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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!

C2C Selebrasyon Presented by the Eliassen Group – A Celebration of Haitian Music and Cuisine – Raised More than $50,000!

Thanks so much to all the sponsors and the sell-out crowd at Selebrasyon 2015, who helped C2C raise more than $50,000 to support our programs in Haiti!

Guests heard about C2C’s amazing programs in Haiti – serving thousands of families in the North – from Founder, Elizabeth Sheehan, and COO, Allison Howard-Berry. They also danced to Haitian music by Tiz Kompa, enjoyed authentic Haitian food by Sunrise Caribbean Cuisine, perused the auction filled with Haitian arts and crafts, and won stays in three vacation spots. These amazing holidays included a week in a beautiful home in Turkey (donated anonymously), and weekends in homes in New Hampshire (donated by Lynn Hamlin and Tom Maxwell) and Massachusetts (donated by Gerald and Maureen Sheehan).

The event will support C2C’s programs in Haiti, including clinics in Camp Coq, Acul du Nord, and more to open soon!

C2C Partners with the Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI) to Present Public Discussion: Best Practices for Providing and Funding Sustainable Services

How do organizations deliver high-quality primary care that remains affordable and accessible to the poor while operating with a long-term plan for financial success? What role do donors and social impact investors play in supporting sustainable and market-based solutions to global issues?

Earlier this month, C2C, CHMI, and Eliza Petrow, Senior Advisor at JC Flowers Foundation and World Education, welcomed more than 40 panelists and guests gathered in Boston for a two-part discussion of these questions and more.

Part I of the discussion, led by Donika Dimovska of CHMI, focused on the importance of primary care worldwide, and highlighted pressing priorities for health care providers. Donika emphasized sharing of best practices through vehicles like CHMI’s Primary Care Collaborative and CHMI’s Primary Care Innovators Handbook (in which C2C is featured).

Donika and panelists, Allison Howard-Berry of C2C, Melissa Menke of Access Afya, and Fiona Walsh of Last Mile Health, spoke at length about the importance of primary care within health systems worldwide and the importance of finding appropriate and sustainable funding streams, including revenue from patient fees. In this way, organizations can ensure their ability to continue providing care to poor families without the risks that come with fully-philanthropic funding.

Part II of the discussion showcased the potential for donor and investor involvement in supporting market-based solutions to poverty internationally and domestically. Moderator, Anne Stetson, of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, spoke with panelists, Maggi Alexander of the Philanthropic Initiative, Tom Haslett of Central Square Foundation, Susan Musinsky of the Social Innovation Forum, and Ambassador (ret.) John Simon of Total Impact Capital.

Panelists emphasized trends over the last decade in building market-based solutions to solve some of the world’s most pressing issues: access to health care, financial inclusion, education inequality, and inadequate housing. They discussed philanthropic approaches to solving challenges – how one might apply philanthropic capital to encourage market-based solutions, thereby fueling real and lasting change.

C2C thanks CHMI and all the panelists for sharing this great learning experience with Boston!

Our Board is Expanding!

May has been a busy month here at Care 2 Communities! We successfully opened our newest clinic, in Acul du Nord, Haiti, and we now welcome the newest member to our Board of Directors– Sally Ourieff M.D..

Sally is the founder and principal of Translational Consulting, which helps individual leaders adopt meaningful and sustainable strategies for meeting their professional goals. Her experience as a physician and a leader in the corporate world, makes her a great addition to our Board.

Sally has spent her career coaching physicians, scientists, and healthcare leaders in academic, community and industry settings. She is very familiar with today’s challenges facing the healthcare and scientific communities.

We’re so excited to have Sally join our board as we continue our work in Northern Haiti, and begin planning for the second half of 2015!

Opening a Clinic and Meeting a Community: My First Trip To Haiti

Last week marked an exciting time for C2C as we opened our newest clinic in Acul du Nord, Haiti. I was able to travel to Haiti with our program team to help with the opening. While there I had the chance to see how the clinic itself has come together, speak with community members and hear how they feel about a new clinic opening, and hear feedback from the first patients to receive care. I was also able to spend time at C2C’s other clinic in Camp Coq, where we have served thousands of patients since opening in 2013.

C2C has been preparing for this opening for months, rehabbing the containers that made up our clinic in Port-au-Prince, moving them north, and prepping the new site. Local laborers helped construct restrooms and storage near the containers. C2C staff from our Camp Coq Clinic worked one-on-one with the new staff members to train them and share their advice and experience. And our two new Community Health Workers (CHWs) have been going house to house getting input from family members on the specific needs of the community. All of this planning came together for a successful opening on May 5^th.

The first patient to visit the clinic was 4-year-old Mina (pictured above), who, with her grandmother, was waiting to see the doctor before doors had even opened. Suffering from a stomachache and fever, Mina saw Dr. Sévère for a check-up and analysis. Mina’s grandmother, who mentioned planning to return the next day for a check-up for her other grandchild, said, “He was a very kind doctor. We are from a neighboring town and will come again for future needs. I was telling other people about this new clinic just yesterday.”

Two-year-old Christi (pictured right) and her family were the next patients. Christi’s mother, who also came for a check-up for herself, said, “The doctor was very good, and everything went well. This clinic is very good for the community.” Christi’s 3-year-old cousin, Kensi (pictured left), followed. Kensi’s mother was able to have Kensi examined by the doctor and pick up her prescription, all on-site.

Speaking with members of the Acul du Nord community, I heard the same theme from most households—the community had been in desperate need of a local clinic, and one that would be open to serve patients long-term.

Rosie (pictured below), who lives just down the street from the clinic site, said, “We appreciate this clinic a lot. In the past there were passing visitors and organizations, but nothing to bring any development to the community. C2C seems to be here to stay. This is the beginning of good work.” Rosie and her family have been kept informed of the clinic’s opening and updates through C2C’s CHWs.

Since opening day, the clinic has seen an average of 11 patients per day, and those numbers are trending upward. The high patient satisfaction rates measured through exit surveys, and valuable support directly from the community all point to an incredible – and lengthy – partnership between C2C and Acul du Nord.

Care 2 Communities