Beginning in the Fall of 2011, construction will commence on the first of several Community Centers throughout Haiti that will be run by Samuel and his Foundation. Each Community Center will provide much needed academic, athletic and extracurricular programming for children and their families who have been affected by the January 2010 earthquake. That population, which was already suffering as a result of the bleak Haitian economy even before the earthquake, is now languishing in make-shift housing facilities, with little to no access to education, nutritional assistance and other aspects of day-to-day life that the developed world often takes for granted. The goal of the Dalembert Academic and Athletic Academies Project is to provide stable access to these and other services in the hope of making an immediate impact on the lives of people who have certainly suffered long enough.

Our First Location: The Central Plateau

 
Known as the Central Plateau, the area that occupies the central of the country north of Port-au-Prince has long been one of the poorest regions in Haiti. Following the earthquake, thousands of capital residents fled of the Central Plateau in search of food, water and shelter. With that influx of needy residents, the Region’s already limited resources, which are available mostly through the work of Non-Governmental Organizations, are now stretched beyond their capacities. Children in the Central Plateau are in desperate need of academic, athletic and other forms of stimulation, along with access to basic nutrition and medical attention. The Dalembert Academic and Athletic Academy will therefore house multi-purpose classrooms, a cafeteria and various sport venue. In addition, the Foundation will work with its partners in the medical field to ensure that all members of the community who utilize the Community Center are given access to medical care and treatment when necessary.