How we began.
Chico HEART was formed by five friends from Chico in response to a call for help from Haiti. Four of the five founders had traveled to Haiti to provide aid after the devastating 2010 earthquake. In the spring of 2023, Guthrie Smith and Mica Grant received a call from a Haitian colleague who had been an indispensable member of the team during their aid work in Haiti. He explained that the situation in Haiti had drastically deteriorated since the assassination of Haiti’s president in 2021 and now he and his family live in constant fear of gang violence which prevents them from working and meeting basic needs.
Guthrie brought in Bob Trausch and Leslie Johnson, and Bob and Leslie reached out to Andrea Rolde. Together we formed Chico HEART to help this family and others in need beyond our borders. After the Humanitarian Parole program was cut by the US government, Chico HEART started a food program. Our mission is twofold: empower local Haitians through employment and provide essential food support to those most impacted by poverty and gang violence.
Our food program.
We are employing a local Haitian man to assess the needs of his neighborhood in Port au Prince which is heavily impacted by gang violence and poverty. All of the money we raise supports food donations to those most in need.
Conditions in Haiti.
“Armed gangs continue to expand territorial control within Haiti, driving over half of the population - nearly 5.7 million people - into high levels of acute food insecurity. Gang violence, coupled with a suffocating economy are leaving the Haitian people in a desperate situation.
The food security situation continues to deteriorate. Out of the 5.7 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity, classified in Crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 or above), 17 percent of the population (1.9 million people) are facing Emergency levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 4), characterised by large food gaps and high levels of acute malnutrition. An additional 3.8 million people (34 percent of the population) face Crisis levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3).”
-Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)
Further reading.