Volunteers

We are a group of committed volunteers working to fulfill the mission of Sister Cities Essex Haiti. SCEH serves as a portal through which people who are interested in making a positive, measurable impact on a community in Haiti can do so while also developing relationships with the people in that community.

Sister Cities Essex Haiti-Town of Essex

On May 19, 2010, the Selectmen of the Town of Essex authorized the creation of an autonomous Board charged with developing a sister-cities relationship with Hospital Albert Schweitzer and Deschapelles and its environs and fulfilling its mission.

Current members and officers of the Sister Cities Essex Haiti, Inc. Board of Directors are the following:

Kathleen Maher	President, Director*
Dan Taylor-Stypa	Vice-President:Public Relations, Chair of Public Relations Committee, Director*
David Evangelisti	Treasurer, Chair of Finance Committee, Director*
Jenifer Grant	Secretary, Director*
Denise D’Avella	Chair of Development Committee, Director*
Terry Smith	Chair of Library Committee, Director*
Mary Lee Blackwell	Director
Sherry Clark	Liaison to Sister Cities International, Director
Kristin Harris	Director
Lynda Hunnicutt	Director
Robert Lamothe	Director
Susan McCann	Director
Rhode VanGessel	Director
*Member of Executive Committee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Persons holding the following positions, or their designees, serve as non-voting ex officio members of the Sister Cities Essex Haiti Board of Directors:

• Selectman of the Town of Essex: Norm Needleman, Joel Marzi, or Stacia Libby
• Principal, Essex Elementary School: Joanne Beekley
• Director, Essex Library
• Director, Ivoryton Library: Robbi Storms
• President, Middlesex County Community Foundation: Cynthia Clegg
• President, Middlesex Hospital: Vincent Capece
• Superintendent, Region 4 Schools (Chester, Deep River, Essex): Ruth Levy
• President, Tri-Club Rotary (Chester, Deep River, Essex): Jeff Mehler
• Designee, Valley Shore Interfaith Alliance
• Designee, Essex Board of Trade: Connie Connor
• Executive Director, Community Music School: Robin Andreoli

Residency in the Town of Essex is not a requirement for Board membership or any other involvement with SCEH. We welcome any and all volunteers who would like to join us in supporting our projects in Haiti.

Sister Cities Essex Haiti does not have any paid staff or employees.

If you would like to volunteer, please contact us.

 

ODES (Organization Pour Development Economique and Social) is an organization, formed in 2007 of leading citizens in the Town of Deschapelles and its environs, who meet weekly to discuss and implement economic and social development in Deschapelles. All members of the community are welcome. They are all volunteers. ODES is closely linked to, and supportive of, HAS. ODES could be compared to a Lion’s Club, Rotary, or Chamber of Commerce in the United States. For example, after the earthquake, they provided housing and food, free of charge, to internally displaced people—people who had left Port au Prince to find medical care and safety in the countryside—until they found more permanent homes. The cost of the food was initially contributed by them and subsequently supported by generous donations from Haitian and American friends. They also provided support and assistance to L’Escale, an HAS facility that provides housing and meals to amputees being fitted for prosthetics at the Hanger Clinic on the campus of HAS, by transporting patients to and from the prosthetics center on the HAS campus.

SCEH will collaborate with ODES to identify and consummate projects that will improve the quality of life in Deschapelles and its environs. ODES will take responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the proposed library.  They are an integral part of all projects undertaken by Sister Cities Essex Haiti in Deschapelles.

Current officers of ODES are the following:
BELIZAIRE Luquece	President
DORSAINVIL Dieudonne	Vice President
BELIZAIRE Besly	Secretaire General
CHARLES Markenzy	Secretaire Adjoint
GARCON FRITZ Piosson	Tresorier
THERNE Arold	Conseiller
ARISTYL Fresnel	Conseiller
STIMPHYL Barthèlemy	Deleguer
PHILO Christène	Delegueras