Author Archives: Allison Howard-Berry

C2C Provides Free Maternal Health Care to Increase Safety for Moms and Babies in Northern Haiti

Maternal health is a critical component of community health care in any part of the world. In developing regions, however, the maternal mortality rate in is still 14 times higher than in developed regions (World Health Organization. Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990-2013. Geneva: 2014, online). To combat this reality and give babies the healthiest start in life, C2C has rolled out a new program offering free care for moms-to-be in Northern Haiti.

Dr. Chanlatte, a gynecologist and obstetrician, visits our Camp Coq and Acul du Nord clinics twice weekly to offer prenatal and ob/gyn services. Pregnant women receive all prenatal lab tests, pharmaceuticals, and an ultrasound for free. They are encouraged to come for four visits, as recommended by the World Health Organization – or more, if necessary. All patients work with clinicians to create a safe birth plan that addresses any identified irregularities, each will receive follow-up care, and all are encouraged to bring their infants (and all children) to the clinic for free immunizations.

Since this program began in mid-August, more than 200 pregnant women have participated, receiving check-ups, counseling, lab tests, and prescriptions, free of charge. C2C expects to provide more than 500 maternal care visits in the coming year.

Newest Team Member Shares His Journey to C2C

Evens Simeon joined the C2C team in August, as our new Senior Project Manager in Haiti. He brings with him many years of NGO experience in Haiti, including working with the World Food Programme and the United Nations. Here, he shares his background as well as his hopes for C2C’s future.

Joining C2C is a great thing for me for several reasons. I like the idea of sustainability behind the model, and also feel the work we are doing is critical. As Senior Program Manager, I will put all my energy and expertise into the success of this project. I believe my country really needs organizations like this. I have shared a bit of my background below.

I attended the Universite Notre Dame d’Haiti where I studied Administrative Sciences (Management) for 4 years. Soon after completing this degree I started working in the Marketing field for Sogecarte, a subsidiary of Sogebank, a well-known institution in Haiti. After two years there I was hired by United Nations for Project Services, in their Communication Center project. I spent almost 7 years working as the National Communication Center Supervisor. Following the completion of that project in February 2013, I joined the World Food Programme (WFP) in Haiti as Senior Communication Center Supervisor.

After the WFP project concluded, a friend invited me to take part in a social project that he was planning, Entreprise Social Priorité Education Developpement. The goal of the project was to offer financial assistance to poor people who desired to study, and to make a library and a cyber-center available. I liked the idea of helping Haitians help themselves, and that led me to C2C.

C2C Founder, Elizabeth Sheehan, featured in Boston Business Journal

We are thrilled that our Founder, Elizabeth Sheehan, has been recognized by the Boston Business Journal as one of their WomenUp. Here, from the feature article, a quote from Elizabeth:

“In international issues of any kind, we need to be patient. Humble. We don’t know what the resource-poor need; we need to listen to them. We really have to turn the table around and collaborate, and understand how communities operate, before you have a solution for them. And be prepared to fail. Failing is where you have your best learning.”

Boston Business Journal subscribers can read the article in full, here.

C2C President and Founder Featured in Women Moving Millions Blog

We’re so excited that our President and Founder, Elizabeth Sheehan, has been featured in Women Moving Millions’ Bold Voices blog. Elizabeth spoke at the Women Moving Millions Summit last week, on her approach to leadership as an implementer of social change. You can read the blog on Women Moving Millions’ website.

What is a Social Enterprise?

Just like a traditional charity, a social enterprise seeks to a achieve a social good or goal. But a social enterprise also seeks to achieve revenue-generating goals for the purpose of ensuring long-term sustainability. For C2C, that social goal is delivering high-quality health services to poor and low-income families in Haiti Full Article.

C2C is a fundamentally “mission-driven” organization which has borrowed elements of a private-sector operating model. This is because we believe that Haitian families need and deserve a reliable, long-term solution to their health challenges — a solution that cannot be achieved through 100% donor funding.

Poor families are made more vulnerable by inconsistent or unreliable health service providers. We intend to change that. By running our clinics as social enterprises, C2C offers something unique and important to our patients: a guarantee that our low-cost, high-quality services will keep the community healthy.

