Who we Are

Young Haitian Scholars, Inc. (YHS) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded with the goal to improve education in Haiti. We strongly believe that education is the key for advancement of a people. Access to quality education in Haiti continues to be a major challenge faced by the country. There are many NGO’s that currently exist to aid in education and we’re joining the movement to advance opportunities available to the youth. According to USAID, the lead U.S Government agency that works to end extreme global poverty,

“Surveys indicate that approximately 35 percent of Haitian youth are unable to read and that the average Haitian child spends less than four years in school.”

We find these facts alarming and heartbreaking. It is therefore our goal to improve the nation’s condition by providing educational programs that strengthen the youth academically, provide co-curricular programs to help them grow into well-rounded individuals and build skills that they will have for the rest of their lives. By creating this organization we will reduce the amount of students who drop out of school, fail state exams and over time we will increase the rate of literacy in Haiti.

These opportunities for the kids will encourage them to stay away from negative activities & influences. Allowing them to build a team of trusted positive influences that will make them feel secure in order to continue to grow positively.

Our Mission

The Purpose of Young Haitian Scholars, Inc. is to improve the quality of education in Haiti by partnering with schools to implement co-curricular programs that encourage skill development, provide internship, tutoring and counseling for the country’s youth. We also focus on providing health education to encourage better hygiene, nutrition and prevent diseases.

Our Vision

To bring our full scale services nationally to increase the number of educated people in Haiti and strengthen the nation academically.

How we started?

YHS’s founders, Nesken and Michaelle, have both had a yearning to help Haiti from a young age. In June 2014, they spearheaded a back to school supply drive with the youth ministry of Cornerstone Church of God to raise funds and collect supplies to help underprivileged students in the country. They were able to collect school supplies, as well as enough funds to purchase uniform fabrics for about 40 students. The challenge that followed the successful fundraiser, was shipping the items collected. So the two joined with Rebecca Exhume and personally provided the funds to ship the items.

The back school project motivated us to start this organization to help the Haitian community locally and abroad on a consistent basis. In September 2014, we took the leap and officially founded Young Haitian Scholars, Inc. We decided to start by focusing on one school with the hopes to expand our efforts to other schools across the nation in the future. Working with our partner school, Institut Lumière, we’ve initiated several projects in less than two years of our foundation.

We’ve started an after school extra help program to aid students who are failing their classes and give a boost to those prepare for official exams (similar to regents exams in New York).

We’ve established a Christmas bonus for the teachers, who as we know are universally underappreciated and oftentimes under paid.

In 2014 and 2015, we provided uniforms and school supplies during our Back to School Drive with the generous donations of our community members, friends, and family.

In 2015, we were blessed to receive an unexpected donation of toys and were able to bring smiles to many children for the holidays. This has motivated us to start a Toy Drive, from 2016 onward.

We also hold Food Drives periodically within our community to help supply food for a reduced cost lunch program at Institut Lumière. We hope to be able to sustain this and one day make it completely free for those attending the school.

Our future plans:

Implement a Saturday program for the students preparing for national exams.
Implement a summer tech camp
Provide an end of year bonus to the teachers and administrative staff
Start a computer lab to help the kids build technological skills that are essential in today’s modern age.
Organize more events to engage our local community in the Metropolitan area of New York.
Establish a mentoring program for NYC high school students, specifically newcomers from foreign countries. Our goal is to help them navigate the new way of life in the US.

Our Past Achievements:

Last year, roughly 80 percent of the students from Institut Lumière were successful in their national exams.
Institut Lumière has seen an influx in registrations, due to the uniform and school supply drive that we’ve established. Most schools in Haiti require students to wear uniforms. Many parents fail to send their kids to school because they can’t afford the fabric, so this definitely our proudest initiative.

We of course need your help to continue our projects. We need you to help us keep our programs and continue to grow in our efforts to get more kids in school. If you feel inclined to do so, please donate by clicking here or by going directly to www.YHSFoundation.org/donate

Want to be a part of us?

Join us by becoming a YHS Ambassador. Email us at Team@yhsfoundation.org for more details.

Our Sponsors:

Thank you!

Cornerstone Church of God

Delta Omega Epsilon, Inc.

First Love Ministry

Cayuga Community College

Thanks most of all to you, for checking us out. Subscribe to our newsletter, by clicking below, to stay up to date on all things YHS.