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“We are moving forward” in Haitian Creole. There is a lot going on at the Grace Community Birth Center (GCBC) and for Ninotte Lubin, Director, that inspired the appropriate title for this update...we think you’ll agree.

Birth Center Construction

The Birth Center construction is moving along and beginning to take real shape with the timeline only about 10 - 14 days off schedule. Most of us probably have experience with building projects that have gone quite a bit further off schedule than that. Our Director of Grace Community Birth Center, Ninotte Lubin’s dream of a safe place for her community to receive health education and the continuum of birth care will soon be a reality.

For more photos and a report on the progress of construction, please visit the website:

Fundraising

Our International Day of the Midwife capital campaign was very successful and raised all but approximately $1,500 of the final funds needed for phase 1 (fully functional building and supplies) of the birth center. We are hopeful that some of you might be moved to make a donation so this phase is fully funded and the birth center does not open without needed supplies. The midwives and birthing families thank you in advance.

GCBC is at an exciting juncture and the board is transitioning from capital fundraising for the building project to operational maintenance fundraising. Our monthly donors have been and will continue to be critical to the success of ongoing operational budgets. We have recently increased our monthly donors by $720 for a current total of $1386 monthly. Our goal is to increase that by an additional $1,500 a month. Please consider making a monthly recurring donation of any amount to support midwife salaries, birth center supplies, utilities, building maintenance, security, and the many other items that running a birth center will require.

The Director’s Update

Ninotte Lubin’s work with the young people of her community continues to teach a comprehensive curriculum that includes, but is not limited to, gender based violence prevention, identity development, building healthy relationships, and accurate health information. With the support of The Foundation for the Advancement of Haitian Midwives Ninotte took 106 young women to Fort Liberté [Kreyòl: Fòlibète] and to the beach. (Haiti's independence was proclaimed here on November 29, 1803.) Ninotte told the Board, “I wanted the girls to have some fun and to see some of our history so that they understand what came before them in Haiti as we continue to work for change. It was a very successful day.”

Sandra, a 15 year old said, “In school we learn about slavery and how we got our independence, but today I truly understand what it really means to have freedom and be able to enjoy basic human rights like body autonomy. My voice matters and just as I need to respect others, I, too, deserve respect.”

BOD Updates

Here’s a brief list of items the board is working on and if you are interested in the details please see the board meeting minutes on the website and/or reach out to Kathi Mulder for more information:

The Clinical Operations Committee is working to engage Tania Laviades, a Canadian midwife who has worked and lived in Haiti for 13 years and is well known to Ninotte and several BOD members, to provide GCBC with staff recruitment and training support.

The BOD is working on a Charter to formalize its operations and protocols.

Increasing monthly recurring donations is a key goal of the Board and thanks to Melinda Parenteau, BOD Secretary, Canadian donors now comprise 20% our monthly donors.

The team from the Traverse City area that provided support for the runners on the half marathon in the Cherry Festival races, raising $350 for Grace Community Birth Center!

Thanks to: Sandi McArthur, Flora Biancalana, Bob Brown, Violet, Iris, Katie, and Phil Strittmatter, and Hannah, Kathi, and Craig Mulder

If you would like to donate by check, please make it out to ‘Bay Eye Charitable Foundation’ with a note that it is intended for Grace Community Birth Center and mail it to Grace Community Birth Center, 530 W. 11th Street, Traverse City, Michigan 49684.

As always, you can find more updates by visiting our website.