Celebrating 25 Years of Heartline: What We’ve Accomplished and Where We’re Headed

2025 marks a big anniversary at Heartline Haiti: we’re celebrating 25 years of investing in Haitian families!

Today, we pause to reflect on an incredible journey that has shaped countless lives and strengthened so many families. Through the support of donors all over the world, Heartline has now committed a quarter-century to this work: creating sustainable, impactful solutions in some of the most vulnerable communities in and around Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

How We Got Here

Over time, our programs have grown beyond immediate relief. In the early years before Heartline was founded, our founders operated an orphanage, one of very many in Haiti. Our core mission was to place children in families through international adoption. As the years went by, we realized that the flood of incoming orphans never ended – and most of the children had at least one living parent. Parents often chose to surrender their children for adoption out of desperation and despair, hoping they would have a better life somewhere else. As beautiful and redemptive as adoption often was, it was born out of tragedy and loss. 

When the truth became apparent, the mission changed. What if there were a way to keep families together and eliminate the need for orphanages? It was in this paradigm shift that Heartline was born, 25 years ago.

Rather than building a bigger orphanage, we shifted our focus to investing in families— operating programs that would keep families together. We knew that an education brought employment, and employment brought stability, and stability meant a family stayed together. Over the years, we built programs that supported and strengthened Haitian families.

In 2007, the Heartline Education Center and Heartline Maternity Center, our two largest programs, officially launched. Since then, thousands of young Haitians have gotten an affordable vocational education, and thousands of mothers and their babies have received high-quality, compassionate, and affordable healthcare. We celebrated our 1500th baby not too long ago!

In 2010, we launched our Children’s Education program in Cite Soleil, and in 2015 expanded it to Corail. In-between, we established our Community Care team, who have spent over a decade reaching Port-au-Prince’s most isolated and underserved communities. 

Today, these programs are more holistic and multifaceted than ever – equipping Haitian families to both provide for themselves and ignite new futures in their communities. But no matter what changes, our dream remains the same: a Haiti defined by healthy, thriving families. We hope and pray that each family we serve can throw off the chains of material poverty and forge a new path for the generations to come.

Looking to the Future

As we look ahead to the next 25 years, we know the work is far from done. In fact, our dream for Haiti feels more distant today than ever before. In the past few years, the Haitian government has all but collapsed, and brutal gangs rule the vast majority of Port-au-Prince. The US government, once Haiti’s biggest source of aid, has stepped away. There is worse poverty, broader unrest, more frequent periods of famine. 

The need is greater than ever, and yet, we remain hopeful. Our Haitian team is as committed as ever, and we’re adapting and adjusting every day to keep as many programs operating as possible – to continue being a beacon of possibility for the families that rely on us.

But we could not be hopeful without you. It is the unwavering support of individual people across the globe that makes this work possible. Your generosity, your prayers, and your words of encouragement fuel this mission.

$25 for 25

As we mark this milestone, we invite you to continue to be a part of the change. In celebration of 25 years in Haiti, we’re asking you to join our Fanmi Ansanm (“family together”) with a monthly gift of $25.

$25 can mean a life-threatening pregnancy isn’t. It can mean a young student has food to eat so they can learn. It can mean housing assistance for a family who has been displaced by gang violence.

Amidst crisis, $25 can mean health, peace, and hope.

Plus, in an effort to celebrate your generosity (and help get the word out!), every new Fanmi Ansanm member will receive a free 25th Anniversary t-shirt! 

You’ll become an integral part of this mission, and our maximum rankings on CharityNavigator and Candid mean you can trust that your gift is being used thoughtfully and responsibility.

Whether this is your first encounter with Heartline or you’ve been walking this journey with us for 25 years, thank you. We’ve achieved so much together, and we have no intention of stopping now. We hope we’ll celebrate 50 years with you too.

Your support is the key to lasting transformation in Haiti – join us with $25 for 25 today.

Free when you join Fanmi Ansanm at $25/month or more!