Haitian Coalition

Franklin Delembert/Excutive Director

Thanks for your interest in the Haitian Coalition of Somerville! The Haitian Coalition is a nonprofit organization with the mission of organizing Haitians to improve the economic, political, physical, and social environments in Somerville and Cambridge and providing services to Haitians living in surrounding communities.

 

The organization was founded in 1992 and has played a vital role in developing the Haitian community. Through advocacy and support, the Haitian Coalition has giving a voice to the Haitian community. And with your help, the Haitian Coalition will continue to make difference for many years to come!

 

The Coalition formed in 1992 as a project of the Community Action Agency of Somerville. In its early years, The Coalition fought racism, promoted Haitian culture, and helped Haitian residents gain access to services and programs from legal aid to social services, from voter registration to small business training.

By 1997, The Coalition had gathered enough support from the community to become an Independent nonprofit organization and open its office at One Davis Square . In 2000, The Coalition opened a second site, the Clarendon Hill Activities Center, at Clarendon Hill Public Housing Development in Somerville, serving the majority-Haitian low-income community there.

Throughout its ten-year history, The Haitian Coalition has pursued a single mission: to organize Haitians to improve the economic, political, physical, and social environments in Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts…

· Empowering residents of Clarendon Hill to become self-sufficient, through literacy and computer education.

· Sponsoring the Somerville Conversations: Facing the Challenge of Racism.

· Leading Somerville United Against Racism, a citizen coalition for a more just city.

· Stamping out seductive tobacco advertising aimed at Somerville and Cambridge youth.

…and provide services to Haitians living in surrounding communities, primarily Medford, Malden and Everett.

· Welcoming newly arrived immigrants from Haiti and orienting them to their new home. 

. Helping Haitian elders get access to housing, health care, and all the benefits they deserve.

· Supporting Haitian youth as they struggle to integrate into American society without losing their

  own unique and cherished culture.

· Assisting Haitian women to get training and capital to make their family child care businesses

  thrive.

· Referring hundreds of people each year to the legal, medical, and social services they need.

The Haitian Coalition invites you to celebrate its success--and to become a part of it yourself. "Patisipasyon se fos" is our motto. It means "Involvement is Power." I want to invite you personally to call The Coalition at (617) 628-6400 and volunteer to help us as we begin a second decade of success.