Beyond Cité Soleil: Local hospital pairs health and education to uplift Haiti’s gang-hit communities

In recent years, the morning commute in Port-au-Prince has become a gauntlet of danger and uncertainty. Gunfire echoes through the streets, makeshift roadblocks disrupt traffic and the threat of violence looms around every corner. Yet, amidst the chaos, Gérhiane Kareen Ulysse remains steadfast in her commitment to the hospital she manages through her foundation, the Centre Hospitalier de Fontaine Foundation (CHFF). Founded in Fontaine—a locality in Cité Soleil, Haiti’s largest slum—by her father Jose Ulysse in 1991, the hospital stands as a beacon of hope in a city consumed by despair.

“My daily journey to the Centre Hospitalier de Fontaine has been a determination and commitment to serve the most vulnerable Haitians,” Gérhiane, who left all her comforts in the United States and returned home a few years ago, told The Haitian Times. 

Like many of her staff, she faces a daily ordeal going to work, navigating a landscape where danger lurks at every turn. The once-familiar streets have long become a battleground, controlled by gangs who enforce their rule with intimidation and brutality. Crossfire is a constant threat and safe passage is never guaranteed. Yet Gérhiane, the 34-year-old founder and executive director of CHFF, continues to press on alongside her staff, driven by a deep sense of duty and commitment to their patients.

“Why do I go?” she said. “Because leadership means doing what you ask of others. And sometimes, the difference CHFF makes is heartbreakingly personal.”

As a mother herself, Gérhiane knows the stakes for families relying on CHFF’s care.

Indeed, earlier this year, the foundation responded to an urgent call about a boy who had accidentally ingested acid from an unmarked bottle. His esophagus was severely damaged, causing food and liquid to leak into his chest cavity. Though CHFF couldn’t perform the complex surgery required, they helped coordinate an emergency airlift to the University Hospital of  Mirebalais, thanks to Hero Client Rescue.

“It’s one drop in an ocean,” Gérhiane said about the role CHFF played in getting the boy to the proper care site, “but it’s better than nothing.”.

As gangs tighten their grip on nearly 90% of Port-au-Prince and organizations flee,  CHFF remains. The hospital continues delivering vital care where few others will.

“The challenges have been immense,” Gérhiane said. “However, my team has refused to yield. Our services have become the lifeline for a community under siege. Therefore, we cannot abandon our role.”

The ethos of showing up despite the odds and high risks defines CHFF’s impact in one of  Haiti’s most dangerous neighborhoods. Over the past three decades, CHFF has not only delivered quality health care in Cité Soleil and beyond but also continued the daunting task of trying to transform several Port-au-Prince slums into a beacon of education, employment and infrastructure development.

A model built on trust and transformation, says founder Jose Ulysse

In Cité Soleil, a densely populated slum of roughly 400,000 residents often associated with violence and poverty, CHFF runs on a modest $1.1 million budget—$1 million for hospital operations and $100,000 for its foundation. The funding supports a full-service hospital, a technical college, development projects and youth education partnerships.

The CHFF’s hospital operations extend beyond its Fontaine base through mobile clinics in communities deemed unsafe by most other organizations due to insecurity. The institution’s health care, education and infrastructure development programs are supported by local and international partners and donors, including Haitian Women’s Collective, High Calling Ministry, Hali-Brite, UNICEF, UNFPA and Food for the Poor.

Beyond health care and education, the foundation recently launched a community infrastructure project to create jobs and tackle environmental issues. One current effort—a drainage canal in a flood-prone area—aims to reduce flood risk, improve sanitation and provide paid work for youth vulnerable to gang recruitment.

“This isn’t just about water management — it’s about restoring dignity,” said Gérhiane. “We’re creating jobs, teaching new skills and showing the community what it looks like when investment is made in their future.”

At the hospital, 70% of staff come from the surrounding neighborhoods, turning CHFF into both a medical lifeline and a rare source of stable employment for many in the community.

“The community recognizes the value of our presence and the services we provide, including the hospital,” said Dr. Fabrice Salomon, a general practitioner who has worked in the maternity ward for nearly five years. He added that residents see CHFF as trusted allies invested in their well-being, which has fostered mutual respect and cooperation.

“We care for people without discrimination, even gang members and their families,” Salomon told The Haitian Times. 

“If a gang member or a relative gets shot or sick, they know that they can come to the hospital without hesitation. Our sacred mission is to save lives.”

