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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2011

Meg Galloway Pearce:
Phone: 202-572-4045
Email: meg.pearce@clintonbushhaitifund.org

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund Announces New Grants and Investments Totaling $3.4 Million

As Earthquake Anniversary Approaches, Fund Intensifies Efforts to Support Long-term Economic Prosperity in Haiti

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund is announcing a total of $3.4 million in new grants and investments, all aimed at planting the seeds of long-term economic opportunity across Haiti. These efforts will establish building blocks for economic expansion and job growth, and, most importantly, foster an environment in which Haitians can determine their own future of prosperity.

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund was founded after Haiti’s devastating earthquake one year ago. Former Presidents Clinton and Bush determined that although there was - and continues to be – a need for immediate humanitarian relief, serious and difficult long-term work must be done to build the foundation necessary for a thriving economy. Today, the Fund’s latest round of grants will continue this mission to promote job creation, train Haitian workers, provide capital to Haitian small businesses and help fill critical, unmet needs in the country.

“Extensive and laudable work has been done to address challenges in the immediate aftermath of the disaster,” said Gary Edson, CEO of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. “While we as a global community must continue to alleviate the Haitian people’s unacceptable pain, we must also take clear aim at the country’s underlying problems, by offering Haitians the tools and resources they need to build a sustainable economy – one that will help heal their country from within and put Haiti on a path to prosperity. That’s why we are pleased to announce these grants and investments in projects that partner with established in-country institutions to provide job growth, training, investments in sustainable energy and access to emergency care.”

These new grants and investments are:

$1.56 million grant International Medical Corps’ Emergency Medical Care Development (EMCD) Program. International Medical Corps will use these funds to establish an Emergency Medical Care Development (EMCD) program at the Hôpital de l’Université d’Etat d’Haiti (HUEH) – one of the main training hospitals in the country – in Port-au-Prince. The EMCD program aims to improve Haitian emergency medical care and elevate it to international standards via a tested combination of technical assistance, training, and capacity building.

“We are tremendously proud to be partnering once again with the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund in our efforts to address the Haitian people’s immediate health care needs, as well provide the skills, knowledge and job promotion that are so critical to rebuilding the long-term capacity of their local health care system,” said International Medical Corps President and CEO Nancy A. Aossey. “Through the extraordinary investment of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, our training programs - including our Emergency Medical Care Development program at the general hospital in Port-au-Prince - will be vital to helping Haitian health workers respond quickly and effectively to emergencies, and ultimately achieve self-reliance.”

A grant of up to $500,000 to the Solar Electric Light Fund to co-finance a joint effort with NRG Energy Inc. to use solar power to electrify the off-grid central highlands village of Boucan-Carré. SELF has already installed and maintains a photovoltaic solar array that powers the village’s local health clinic run by Partners In Health. With this additional funding commitment, SELF will elaborate a detailed plan for additional installations using reliable solar energy to power businesses, schools, hospitals, government institutions, community lighting, drip irrigation, solar market gardens, and a fish farm in Boucan-Carré.

“We at NRG are grateful for the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund’s commitment to this innovative technology, and proud to share the beliefthat distributed solar power can play a pivotal role in helping the Haitian people build a sustainable, healthy and prosperous society,” said NRG President and CEO David Crane.

The sentiment is echoed by SELF's Executive Director, Robert Freling: “This grant from the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund will allow SELF to build on the exciting partnership we've established with NRG Energy. From powering schools to fish farms and irrigation systems, we’re bringing the critical energy Haiti needs to build back better."

$100,000 grant to the African Methodist Episcopal Church Service and Development Agency (AME-SADA), toward expanding their cholera prevention program in Haiti. These funds will be used to hire health workers (including doctors, nurses, lab technicians, aides and birth attendants), procure supplies and launch an awareness campaign out of their Pont-Matheux Health Center. This program battles cholera by hiring health workers to deal exclusively with the epidemic in the towns of Arcahaie and Cabaret; currently, AME-SADA is the only organization providing healthcare in that region. This grant is intended to fill a critical, unmet need in the region to help Haitians families get back on their feet by first getting healthy.

$1 million, two-year loan to SOFIHDES, a long-established Haitian development bank, to finance lending to Haitian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). SOFIHDES’ core business is making short- and medium-term loans to Haitian small and medium enterprises. Through its on-the-ground experience, SOFIHDES has a sophisticated understanding of this business sector in Haiti. Since SOFIHDES does not take deposits, it does not have sufficient funds to meet the borrowing requirements of current and new customers. This loan will help SOFIHDES support the credit needs of small and medium enterprises in Haiti.

$175,000 loan to Fairwinds Trading to support the next phase of the successful Heart of Haiti initiative, which will significantly boost women’s employment opportunities in Haiti’s artisan sector and expand access to new markets for more artisans in more communities. To learn more about how the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund has already helped numerous artisans fill Heart of Haiti orders, visit: http://bit.ly/fxBBZA.

As an additional part of their anniversary efforts, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund is releasing a public service announcement featuring Presidents Clinton and Bush, urging the world to continue supporting the rebuilding effort in Haiti. The PSA is available here: http://youtu.be/zC6jD1l8sbU.

To date, the Fund has raised over $52 million, of which more than $20 million has been committed, the vast majority to projects that further the Fund’s mission of promoting economic growth and empowerment. A full list of the Fund’s grants and investments can be found here: http://bit.ly/a7k01y.

“The needs in Haiti are still enormous. We will continue to look for more permanent solutions to Haiti’s pressing problems,” Edson said. “A year after the quake, our focus needs to be on fostering an economy in which all Haitians have the opportunity to realize their full potential and prosper - and to chart that future themselves.”

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund has already provided support to several organizations that are actively working to increase economic opportunities for Haitians. These grants and investments are providing critical access to capital, job training for workers and vital technical assistance to fledgling businesses, all chosen for their potential to have a domino effect in Haitian communities. Just this past month, the Fund, in partnership with MasterCard Foundation, YouthBuild International, and the Haitian NGO IDEJEN, announced a $5.68 million partnership to support job training for out-of-school young people in Haiti. These funds will help provide training in construction and life skills to these at-risk youth. In addition, the Fund announced a grant to Architecture for Humanity in support of the Haitian Rebuilding Center in Port-au-Prince, which will provide design support and technical expertise to enterprises in Haiti’s construction sector.

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded after Haiti’s January 12, 2010 earthquake, when President Barack Obama asked former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to lead a major fundraising effort to assist the Haitian people to “build back better.” The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund initially responded to the catastrophe with millions in humanitarian relief. By the time the Fund began independent operations in May 2010, it transitioned to primarily serving its longer-term mission of sustainable reconstruction efforts designed to promote job growth and economic opportunity, and enabling Haiti to chart its own successful future. To learn more visit www.ClintonBushHaitiFund.org.

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