It takes more than a new house for an earthquake-displaced population to find their way back home. J/P HRO’s Engineering and Construction Program reinforces a broader strategy of harmonizing community services between neighborhoods and the camps. The Engineering and Construction Team has mobilized projects to provide concrete incentives to families as they seek to transition from camp life and into secure and wellconstructed homes where they can begin to rebuild their lives. Team members are currently retrofitting and rehabilitating damaged buildings and homes and building new houses in the neighborhoods outside of camp to provide safe, new locations for community amenities and basic services: schools, medical facilities, community spaces and water kiosks. This program aids in the development of thriving, sustainable and prosperous neighborhoods that provide displaced families a viable, long-term alternative to camp life, which is also affordable.

J/P HRO is partnering with organizations such as Build Change and Fondation Architectes de l’Urgence (FAU) for retrofitting projects to repair unsound structures, and The Haven Community Partnership to design and build new homes. J/P HRO shares and supports the Government of Haiti’s mission for post-earthquake reconstruction to “Build Back Better.” In January 2012, J/P HRO and FAU completed construction of a pilot home Kay Rose, or Pink House, in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Delmas 32.

Delmas 32 is a densely populated neighborhood of approximately 90,000 people adjacent to the Pétion-Ville and Cité Maxo camps managed by J/P HRO. Municipal leaders and members of the community were involved in all levels of the planned construction process: from the initial house design to its final completion. This process also engaged local workers of Delmas 32. The end product of this collaboration is a home that is earthquake- and hurricane-resistant that is also appropriate for the local housing context. The Kay Rose house also serves a need for community education on safe building practices: design and construction plans have been made available to the public, free-of-charge.

Key Accomplishments:

Completed projects

• 2 medical clinics relocated into retrofitted and repurposed existing buildings
• 1 ommunity house relocated into a retrofitted and repurposed existing building
• 2 water purification kiosks
• 1 pilot core home for two families – Kay Rose
• 107 families now living in earthquake-resistant retrofitted residences and buildings
• 1 ravine stabilization project for improved urban watershed management
• 3 schools rehabilitation projects

Projects in progress

• 3 solar-powered water purification kiosks
• 1 pilot 2-story, 4-unit home
• 29 new core homes and micro-planning of a community rehabilitation
• Retrofit for 280 family homes in partnership with Build Change and funded by the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
• 45 housing units to be built in clusters in an upgraded neighborhood

Projects for 2013

• 1 redevelopment of an entire urban block to add multifamily housing and commercial space
• Ongoing demolition and rubble removal of earthquake damaged structures in the greater Delmas area and Campeche, displacing an estimated 90,000m3 of debris.