Monday, April 6, 2020

Mission E4's Local and Global Response to COVID-19

Local and Global Response to COVID-19

As communities around the world are trying to figure out how to deal with Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the staff at Mission E4 are working hard to respond to the needs of the thousands of families we serve locally and around the world. As information and regulation is changing day-to-day, references in this blog are as of April 5, 2020.

Domestic Response
Massachusetts is still one of the highest states with the number of confirmed cases. As many of you know, this is the state that Mission E4 has been running its’ local outreach and programs with youth since 2005. We have adjusted the way we function and serve our community during this crisis. Following suit with local schools, we have not been meeting at our physical sites since the second week of March. 

The children, youth, and families that we serve almost immediately began to feel the effects of this. Many of the students in our programs rely heavily on the food they receive in school and at our after-school initiatives. Most of our program participants live in single guardian households. For the parents with employment, most do not have prearranged childcare. 

Local schools, along with non-profits like Mission E4 have quickly begun to work collaboratively to fill the gap in essential services. At both Mission E4 locations in Massachusetts, we have established food distribution programs. We are intentionally providing alternate times than are offered by other programs so that local families in need have greater access to nutritious meals from morning to evening and on the weekends.

In addition to food distribution, our leadership team is keeping up with each student to ensure their safety and to help provide daily social interaction. 

     Mission E4 is distributing between 250-500 "bag meals" (left) and about 30-50 "family Care Kits" (right) each week. 

Mission E4 is also now running online, interactive programs for children and teens that include Art Classes, Yoga, Tae Kwon Do, Games, Bible Studies, Worship Times, and more.

In order to provide the current level of support to the families we serve in Massachusetts, we are estimating that our immediate budgetary needs will increase by $1,000 per week, for a minimum of 10 weeks. This is double the normal food budget for our weekly youth programs. This could increase more if the crisis escalates. If you could assist us with any additional support towards the $10,000 needed, it would be greatly appreciated. 
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Haiti Response
The economic crisis in Haiti is worse than we have ever witnessed. The United Nations (OCHA) reports that the number of Haitians dealing with food insecurity rose from 2.6 million in 2018 to 3.7 million in 2019. They were projecting the numbers to rise to 4.2 million by March, with more than 1.2 million at “emergency levels” of food insecurity. Children are literally starving to death. Sickness from malnutrition is at an all-time high. Current statistics show that 1 in 5 children in Haiti are malnourished, 1 in 10 are acutely malnourished and 1 in 14 will die before reaching the age of 5. Of the estimated 3,360,000 children under the age of 14 in Haiti, about 686,000 children are severely malnourished.

We have been building schools, feeding, educating, and providing medical care to children as fast as we are able to grow sustainably. With more than 3000 children in our school programs and almost 300 Haitian employees, it has been increasingly difficult to keep our “heads above water” in the face of a 17%+ inflation rate. We can’t realistically raise sponsorship rates to match the rate of inflation each year. So, each year, the purchasing power of our operating funds decreases in the midst of an economic disaster.

Now – enter the global pandemic of the Coronavirus. As of April 5th (12:26pm), there have only been 21 cases so far. We do not know at this point exactly how and where it will spread. However, as our economy struggles in the US, the economy in Haiti is affected 1000 times harder because of their reliance upon outside aid. As people here in the USA rightfully discuss concerns about how our hospitals could be pushed beyond capacity, should the virus spread quickly; how much more will the medical community in Haiti be unable to meet the demand? There is a saying amongst the Haitian people that says, “Le Etazini gin tet femal, Ayati manke mouri!” – “When the USA has a headache, Haiti is on its deathbed!

With so many sick from malnutrition, families with no health care nor access to even basic medicines (like Tylenol or cough syrup), how will this nation survive another disease outbreak? The Haitian people are resilient, and I know they will fight to survive unlike any other people I have met, but they desperately need our help! We are thrilled to see the steps that Haiti’s public health minister is taking in preparing the country for COVID-19, but each organization in the country needs to do our part.

The following is an outline for the immediate action plan Mission E4 intends to implement and the funding we will need to be able to pull this off. I know that each of us is dealing with our own concerns of how COVID-19 will affect us; those we love and our personal economy. We ask in this great moment of need that you would also remember the Haitian people.

2020 Critical Response Plan
Step #1 – Continue Feeding the Children while Schools are Closed - Sponsorship
In light of the first COVID-19 cases in Haiti, the president has issued an order to close all schools immediately. Our first step is to enact some changes to be able to continue to feed the children.
A)   Thankfully, because of our many sponsors, we will be able to continue feeding the children. Our team of teachers and directors are visiting each child’s home to drop off an entire month’s food supply for each student 
B)   We need sponsors for the 1000 children that are still not yet sponsored. If you are not yet doing this, would you consider sponsoring a child today? 

