by Clark Seipt

Dear Friends:

I love God’s imagination. I especially love how creative He is in bringing people together to do good work. 

Melissa Jean-Bart and I joined the CCH team only a month apart in 2015. The organization was in a period of major transition. We’d been without an Executive Director for nearly a year, and programming in Haiti was well respected but fragmented – ripe with opportunity. 

With her training and passion for public health, Melissa was determined to bring her skillset and leadership back to her native Haiti. Indeed, she’d been looking for a public health position for nearly two years since moving back to Haiti after studying in the US. She worked in sales in Port Au Prince as she searched, thankful to have a job but still seeking an organization aligned with her passion and values. When she saw CCH’s need for a new Health Resources & Clinic Coordinator, she knew it was the perfect fit – especially given CCH’s interest in growing community-based health and education initiatives. 

Over the past six years, Melissa has helped to establish and nurture important relationships with partners in and outside of Haiti. Her thoughtfulness, facilitation and attention to detail helped CCH grow its surgical mission and expand primary care to schools and communities beyond our clinic walls. She held our feet to the fire, getting our clinics organized and ready for that growth – recognizing that we needed to fortify foundational elements before growth could be smart and attainable. She repeatedly brought important ideas and questions to our leadership team; was always eager to discuss helpful insights on Haitian culture and history; and offered humor, hope and joy to our collaborative work. 

In many ways, Melissa and I have grown into our roles and responsibilities at CCH together – learning alongside and from each other over these last 6 years. We’ve often discussed how thankful we are for the opportunity to be part of this amazing team. 

I share all this with you in gratitude and celebration, because I must also share the bittersweet news that Melissa has made the difficult but important choice to resign from her position at CCH so that she can focus on her family. Her last day as the CCH Health Resources & Clinic Coordinator will be March 31st. 

“For me, while I will no longer provide on the ground support to CCH’s ministry in Haiti, I am  not departing from the coalition but transitioning into another role as a friend/member of the coalition,” shares Melissa. “CCH will always be part of my life, and my commitment to this ministry in Haiti is beyond a professional commitment. It was an honor and privilege to serve with you over the years. THANK YOU.”

Please join me in thanking Melissa for her many years of dedicated service with CCH and to the people of Haiti. I invite you to send messages and/or photos of Melissa to me (clark@cchaiti.org), to be included in a memory book for her. Please send all submissions no later than Monday, April 5th. 

Please continue to pray for CCH, our team and our mission and ministry in Haiti. Pray for Melissa and what God has planned for her next. Pray for Lourdemie Eugene, another CCH staffer who has been mentored by Melissa and is stepping into the role of Clinic Coordinator. Although the people that lead this work may change over the years, we know that God’s loving hands weave all those people and pieces together. That never changes – and what an encouraging promise that is! 

With love and thanks,

Clark Seipt, Executive Director of Community Coalition for Haiti