Yon Pwojè ant Ministè yo Kowoperatif nan Lavil, manb kongregasyon li yo ak òganizasyon patnè li yo

A Call for a Month of Remembrance and Rededication to Haiti: January-February 2011

December 13, 2010

Dear Friends,

We are writing to invite you to join our Haiti Interfaith Action Network in calling for a Month of Remembrance and Rededication to Haiti from January 12 to February 12, 2011 – one year after the most devastating earthquake in the history of Haiti and in the midst of a terrible cholera epidemic.

As members and leaders of faith communities, community-based organizations, and campuses we have come together to support Haiti and Haitian Americans in their efforts to rebuild that nation and ensure the needs of its people are met.

As people of faith from a diversity of traditions, we all believe in common values of human dignity, love of neighbor, caring for the impoverished, and receiving the stranger. We believe it is a moral imperative and our ethical responsibility to ensure that the people of Haiti – as well as Haitian immigrants and nationals in our country– receive the support and assistance they need and deserve.

We have been encouraged by the efforts of so many individuals, organizations, and governments to support both the immediate and long-term needs of the Haitian people. Yet we have been discouraged by the amount of time it has taken to release funds to the much-needed rebuilding efforts in Haiti. We also have deep concerns about the status of and eligibility of federal benefits for those who are only able to stay in the United States due to Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure status, rather than a commitment for them to be able to stay as long as is needed.

We invite you to join us in one or more of the following ways:

      • Join one of many events of remembrance that will take place  during the month of January 2011 (see the attached list), or organize your own and let us know about it;

      • Ask all in your community to pause at noon on January 12 — and/or at services during the weekends before and after that date — for a minute of silence and reflection;

      • On January 12, observe a moment of silence and ring bells at noon for 30 seconds to remember those who were lost and those who are still suffering (houses of worship and town and city halls are being asked to do this); and

      • Join the Haiti Interfaith Action Network as a member, which simply means a commitment to do as much as is possible in support of the work of the network to advocate for action by the U.S .government and support Haitians and Haitian-Americans in our midst.

To let us know that you can join with us — or to ask any questions — please contact Alex Kern. Alex is the executive director of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, and is coordinating the network. He can be reached at 617.244.3650 or akern@coopmet.org.

Sincerely,

Alexander Levering Kern
Executive Director, Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries (CMM)

Minister Sandra Dorsainvil
First Baptist Church in Needham

Pastor Thomas St. Louis
New Covenant Church of Cambridge

Brian Corr
Executive Director, Cambridge Peace Commission, City of Cambridge

On behalf of the Haiti Interfaith Action Network

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