Answering Your Questions
Last month, we conducted our annual Year-End Survey, asking the Heartline community to share their thoughts and ideas with us on all kinds of topics. This year, the response was bigger than ever, and we owe you all a huge thank you for your relevant ideas, words of encouragement, and thoughtful feedback.
Today, we want to respond directly to a few of the most common questions that arose in the Survey – so without further ado:
1: How can I see how my donations have been used? What’s Heartline’s financial picture like?
We provide detailed financial information to two third-party organizations that organize and present our data: Candid (GuideStar) and Charity Navigator. On these sites, you can see all kinds of information and dive as deep as you’d like – see exact numbers on how many people we have served in specific issue areas, download the most recent IRS 990 forms, see revenue and expenses, etc.
We also publish an Impact Report each year (previously named Annual Report) which provides a high-level overview of income and expenses, and highlights where we invested over the year. 2022’s will be released this spring, and 2021’s is available here.
2: Are programs still functioning in Haiti as schools are shut down, the government is nonfunctional, and violence is at unprecedented levels?
The short answer is yes. However, as the situation in Haiti has gotten more and more unstable, we’ve made ongoing adjustments and readjustments in service of our #1 priority, the safety of our staff and clients. In 2022, we closed the Heartline Education and Employment Campus multiple times: whenever the fighting pushed into our immediate area, we shut down, so our staff and students wouldn’t be at risk trying to get to school.
Fortunately, we’ve been able to reopen each time, and our adult students’ overall school year was not interrupted. Unfortunately, our partner schools serving the children in our Children’s Education program were closed from September through December because of the same unrest and safety concerns. We follow guidance from the Haitian Department of Education along with the leadership at each of our partner schools when it comes to decisions to open and close the schools in the program, and provide updates to student sponsors accordingly.
At the Maternity Center, we have reduced transports dramatically over the past 18 months by directing clients to local hospitals from their homes when a need arises that might be out of our capabilities. Additionally, with a team of 70, we maintain a good pulse on gang activity and where the highest risk may be when traveling. We then work to avoid those areas. This type of awareness requires a lot of cross-functional communication and support, but it has served us well.
3: Where can I find a history of your work in Haiti?
You can see a graphic overview of our history here, and our staff page details our full teams both in Haiti and the US!
4: Why don’t you highlight more Haitian team members’ personal stories?
In 2020 the last full-time American staff on the ground in Haiti returned home. This was a great opportunity for Haitian leaders to really own the work and lead in their communities, which they absolutely have. However, it also meant a major reduction in English speakers. Getting personal stories from Haiti is a longer process these days, but it’s still happening – see stories like “Thursday Morning Inside the Maternity Center.”
Recently, the security concerns around sharing personal information about our team have become much more prevalent. Steady jobs with good salaries are not commonplace in Haiti. Our staff would be less safe on a day-to-day basis if a Google search revealed their photo, name, and ties to an American NGO. As we mentioned earlier, we take their safety very seriously.
Finally, we deal in very personal and somewhat private parts of life – birth, motherhood, children’s lives, family struggles, and so on. It would be malpractice for us to share those kinds of details without informed consent from the people involved – which takes time and trust.
So to sum it up – if it is safe, available, and all parties involved are comfortable, we’ll continue to share it. It may just happen at a slower pace than it did in the past.
5: Where can I learn more about Heartline’s plans for the future?
In each year’s Impact Report (previously named Annual Report), we highlight upcoming priorities. 2022’s will be released this spring, and 2021’s is available here.
Given the state of Haiti in the past couple years, our plan for the future is simple: protect and strengthen what we already have. Our goal is not to grow at all costs, it’s to do what we do well in the safest and most effective way possible. Simply to remain in Haiti is a victory and responsibility we take seriously.
Didn’t see your question? Send us a note at connect@heartlinehaiti.org – integrity is one of our core values, and that means transparency is crucial. We’ll be happy to respond to you individually.