Step #2 - Institute Handwashing Program at all Schools - $18,000
A)   This step will be worked on quickly, so that when schools reopen, we can increase the level of personal and community health.
B)   Provide hand soap, clean water access (where not yet available), and handwash stations for 10 schools to institute supervised hand washing three times during school (entrance, mealtime, and departure), as well as at the latrines. These handwash stations will be build as permanent utilities at these schools, complete with new drainage systems. 
C)   Send community health workers to each location to train school staff.

Step #3 – Increase Clinic Capacity - $25,000
A)   Reopen our second clinic in Fauche, Haiti. We had to close this clinic due to budget cutbacks in 2019. However, in preparation for what is most likely coming (and with the increased cases of malnutrition) we need to reopen this clinic, hire two nurses, and fully stock this location with medicines. 
B)   Increase the stock of medicines at our Leogane clinic
C)   Add a nurse and increase the medical supplies at our Croix des Bouquet location
D)   Have a medical fund set up for the increased level of cases that we will need to refer out to local hospitals

Step #4 – Increase Custodial Staff at all Schools - $9,000
A)   Add one additional person on custodial staff at each school location. This provides employment for 10 more people and increases the capacity for clean school locations.

Step #5 – Improve Nutrition of School Meals – $54,000
A)   Add more fruits and vegetables to school meals by increasing the school food budget by 50 cents per child per week. 

Step #6 – Family Emergency Response Packs – $67,500
A)   Once the schools reopen, we will continue to provide supplemental food and supplies for the families we serve for 9 weeks. Packs will include rice, beans, tomato paste, oil, mosquito coils, and hand soap. At the end of each school week, each family will receive an Emergency Response Pack for the weekend ($5 cost – an estimated 1500 families/7500 people)

Step #7 – Economic Stimulus Package for all Employees - $30,000
A)   Each employee will receive a one-time, $100 bonus. The average employee currently makes about $150 per month. This additional income will reinforce other local business’, employing thousands.

Step #8 – Mission E4 – Emergency Fund - $75,000
A)   This would be equivalent to our average Haiti budget for one month and allow us to sustain ups and downs in our revenue during 2020

2020 Critical Response Plan – Total for Haiti            $278,500

This plan is designed to stabilize 1500 families with an estimated total of 7500 individuals (including 4500 children) during 2020. Would you help Mission E4 to successfully do our part in helping the Haitian people through this unprecedented time of crisis?
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South Asia Response
Our schools in South Asia were shut down by government order until March 31st. During the month of March, we moved all classes to an online platform. We dropped from 300 students at one of our locations down to about 50. Internet is “spotty” in some of the rural areas and made this switch impossible for many students. It is likely that this change will need to continue into June. We are in regular communication with our leaders there to determine how to best help them in this time of need. Please pray for our work in South Asia during these trying times.

Albania and Kosovo Response
As of this article, Albania has reported 361 cases. The government has taken a VERY strong position on closing things down. Kosovo is caught up in political turmoil in the midst of trying to figure out how to deal with the Coronavirus. We are in touch with our partners in these countries. Scott and Tanya Long we supposed to be traveling there in May. This trip will have to be delayed for a couple of months. In the meantime, we are committed to supporting our partners during these difficult days ahead.

Thursday, October 3, 2019

October 2019 - Big 4 for E4


You are Invited to our 15-Year Anniversary Event
  
Once again, Mission E4 will be hosting our year-end Holiday Banquets this Fall. This event is an opportunity for our supporters to hear updates from our President and Founder, Scott Long. 



At these programs, we will also be talking in more detail about the Big 4, highest priority projects to complete in 2020. Historically, we raise the largest portion of funding for our capital projects at our year-end events.
#1 – Complete the Second Floor of School – Croix des Bouquet
In order to offer the 200 children attending the “Institute Bousol Timoun” a chance to attend high school, we must complete the second floor of our school building. Out of the first floor, we serve children from preschool to 6thgrade. In 2020, we will add a 7thgrade class, and continue to add grades each year. To complete the second floor of this school, we still need to raise $75,000.
#2 – Finish the Construction of Elementary School – Fauche, Haiti
This 8700 square foot school building will provide large individual classrooms and a spacious open-air, covered meeting area for 350 children (PreK-6). Currently Mission E4 has twelve schools that provide Christian education for 3000 students in the impoverished country of Haiti. 

The “construction site” picture below shows our Haitian crew working at this location. The two-foot raised foundation has been laid. Three of the ten, 20’x20’ classrooms will be completed by the end of 2019.We have $45,000 left to raise to complete this project.



#3 - Center for Community Development - Worcester, MA
On November 2, 2018 Mission E4 closed on a property located in Worcester, MA. Our team has worked with families in this particular neighborhood for almost 20 years. We know that our physical presence here will have a strong impact on our ability to assist with long-term, sustainable and holistic community development. 

