PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — As political unrest in Haiti intensifies, Habitat for Children Ministries in Port St. Lucie is gearing up to help.
"My feelings hurts because I put so much hours in the ministry and also for Haiti. I hate to see it destroyed like that," Meschac St. Amour, the president and founder of Habitat for Children Ministries, said.
St. Amour has deep roots in Haiti.
"I am born and raised in Haiti. I moved here when I was 25 and, yes, my mom is still there and of course, I am working for Habitat and we have an office in Haiti," he said.
For almost 20 years the organization has been providing aid in the form of food, school supplies, and health care to thousands in rural communities there.
"The situation in Port-au-Prince is one that — there's violence there and it's just unrest and these people don't deserve that," Cris Escher, vice president of Habitat for Children Ministries, said.
St. Amour said gangs occupying Port-au-Prince have made it hard for rural communities to get resources like food and gasoline.
"Once they block Port-au-Prince, they block those roads and there's no traffic moving," St. Amour said. "Some people cannot get to the next city to get food."
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The gang presence has also made getting resources flown into Haiti very difficult. They're still trying to coordinate how to reach the areas in need.
"We have some plans on the background, but we cannot release them yet because we don’t know how things are going to progress," St. Amour explained.
Habitat for Children Ministries said, for now, the best way for people to help is through financial support.
"We need to be able to get food down there, but we're not even sure what we can transport at the moment," Escher said. "If we're liquid enough, then we can just buy what we need and go."
If you'd like to help, contact Habitat for Children Ministries at (561) 536-3177 or click here to donate on their website.