Haiti Empowered, a nonprofit organization that operates schools serving more than 2,500 children in Haiti, has launched a cross-country road tour called The Empowered Road to address a growing budget crisis. The initiative comes after the COVID-19 pandemic halted mission trips, which had long been the primary way new supporters encountered the organization and became sponsors. With mission trips still stalled, the pipeline of new donors has largely disappeared, and the organization now faces a $150,000 shortfall just to cover rising costs for food, fuel, medical supplies, transportation, and wages for its Haitian team.
The implications of this announcement extend beyond a single nonprofit's finances. Haiti Empowered's schools provide not only education but also meals and healthcare access for children in a country where more than half the population faces acute hunger, over 1.8 million people are in the emergency phase of food insecurity, and an estimated 253,725 young children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition over the coming year. One in seven Haitian children is already out of school, with nearly a million more at risk of dropping out. If Haiti Empowered cannot close its budget gap, a school could close, meals could stop, and thousands of children could lose their safest and most hopeful place.
The organization's president, Kay Larson, is now traveling across the United States to share the mission in person and introduce a new generation of supporters to the children who depend on these schools. The road tour runs on introductions, and Larson is asking supporters to connect Haiti Empowered with churches, businesses, foundations, and community groups. Those interested can request a meeting or gathering through the organization's website at haitiempowered.org.
This is not the first time Haiti Empowered has faced a budget crisis. Last year, the organization fell behind and a school was in danger of closing. In response, Larson partnered with Creative Studio Productions, an Eagan-based creative agency, to build a campaign called Adopt a Box. The campaign allowed supporters to give at levels from $25 to $1,000, and it was connected to the organization's existing CRM so every gift went where it was needed. In thirty days, Haiti Empowered raised $42,000, surpassing its $40,000 goal on top of regular giving. The budget was caught up, the school stayed open, and more than 2,500 children continued to receive meals, lessons, and care.
Larson credits that partnership with the organization's survival. "I can honestly say I don't know that we would still be existing if it wasn't for them," she said. But the gap has returned, and this time it is larger. Child sponsorship, which once made up about 75 percent of Haiti Empowered's income, has fallen to roughly 47 percent. The organization is now feeding children on credit.
The road tour is an attempt to rebuild the personal connections that mission trips once provided. If people cannot come to Haiti, Larson is bringing Haiti's story to them. The success of the tour could determine whether Haiti Empowered can continue to operate its schools and feed, educate, and care for thousands of children who have nowhere else to turn. One introduction, Larson believes, can become a relationship, and one relationship can help sustain this work for years to come.
