Whether you have known about IC Haiti since its inception or have only recently become acquainted with it, we hope these posts will help you to understand and be inspired by this ministry to our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

Let’s begin at the beginning: how did our Collaborative’s ministry to the people of Haiti come into being? Nancy Rose, current President of IC Haiti’s Board of Directors and a board member since its inception, says Fr. Paul Berube got the ball rolling with a sermon he gave back in 2008. He told parishioners about the extreme poverty and suffering he witnessed on a trip to Haiti where some mothers were feeding their children mud pies to keep their bellies full. He said it was unconscionable for a small country so close to us not to be receiving help from our rich nation. His passion was moving. So much so that when he introduced the concept of us as a parish forming our own group to help the people of Haiti, there was great interest.

Fr. Paul himself answered the question of how IC Haiti came into being when he wrote the following to fellow IC Haiti Board members in June of 2011:

“A Haitian bishop visited St. Anne parish in Salem every summer while I was growing up. He was bishop of Les Cayes (Haiti). Fond des Blancs is the most eastern town in that diocese.

“Les Cayes and its needs never dropped out of my mind. In 2002 Fr. Marc Piche was appointed pastor at IC Newburyport. A few months later as I was retiring, he invited me to live in Newburyport at the rectory. A short time later Fr. Dick Butler invited me to fulfill my dream of going to Haiti. We spent 5 days in Port-au-Prince and Fond des Blancs. The “immersion” experience – the complete poverty of the people and the efficiency of the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation – left me with a need to do something. When I returned, a brief but encouraging conversation with Fr. Marc was the beginning of IC Haiti. He gave his full support till the day he died in 2010.

“A number of parishioners responded to an invitation to participate in an informational meeting. The response was encouraging. It led to a more formal recognition of the group and eventual use of IC-Haiti as its name. … The IC-Haiti Board/Steering Committee established itself as a non-profit in 2008.”

And so, IC Haiti was born.