Thank you for your outpouring of prayer and generous support!

It has been just over a week since Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti on October 4, leaving a torrent of destruction in its wake. The brutal trail of damage left by the hurricane becomes more apparent with each passing day as relief teams reach the hardest hit remote and mountainous areas of Haiti’s southern peninsula that were previously cut off by impassable roads, downed trees, and destroyed infrastructure.

Hundreds of people lost their lives. Many more thousands lost their homes, livelihoods, and crops. The reality of this humanitarian crisis is truly heartbreaking and the needs are much greater than we originally anticipated.

Thank you for standing with us as we work to protect the lives and dignity of survivors desperate for help. You have reached across the world with your financial gifts and prayerful solidarity, and for that we are deeply grateful.

Heartline Ministries and trusted partners have been working nonstop to provide lifesaving emergency assistance where it’s most needed. Thanks to your generosity, Heartline provided Mission Aviation Fellowship with $10,000 to fund five large aircrafts filled with emergency food, water purification kits, tarps and other temporary shelter materials, and additional supplies to communities with acute relief needs.

In the past week, we have distributed tarps, rope, mattresses, ladders, tools to clear debris, 55 gallon water drums, rice sacks, beans, cooking oil, over 10,000 water purification tablets, and a large tent for a church that was destroyed. Cash grants to purchase food locally were granted to Heartline families badly affected by the storm.

We also rebuilt four badly damaged houses of Heartline staff families, providing lumber, metal roofing sheets, cement, and other construction supplies.


Heartline team unloading construction materials to rebuild homes near coastal town Les Cayes

Relief: Save Lives

Heartline and trusted partners will continue to focus on providing lifesaving emergency relief in the coming days and weeks. The major needs are food, clean water, and temporary shelter materials.

Clean water is the most pressing need due to the extensive contamination of natural water sources by stormwater and sewage overflow during the storm. Haiti was fighting a cholera epidemic when the hurricane hit, and the disease is now spreading more rapidly and already claiming lives. Heartline will continue to prioritize the distribution of clean water and water purification tablets.

Food insecurity and malnutrition are major concerns since the hurricane struck during the region’s harvest, destroying the primary food supply and livelihood for farmers. Heartline and partners will continue purchasing food produced in Haiti to boost the local economy while feeding hungry children and their families.

Thousands of survivors lost their homes in the hurricane and are living in the open air, vulnerable to the weather. We will continue providing tarps and reconstruction materials to repair homes and provide adequate temporary shelters until more permanent solutions are available.

Recovery: Build Back Better

Once the initial relief period has passed, Heartline and trusted partners will shift attention to longer-term recovery efforts to help families rebuild homes and recover livelihoods and agricultural assets.

Christian Veterinary Mission will work with grassroots organizations to provide expert veterinary care and disease prevention to the livestock of subsistence farmers whose livelihoods depend on productive animals. With the harvest completely destroyed, providing seeds for planting and replacing other agricultural inputs will help to stave off hunger and malnutrition.

Nearly half of Heartline employees have immediate family members living in the worst affected areas, with homes severely damaged or completely destroyed. Heartline is committed to helping them rebuild their homes and providing other essential support.



Haiti Housing Fund

Heartline is pleased to announce the “Haiti Housing Fund," a partnership with Maxima, a Christian woodworking company based in Haiti that employs Haitians and builds the local economy by producing everything in country. Heartline has previous experience with Maxima, most extensively after the 2010 earthquake when Maxima manufactured and delivered over 10,000 house kits to survivors.

Maxima produces housing kits that build quality homes certified to be anti-seismic and resistant to hurricane winds up to 108mph. This level of structural integrity will help survivors to build back better and prevent them from becoming victims should another natural disaster occur. The standard house kit costs $2,750, with an estimated total cost per house of $3,500 with labor.

As Heartline continues to work in partnership with trusted indigenous leaders based in the worst affected rural communities, this collaboration with Maxima will streamline housing assistance for hundreds of displaced families living in temporary housing.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support. Please continue to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for real-time updates.

Stewardship is of utmost importance to Heartline Ministries and we are committed to excellent financial management of the resources entrusted to us. All funds received will be used for emergency relief and long-term recovery efforts in response to Hurricane Matthew.