Social Marketing: Building C2C’s Patient Base One Household at a Time

It’s a common misconception that poor families in Haiti don’t have any options when it comes to healthcare services. But most people living in populated areas like cities or towns do have options and the options run the gamut of low and high cost to low and high quality.

C2C clinic’s fill a central gap: low-cost and high-quality. Still, the decision to seek out health services can be complex: household finances are tight and patients can decide to visit traditional herbal medicine healers, or to travel long distances to government hospitals, or – even worse – to wait, and hope that one’s condition improves.

C2C’s social marketing efforts seek to make these decisions easier for poor families. Our community-based staff members (called Community Health Agents) go household to household, providing health education and answering questions about the C2C clinic’s services, pricing, and the “C2C patient experience”.

Recently, we’ve been experimenting with a community coupon promotion, which we hope will entice new clients to try C2C!

Newest Intern Shares Her Learnings From C2C

Interning at C2C has taught me things that I wouldn’t normally learn in a classroom. I’ve seen what it takes to run a non-profit organization, and learned eye opening facts about health struggles all over the world.

In the three weeks that I interned, I learned how to use different development tools for data management and grant research. I also learned more about researching and databases, both very useful things to know for my future. I even had the opportunity to sit in on a staff meeting and got a taste of what the real non-profit world is like.

I completed a lot of different projects at C2C, most of which was focused on research. This will really help me in the future, in school and work. My time here has helped me gain experience I need to start thinking about what I want to do with my knowledge in the future.

C2C Partners with Haitian Social Business, Digo Distribution

It’s important to C2C to partner with local companies and organizations on the ground. We recently did just that in partnering with Digo Distribution, a social business in Haiti that produces bulk liquid cleaning products: disinfectant cleaner, detergent, and bleach. These products are crucial for Haitian families, especially during the rainy reason.

Digo Distribution is a Haitian-owned business that started as a commercial enterprise. Recently, motivated by a social mission, Digo wanted to reach more low-income people with their products. Yunus Social Business invested in the growth of Digo’s social arm, and partners like C2C bring the products to low-income customers.

By packaging the cleaning agents in bulk drums, customers can bring their own bottles or containers to “fill up” at the Digo station at the C2C clinic! This saves them the cost of purchasing a new product container each time — often a prohibitively expensive prospect for a poor family.

C2C is excited to offer these important products to our patients and to be working with an innovative Haitian-owned social business!

Community Health Screenings Bring Primary Care Directly to Families

At C2C we aim to reach as many people in the communities we work in as possible. Our Community Health Workers (CHWs) visit households on a daily basis, and our clinic staff see all patients who visit the clinic each day. To continue increasing the number of community members we can help, we’ve added a new feature through our Haiti clinics—community health screenings.

Once a week, our CHWs, along with our nurses and auxiliary nurses, set up a station at a local neighborhood spot, to serve women, children, and families. Community members can purchase a glucose test, and receive free blood pressure screenings, vaccinations, family planning materials, and water purification tabs.

Radio campaigns and local advertisements help spread the word for the service, announcing a different neighborhood each week. Locals can come at any time, pick up free materials, and learn more about the services offered at their nearby C2C clinic. At our Camp Coq clinic alone, there were over 240 participants in the first two weeks.

“Participants were already crowding around the venue when we arrived. People have really appreciated this initiative. Some people even asked when the next visit to their area will be,” said our Camp Coq nurse, Herlande Duvot.

These screenings will allow C2C to provide quality health care to even more members of the Camp Coq and Acul du Nord communities!

C2C Awarded Position in 2015 Yunus Social Business Accelerator Program in Haiti

We are thrilled to announce that C2C has been awarded a position in the 2015 Yunus Social Business accelerator program in Haiti! This program trains and mentors emerging social entrepreneurs who are using market-based solutions to fight poverty. C2C’s clinic model in Haiti has shown early success and exemplifies the work of the global Yunus community.

The social business accelerator program is supported by USAID and seeks to demonstrate the power of applying a private sector approach to solve society’s most challenging social problems. C2C is proud to be an early leader in a small field of health care innovators in Haiti. We deliver high-quality primary care to poor families every day in a way that ensures long-term financial sustainability and success. We look forward to sharing more information in the coming months about the Yunus accelerator program!

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