HANDS TOGETHER SPRINGFIELD
Hands Together was founded in 1986 by Fr. Tom Hagan after he led a group of Lafayette College students to Haiti and was compelled to respond to the needs of the poor there. He left his post as Catholic Chaplain of Princeton University and moved to Port-au-Prince in 1997. Since then, Hands Together has emerged as a key educational and development organization working in Haiti’s largest and poorest slum, Cite Soleil. We have built free schools where there were none and provided every student with a daily hot meal. We have 7 campuses, including a high school, as well as a free clinic and an elderly outreach and housing program. We are one of Cite Soleil’s largest employers, giving decent, service-oriented jobs to hundreds of residents.
Our programs outside of Port-au-Prince promote human development among the rural poor through water well digging, agricultural programs and production, and assisting the poorest schools, clinics, and parishes in the northern diocese of Gonaives and in Cap Haitien.
Hands Together provides hope to the poor living in Haiti. Our work is founded upon the Catholic teaching that recognizes the dignity of every human life and a fundamental responsibility to the poor and vulnerable.