When the Spiritan parish of St. Anne in Bokozelle (Artibonite) - formerly a chapel to another parish - was established in 2013, the only available residence was a largely dilapidated house lacking electricity, with deteriorating walls, and infested with rats! A grant from Rich in Mercy enabled installation of a solar, photovoltaic electric system, but the state of decay of the house made renovation both impractical and imprudent.
A collaboration involving Rich in Mercy, the Spiritan Province of Haiti, the Bozzone Family Foundation, the Farrell Family Foundation, and the Spiritan office of Mission Advancement (S.O.M.A.) provided the funding needed to construct a healthy environment and suitable living space for two Spiritan priests in residence, housing for occasional visitors, and a center for outreach to the parish population. The design made by Fr. Benjamin Osio, CSSp includes a future second story that can serve the Spiritan congregation as a novitiate and house of formation.
Promoting a global culture of solidarity with the poor - in Haiti, Africa, and beyond. - for a more just and sustainable world . . .
The new parish house and ministry center was completed in 2019 in spite of several major impediments. Recurring periods of civil unrest in Haiti, related to the continuing high cost of living and of government corruption, lasted up to two weeks at a time and forced temporary shutdowns in construction. A dizzying rate of inflation caused the value of local currency to plummet and a corresponding dramatic increase in the price of imported goods including steel reinforcement bars (rebar) and other construction materials.