Phase 1 of the construction and remodel took us almost a year. Our grand opening event took place on September 7, 2019.
As part of phase 2, we purchased another adjacent piece of land in 2019. This new parcel gave us street access to the upper level of the property, providing the means for us to make the entire facility ADA compliant. Additionally, the most recent purchase came with a three-bedroom home that we will renovate for classrooms and a clothing ministry. The first step of this building phase is to construct a three-story, covered staircase that will connect the lower and upper levels of the property. Then, we will add wheelchair ramps to both houses, widen the entrances and upgrade the bathrooms to ADA standards. The total cost of phase 2 is $175,000.

#4 – School Bus - South Haiti Operations
The children from the five elementary schools in the Leogane area share a centralized high school. More than a third of the 700 students attending this facility come from further than five miles away. We have had a few small, used vehicles over the past few years attempting to provide transportation for this group. However, these vehicles are no longer functioning, and we have outgrown the capacity for this approach. Mission E4 needs to purchase a school bus in 2020 to alleviate the burden felt by these students and their families. Our estimated cost for this vehicle is $27,000.


To register for an upcoming event, visit our event page on our website at www.missione4.com/B4E4

To donate towards our Big 4 for E4 projects, please use the enclosed envelope or
visit our website at www.missione4.com/donate

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Latrines for Leogane

Latrines for Leogane

    Thanks to so many donors and time put in by our fall and winter mission teams, we have made a lot of progress on our new Leogane elementary school. The permanent foundation for all of the classrooms is in. The school director’s office has been built in cement and secured with the metal door and windows. The new school kitchen is complete with Haitian style cook tops to make the food for the elementary school and high school. The temporary classrooms have all been built in wood and tin, which will last 5-7 years in this condition (if needed). 


    Our next major piece to work on at this school is toilets. This latrine building will contain five Haitian style toilets. Currently there are no toilet facilities at this location, which makes it very difficult for the children, teachers, and community surrounding the school. 


     The cost of building these latrines will be $12,500. We have a team traveling to Haiti this month and would love to have the money to get this building underway while our team is there. Our goal would be to have the funding to finish these latrines by the end of the month. 

UPDATE: As of April 10th we have about half of the funding needed for this project! Taran will be meeting with one of our Haitian crews tomorrow to start digging. 

For those able to give to help us bring in the remaining $6,000 or so, please visit our donation page for this project by - CLICKING HERE - 

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Worcester Center for Community Development
Thank you to the numerous, dedicated volunteers that have put in countless hours over the past few months! Thank you to those that have faithfully donated towards this project! We are nearing the end of the first phase of the remodel for the new café in Worcester!

Worcester Massachusetts is the second largest city in New England. The 01605 zip code is our primary area of focus for our Center for Community Development. Several parts of this community are very economically depressed. Many of the young people that we work with struggle with difficult home environments, daily food, and a lack of adequate positive influences. 

Healthy Households
By providing strong mentorship relationships for teens, offering parenting classes, and supporting local families with services, we seek to foster an environment where healthy households can develop.

Education
Eighteen percent of young people in this zip code are not able to graduate high-school and only 47% ever realize any type of higher education credentials. Our after-school homework time programs work specifically to help students improve grades and better their overall learning and relational skills. 

Jobs
Currently, only 38% of the folks in this community have a full-time income. We work to help our program participants to develop job skills and provide the type of training that will allow them to gain full-time employment. Long-term, this will help to increase the median household income in this zip code (currently one of the lowest in the state) and allow a higher percentage of our participants to become future home owners.

Church Involvement
Currently, we estimate that less than 2% of those under 18  in Central Massachusetts are connected to a church on a regular basis. We are working to change this by creating ways for young people make better connections to the local church. 

In order to grow our programs and see the long-lasting impact we strive for, we will continue to expand our facilities. We aim to break ground on a new building later this year. To move to the next phase of construction and keep up with our current program costs in Worcester we need to raise $227,597 by the end of 2019. 

Would you consider partnering with us financially to help with the costs associated with this new space? - Click Here - 

 








Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Child Sponsorship

Check out our new child sponsorship video!



To sponsor a child today, visit our website at www.missione4.com

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Meet a Kethuna and Roobenji


Kethuna and Roobenji are in first grade at our elementary school in Leogane, Haiti. 
Kethuna and some of her other 1st grade friends
Kethuna and her mom outside her  home
Roobenji and his parents outside his home
Roobenji helps his mom by fetching water for the house
Kathuna and Roobenji in the spot where their new classroom will be built
The new location for our Leogane, Haiti elementary school

 Will You Help us Build Kathuna and Roobenji's new school? 


Monday, May 28, 2018

"Buy a Block"


Visit our program page to learn about how you can get involved in building schools in Haiti!