Sister Cities Essex Haiti was founded in June 2010, shortly after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, when residents of Essex—supported by the town’s leadership—reached out to partner with the community of Deschapelles. Many in Essex already had ties to Deschapelles through Jenifer Grant, daughter of Dr. Larry and Gwen Mellon, who founded Hôpital Albert Schweitzer there in 1956. With her encouragement, we connected with ODES (the Organization for Economic and Social Development), a grassroots volunteer group in Deschapelles, and began working together with a shared vision of educational and cultural growth.
That same year, Sister Cities Essex Haiti, Inc. became a member of Sister Cities International, the organization launched by President Dwight Eisenhower to promote cultural understanding, economic cooperation, and humanitarian projects. In 2013, we were officially recognized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Though our beginnings were in Essex, our reach has grown. Today, volunteers and supporters from across Connecticut and beyond join us in building lasting partnerships and creating meaningful, measurable impact in Deschapelles.
Our vision is to envision the community of Deschapelles flourishing educationally and culturally.
Sister Cities Essex Haiti works to build cooperation between the people of these communities, enabling them to learn, work and solve problems together by collaborating with ODES, volunteer partners and with HAS through an exchange of educational, cultural, professional, municipal, business, and technical initiatives and programs.
