EHIH History
Eternal Hope in Haiti Inc. (EHIH) is a not-for-profit Georgia-based corporation created in 1993 with the purpose to provide basic health care, nutritional and educational resources for at risk children, families and elderly members of the poverty ridden communities of northern Haiti.
The work started when Twilla Locklear Haynes, Professor of Nursing, was invited to Cap Haitian, Haiti in 1986 to assist local health care providers treating a measles outbreak. The devastating living conditions and poor health of many communities near of Cap Haitian had an indelible impact on Dr. Haynes. Upon her return to the United States, she established a public health nursing course for senior level nursing students, which incorporated trips to Haiti as part of a hands-on learning experience.
The work of the foundation includes Twilla’s children, Dr. Angela Haynes Ferere, Dr. Hope Haynes Bussenius, and Rodney Haynes. Her grandchildren are also committed to the work and her oldest grandson, Elie Haynes, was adopted from Haiti and now manages the day to day operations of Hope Haven. In 2020, Dr. Twilla Haynes died unexpectedly from complications of Covid. In her honor, the family and many committed, loyal partners of EHIH continue to work to ensure her vision is sustained, but more importantly, we remain fully engaged in service to the vulnerable children and families in Haiti. Three of the children, now adults, in the photo below play leadership roles in the foundation today.
Twilla often quoted often "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled and that has made all the difference." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In 1991, the embargo placed on Haiti exacerbated the poor living conditions, resulting in limited access to necessities such as food, clean drinking water and access to basic health care services. In 1993, Haynes formed EHIH in order to better meet the health care, nutritional and educational needs of impoverished Haitians residing near Cap Haitian, Haiti. As the poor living conditions escalated, the needs for an orphanage providing dedicated health care to medically fragile children led to the opening of Hope Haven. Over the past 35 years, the foundation has continually operated in Haiti and been supported with volunteers in country bi monthly. This ongoing commitment to serving others has been critical to the success of the ministry.
