HAUP marks 50 years of service and advocacy, launches $5M campaign

At its 50th anniversary luncheon earlier this month, Haitian Americans United for Progress (HAUP) launched a $5 million fundraising campaign to help the organization continue to serve the Haitian community. 

The event took place in Queens at Terrace on the Park in early October, bringing together community members, public officials and financial supporters to honor the five decades of advocacy and service that the community’s oldest direct services organization has provided.

In his opening remarks, Georges H. Leconte, CEO of Harlem Hospital Center and emcee for the event, set the tone for the afternoon, one of gratitude, urgency and collective responsibility. 

“It lifted families. It protected women. It educated children. It defended immigrants. It saved lives,” Leconte said, reflecting on HAUP’s decades of service. “We’re not just here to honor the past. We’re here because hope is once again on the front lines, and it needs us now more than ever.”

He urged guests to join the Legacy50 campaign, a $5 million endowment drive that aims to secure HAUP’s financial foundation for the next generation, as coaches or ambassadors to help raise the goal. He noted that while government contracts often lag behind urgent needs, HAUP’s work has always met crises head-on through community action.

The afternoon of reflection and celebration featured tributes to HAUP’s founders, staff and partners who have shaped the organization since its founding in 1975. Through programs in education, youth development and social services, HAUP has long stood as a lifeline for Haitian and immigrant communities across New York.

For HAUP Chief Executive Officer Elsie Saint Louis, the anniversary was both a moment of pride and a call to action for the future. 

“We celebrate 50 years with gratitude and resolve,” Saint Louis told The Haitian Times. “Gratitude for those who built HAUP brick by brick; resolve to meet today’s challenges with the same courage, so that our children inherit more than survival—they inherit possibility.”

Funds raised will help expand programs that promote economic mobility, cultural preservation and civic engagement. HAUP is also aiming to reach beyond New York by supporting newer service organizations forming in states with Haitian communities, such as Indiana.

Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, who attended the event, shared her congratulations in a social media post, saying HAUP’s “commitment continues to uplift so many and strengthen the Haitian-American community across New York.”

To support HAUP’s work, visit their website to make a donation. To contribute to the Legacy50 campaign, go to Legacy 50-HAUP.

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