Wilmington ‘Haiti Awake’ founder headed to Haiti for recovery efforts

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington woman who founded a non-profit is headed to Haiti bright and early Friday morning to assist in relief efforts following Saturday’s devastating earthquake.

Becky Graves, Executive Director and a Founder of Haiti Awake, is flying out of ILM at 5 am Friday to meet up with a team of Haitian doctors from Cape Haitian and head to the Southern Penninsula to help those impacted by the 7.2 magnitude quake.

“I have two bags packed and they are almost completely full, both of them of tarps because people right now literally have no shelter,” Graves said.

Haiti Awake is a Christian-based non-profit that works to equip local Christians to reach their own communities and country by showing Christ’s love in action.

Team members on the ground now say only maybe one out of 100 homes are still standing.

“Freshwater is in short supply. [Steeve] sent photos of local community water sources that have been destroyed,” Graves said. “He talked about seeing lines of people on the sides of the road searching for water. Food rations are hard to come by, hospitals are overrun.”

Graves was proud to report that some of the homes Haiti Awake had built following Hurricane Matthew were still standing, but many others were not so lucky. She said it was particularly hard to hear that the storm severely impacted two children she had come to know named Fabenson and Phebe.

“Fabenson’s home, completely destroyed. Phebe’s home, all of the walls are gone but the roof is still standing,” Graves said. “They have now because they do have a roof and it’s been raining this week, they have been offering shelter to a number of people in their community.”

After hearing about her loss, volunteer and Wilmington resident Ashley Welch started a fundraiser to rebuild Phebe’s home. Welch and her husband, Ethan, grew close to Phebe through several trips to the country and have watched her grow for the past five years. Her fundraiser has raised more than $1,000 so far.

Welch and many others affiliated with Haiti Awake have been raising money and collecting donations since the earthquake. In total, the organization has raised close to $40,000 as of Thursday evening.

All U.S. members of Haiti Awake are volunteers. Each time they fly overseas for relief efforts, they pay for their own plane ticket and other expenses. Every dime donated to the organization will go towards relief efforts.

“Another benefit of giving through Haiti Awake is we only hire local workers. So not only are you giving a home to someone or buying food for someone, you’re contributing to a business in Haiti,” Graves said. “You’re hiring a Haitian engineer, you’re hiring a Haitian block-layer, you’re hiring a Haitian carpenter. You’re spending money at a local small business, so the benefit is much greater than just for the recipients of the charity. It’s benefitting the economy of the country as well.”

This is not the first time Graves and Haiti Awake will be working to help the communities in Haiti and it will not be the last.

“We want them to know they are truly loved and they are cared about as individuals and we want to know what their true needs are, not just what their perceived needs are,” Graves said.

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