Patrick and Adrian in Haiti

Patrick is a core member at L'Arche Atlanta. He is one of the first people to greet you when you come into the home, and the quickest to laughter. Being friends with Patrick means I have quickly learned each movie that Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox have ever been in (he keeps the scripts for all three “Back to the Future” movies in the van, “in case of emergency or something like that”). I am also intimately familiar with all of the 50s, 60s and 70s hit pop songs that I had always caught references to but never listened to in their entirety.

(Patrick with one of his housemates.)

Patrick is active in the community – he works in the kitchen of a retirement community, and volunteers at MedShare sorting medical supplies.


He runs hard on the basketball court and compliments strangers on their shooting.


He takes over the dance floor at Happy Club events at the YMCA and shows off moves that have the staff who see us bragging about him for weeks. And he worships at Eastside Church, happily singing hymns at the top of his lungs (usually teaching me lyrics and tunes).

Eastside has a sister church in Haiti  on the island of La Gonave to which they send a small group each year to maintain the relationship and work side-by-side in the community, from microfinance programs and construction work to a community health program. This is part of a wider partnership of the people of La Gonave, the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti and the United States Partners. You can see more about the work they do with the La Gonave partnership here: http://lagonavepartners.org/

Since the beginning of this year when Eastside Church announced their annual trip to visit the Ticolette community in Haiti, Patrick has declared that he will travel there to work with the community. He envisions it to be an opportunity to meet new people and volunteer as he loves doing at MedShare, among other things. His upcoming travel has been motivation for him to work out hard, prepare for a new country, and break out of old routines. The trip is scheduled for July 7-13.

(Patrick working out at the Y!)

His group is committed to his active involvement, and I will be traveling along to support him.

(Patrick on the left, Adrian, plaid shirt, immediately next to him.)

This will be the first time the church has involved someone of different abilities in their travel, and I am terrifically excited to support a cross-cultural exchange for both churches and Patrick. 

The work will involve:

-meeting with participants in a microfinance program and ensuring its continuation
-construction work on latrines
-work in a community-wide health clinic
-visiting with the L'Arche community in Port-au-Prince (towards the end of the trip)

We are fundraising as a team to pay for room and board in Haiti, as well as plane tickets and travel vaccinations. The group is doing some fundraising activities as a whole, but I am reaching out to a wider network for support in our journey.

Outline of expenses:

$640: roundtrip plane fare for Adrian (Patrick's is covered by family)
$350: vaccinations for Adrian (Patrick's is covered)
$800: roughly Adrian & Patrick's share of room and board costs (over a period of 6 days)

Our priority will be to covering room and board costs. We hope to have a substantial part of this raised before we fly on July 7!

The history of Eastside's relationship with Ticolette reassures me that this is not a voluntourist project. It is a chance to see new horizons and make new exchanges, to deepen relationships from diverse experiences and perspectives of love. I hope you will help us support this journey in growth.