Salomon rejoices that this type of community-driven mission continues to pay off. Even as bullets grounded planes at Port-au-Prince’s international airport and forced other healthcare facilities to shutter, the CHFF remained open — treating over 10,000 patients and providing about 13,000 vaccination doses to children who had nowhere else to turn in 2024.

“We stay open because we’re needed. We stay open because that’s what our mission demands,” said a CHFF staff member who requested anonymity for privacy reasons.

“No gangs on our payroll,” the founder of the Hospital, Jose, told The Haitian Times. But the question remains: What sets the CHFF apart? 

The institution has rejected the practice of paying gangs for protection, even though some organizations and businesses in Port-au-Prince have resorted to this in order to continue operating, while others have closed in the face of gang terror and extortion.

“Our integrated approach makes us different,” Jose said. “We work together with the people in the community and they clearly understand that we work for them. We want to signal to others that yes things are very challenging in the area. But, something is still possible.”

A food vendor and mother of six, who chose to stay anonymous for her safety, told The Haitian Times she sees CHFF as a lifeline for the Cul-de-Sac Plain, offering vital programs that steer local youth away from gangs.

“These initiatives play a vital role in diverting vulnerable youth away from the allure of gang involvement, providing them with constructive alternatives and opportunities for personal development,” she said. 

Onel François, founder and director of one of the few schools still operating in the area echoed the food vendors’ comments. “By addressing the underlying socioeconomic factors that contribute to gang recruitment, the CHFF actively fosters a safer and more stable environment within Cité Soleil, despite the area being deemed unsafe,” he said.

François said CHFF has helped transform the lives of many young people in Cité Soleil. Two young men he knows, both from disadvantaged families, became doctors with support from the foundation. He added that dozens of young women completed nursing training and now work full time at the hospital, helping meet critical healthcare needs in their community.

Educating the next generation

CHFF’s approach to public health includes education as a core pillar. As of January 2025, over half a million of children are internally displaced in Haiti, with more than 50%  of them losing access to school, increasing their risk of joining gangs. According to a June 2024 United Nations report,  30 to 50% of Haiti’s armed gangs are children. 

One of CHFF’s key education partners is Onel François, who moved to Cité Soleil from  Gonave Island at age 17 with only a fourth-grade education. He eventually completed high school, earned a college degree in education, and founded Ecole Mixte Petit Coeur de Jésus, a K-8 school in neighboring La Saline. CHFF supports his efforts with school clinics, nutrition programs and mental health services to give local children a better shot at the future.

“Every day a child is out of school is another day they’re vulnerable,” said Gérhiane. “We’re working to change that trajectory.” 

The CHFF, in collaboration with P4H Global, a nonprofit organization led by Haitian American philanthropist Bertrhude Albert, recently distributed over 450 food kits, diapers and baby formula to displaced families. The foundation coupled the aid distribution with emotional intelligence and financial literacy workshops aimed at fostering long-term resilience, rather than providing unconditional aid.

“Distributions should be rewards for training,” said local partner Daniel Tercier. “That way, people leave not only with supplies but with skills.”

For Gérhiane, her foundation’s work is also a direct challenge to a deadly cycle of displacing people, cutting off their education, waiting until children are desperate enough to join gangs and using those children to displace even more people.

“We must remind Haiti’s children that they are valued, seen, and never forgotten,” she said. “We can’t be the descendants of Dessalines and keep asking for charity. We must build our livelihoods.”

Amidst the turmoil and uncertainty that has plagued Haiti, the CHFF and its dedicated team remain hopeful.  “Our unwavering commitment to the community has fostered a deep-seated trust, built on our consistent presence and selfless service,” Salomon reiterated.

“Earning trust is a far greater achievement than being loved,” Gérhiane said. “Our employees, our patients, our community—they trust us implicitly because we are always there, serving them without bias or discrimination.”

The CHFF’s work is far from done. With a proven model thriving in one of Haiti’s toughest areas, the foundation is now seeking partners to expand its operations, including running more mobile clinics, launching job-readiness workshops, and replicating its integrated approach in other crisis-hit communities.

“Haiti is just one visionary leader away from reaching its full potential,” the CHFF executive director reminded. “Until that leader emerges, we will continue to build—one hospital, one school, one drainage canal, one step at a time.”

Despite daily obstacles, Gérhiane remains unwavering.

“Leaving Haiti has never been and will never be an option. I didn’t choose this life; this life chose me,” Gérhiane said. Her words carried the weight of a life-altering decision, as she left a well-paying job in the U.S. to return to Haiti and build health and hope in its most neglected communities.

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