January 14, 2010

UPDATE:

The Building Good Foundation received an update from Leon Pamphile, the stateside director for the Functional Literacy Mission, one of BGF's nonprofit partners.

Pamphile said the House of David Community Health, a clinic in Thomassin supported by BGF and FLM, is still standing, but he does not know the extent of the damage or it it's being used to provide relief services. The surrounding neighborhood, however, was leveled.

BGF officials say they are strategizing on how their volunteers can aid long-term recovery efforts.

An anonymous donor has issued a challenge grant to support the rebuilding of the House of David Community Health Center. You can make a matching gift at buildinggoodness.org.

__________________________________

A Charlottesville based nonprofit is waiting for word from ground in Haiti.

The Building Goodness Foundation partners with organizations around the world to build homes and structures in developing countries. They are constantly receiving word of the damage the island has seen.

Building Goodness works with partner organizations in Haiti, two of them within a few miles of the earthquake's epicenter.

Kelly Eplee, the executive director of the foundation, showed CBS19 pictures of the projects that more than 100 volunteers from Charlottesville have worked on in Haiti. The pictures include the house of David Community Health Center clinic. Eplee said he's not sure if the structure is still standing.

Eplee said every few hours, the foundation tries to receive updates from their contacts in Haiti, and it posts any they get to its Web site.

Eplee heard from one of his contacts, but communication is limited.

"He's been trying to be in touch with his family. He was in touch with one who said he just lost a cousin. The church building he was in collapsed on his cousin and killed him, but he's been able to hear nothing else," Eplee said. "It's a spotty connection he had with his family there."

Eplee described it as "wait-and-see mode" right now. The nonprofit remains committed to rebuilding in Haiti once they know the extent of that undertaking.