particular instance, trust is built and gained through a significant grassroots effort, which may be carried out via a combined volunteer and paid staff effort. In other words, it takes resources. Yet resources are woefully absent from the mix. Given the urgency of the hour and the benefits to the City of ensuring a higher than average census count, we strongly recommend that the City address this issue immediately. HAUP is prepared to help as much as possible, yet just like many other civic-minded organizations we have had to tighten our belts because of the recessionary squeeze. Providing resources to organizations like ours so that we can be involved in the grassroots efforts to get our communities to come out for the census is an investment that will be well worth it.

On Proposed Resolutions

Both of the resolutions before the Committees – proposed resolution 190-A referring to the legal residency of prisoners, and the resolution proposed by Council Member Seabrook – make sense.

Conclusion

We strongly recommend that there be closer consultation and cooperation with community-based organizations like HAUP which remains on the front line of efforts to ensure the smooth integration of new Americans of Haitian origin as well as those hailing from other nationalities. Our role as advocates and facilitators for the community members who seek our services makes us ideal partners with the city agencies that seek to develop winning strategies and plans. We know intimately the issues that they face. We can walk them through the system when the system itself remains unresponsive. If we are unable to do so, our failure is simply due to the lack of resources on hand. A stronger partnership with HAUP and other agencies like it should result in a greater capacity to deliver meaningful services to our constituents and empower them to take a more active part in the City’s well-being. That includes ensuring a high census count in hard-to-count communities.

On October 10,  Haitian-Americans United for Progress (HAUP) celebrated 34 years of service to the Greater Cambria Heights Community, in particular the Haitian refugees and immigrants who made Queens and Brooklyn their permanent home after emigrating from their homeland.

Guests came by the hundreds to the annual gala celebration which is traditionally held at Antun’s in Queens Village. Key officials from the City and State of New York came to recognize HAUP’s leadership role throughout these years, pledge their continuing support and urge the organization’s constituents to do the same.

Thanks to HAUP’s sustained efforts over the years, NY City and State agencies have collectively pledged some $3,500,000 towards the hard and soft costs of a new building to replace present facilities which have reached the end of their useful life.

There remains just $150,000 left to be raised to cover the soft costs. It is an achievement that the Haitian community can be proud of, yet it cannot remain passively on the sidelines waiting for some other angel to bestow its blessings in the community center. “We are our own angels,” said Elsie Accilien, Executive Director, adding:

“Our friends in City and State governments have done their part to help us achieve this milestone. They are now looking to us for the very last push. Just 1,500 donors contributing $100 each are needed to get us to the finish line.”

This article is cross-posted on Heritage Konpa Magazine on the web.

Haitian Americans United for Progress (HAUP) is celebrating its 34th year and in a showing of self-empowerment and successfully providing much needed services to the community the organization is working on its last push of a three and a half million dollar fundraising effort to build a brand new facility at their current Linden Blvd., Queens address, which they own. HAUP holds an annual fundraising dinner and honors those of note in the community. This year is particularly important.

“We’re only $150,000 short of our goals,” says the Director Elsie Accilien with pride.  “The focus this year at our October 10 event * (details below) will be on the ‘Dreamweavers’, those major supporters for the new building.” Haitian children’s folkloric dance, a poetry performance, a DJ with dancing and dinner will be part of the evening. 

HAUP started 34 years ago in Queens to help Haitian refugees by providing major assistance to the newly arrived, helping them   navigate the challenges of a new culture. To this day, HAUP continues to help those they serve in accessing tools and resources to live healthy and productive lives. In these many years, the organization has expanded its outreach. 

Based at its Cambria Heights offices on Linden Blvd., HAUP is the oldest Haitian organization in the New York area (and oldest Haitian service agency in the country) with the greatest diversity of services and a staff of 55. 

What accounts for this longevity and stability? Executive Director Elsie Accilien responds, “The relationship we’ve built with the community over the years, the trust we’ve earned, and the quality of services we constantly strive to provide.” 

Board member and treasurer Rulx Rosefort was there from the beginning, “Money always comes first, especially when you’re dealing with a community of limited means.  We started programs that the government did not pay for after 10, 15, 20 years, working with volunteers.   We gave English as a second language for years without government help.”

Having evolved from a popular (volunteer) organization to an organization with a business-like attitude providing extensive community services Accilien explains, “We build relationships with elected officials. We understand this is what it takes to make things work. We hire our staff with the skill sets we need and look for these strengths and these necessary skills sets also within our board. We try to maintain a well-balanced team.”

HAUP collaborates and networks with other organizations “We use each other’s resources and share strengths. We know how to link up. It is not how big your organization is, it is how well you function and collaborate with other service providers to empower the people you serve.” Accilien adds.

In recent years HAUP also serves Haitian and non-Haitian populations in Brooklyn, Nassau, Suffolk Counties and of course, Queens. 

Bishop Guy A. Sasaricq, formerly spiritual leader at St. Jerome Church on Flatbush and now Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn was a major founder of the organization and was its    first director.   

Public support.

This summer, State Senator Malcolm A. Smith, presented HAUP Executive Director, Elsie Accilien with a check for $250,000 for their new building fund. 

This amount, along with $3 million from Councilman Leroy Comrie, $250,000 from Borough President Helen Marshall, and $50,0000 from Assemblyman William Scarborough brings the fund almost to its goal in order to begin construction. The organization needs an additional $150,000, which they hope to raise from the community and privately. 

“We have a target date to begin construction in the summer of 2010. It should take a year.” Accilien says, “We are still looking for temporary quarters to relocate during construction.”

Their long-standing track record in successfully providing services makes them credible when grants finally become available. “With 34 years of good governance, politicians can trust us,” he said. 

What HAUP does.

HAUP services up to 200 a day through its walk-in services, on-site, at home and off-site programs. In addition to providing immigration services, HAUP is the major source of information, advice and referral for housing, schools, adult education, youth and senior citizens services, health services, and services for the mentally disabled. Accilien puts it; “We serve from birth to grave.”  

The wide variety of service programs include an after school program for children, cultural, educational and recreational programs for youth, and literacy and civics education program for adults ages 18 and up. Workshops with seniors cover health issues and offer opportunities for seniors to get out of their homes and socialize.  There is a summer day camp for children.

HAUP also helps people become citizens, assisting with referrals and support through the paperwork and helping people learn about civic responsibilities. 

Their Health program includes education and an infant mortality decrease/healthy baby program. The Respite program provides relief care for primary care givers. 

On a community level they also work through social workers on the very taboo subject of domestic violence; they are part of the city-wide DoVE (Domestic Violence and Empowerment) Initiative, linking services to high incidence areas by strengthening neighborhood-based services and developing community-appropriate solutions. 

There are also programs working with the mentally challenged to learn life skills, learning grooming, using transportation, accessing the library and also learning skills to prepare them for simple jobs. 

HAUP advocates other issues that affect the Haitian population, which includes protests when necessary.  They’ve been seen at many a City Hall rally.

20% of those serviced are from emigrant and non-emigrant populations outside of the Haitian community. 

Board member and educator Nicole Rosefort, who has been with HAUP practically since the beginning, acknowledges the tremendous support for the Haitian community HAUP provides, “A lot of people would be out there, completely lost. People come to our doors without any other place to turn.”

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.

Senator Malcolm Smith, President Pro-Tempore of NY State’s Senate presented the Haitian-Americans United for Progress (HAUP) a grant of $250,000 to cover some of the soft costs of a new building that the community service organization plans to build in the near future. The grant nearly brings HAUP to the point where it will be able to break ground on the new facilities.  So far through staff efforts, HAUP has raised about $3.5 million in capital funding as follows:

1. $3 million from NY City through the good offices of Councilman Leroy Comrie;
2. $250,000 from the Queensborough President’s Office, Ellen Marshall;
3. $250,000 from NY State through the good offices of Senator Malcolm Smith; and
4. $50,000 from Assemblyman William Scarborough

HAUP hopes that Haitians in New York and elsewhere will pitch generously to raise the remaining $150,000 before the end of the year. To that end it will launch a vibrant campaign to provide them with the opportunity to contribute financially.

The event featured a who’s who of key elected officials in Queens and the Greater Cambria Heights area.  In addition to Senator Malcolm Smith, Queens borough President Ellen Marshall, NYC City Councilman Leroy Comrie, Nassau County Legislator John J. Ciotti, Town of Hempstead Councilman Ed Ambrosino came to show support and appreciation for HAUP which after 34 years of service continues to meet the needs and dreams of thousands. Several founding members came to celebrate this momentous event. Among them Marie Fouche, Monique Blanchard, Laurette Delaleu, Marcus Mordan, Rulx Rosefort, Pudens Devarieux.  Architects Nicole Hollant-Denis and Rodney Leon, and Construction Manager Rudolf J. Gedeon were also recognized for their involvement in designing what is sure to be a landmark building on Linden Boulevard .

Thanks to the due diligence of New York State Senator Malcolm Smith, Haitian-Americans United for Progress (HAUP) has been awarded a grant of $250,000 towards its capital program.

“We are extremely delighted to receive this award,” said Ms. Elsie Accilien, Executive Director of the 34 year-old multi-service agency, adding:

“We have long looked to the day when we can break ground on new facilities in order to better serve our constituents and the thousands of clients who seek our services. This grant puts us one step closer to that goal.”

In 2005, HAUP had secured a capital grant of $3 million dollars from the City of New York, thanks to the support of Councilman Leroy Comrie. This year’s grant will cover some, not all of the soft costs associated with the renovation of the facilities. Yet to be raised is an additional $150,000 toward soft costs.

“The NY State grant is a vote of confidence in HAUP’s ability to meet the needs of our community. We hope that our many supporters will go the extra mile and help us close the remaining gap with their financial contributions. We are committed to the revitalization of our neighborhood. Moving forward with facilities renovation will also give a tremendous financial and psychological comfort to our neighbors at a time of economic uncertainty.”

The picture gallery below shows some of the activities that children did in the past.

[View with PicLens]

Save the document on your computer, fill it out, print and bring the form and registration fee to HAUP at 221-05 Linden Blvd, Cambria Heights, NY. We will happily be of service to you.