Rising Together: Hope, Bread and Resilience in Haiti
July 7, 2026
In the city of Les Cayes, Haiti, amid earthquakes, civil unrest and the daily weight of uncertainty, something remarkable continues to rise, quite literally.
The St. Julie Haiti Project provides clean water, nourishment and educational opportunities that open hearts and futures.
The St. Julie Haiti Project (SJHP) has grown from a humble starter of hope into a fully independent, incorporated nonprofit with 501(c)(3) status—well-proofed by resilience and nourished by community in one of the world’s most challenging places. Encouraged by Notre Dame Mission Volunteers to grow into its full potential, SJHP now lifts others as it flourishes.
At the heart of the project is its beloved bakery, where 20 workers and 50 bread sellers bring fresh loaves to five towns, nourishing nearly 792,000 people each year. This is more than bread. It is dignity kneaded by hand. It is livelihoods sustained. It is community, baked fresh daily. 
“I can provide for my family as a direct result of working for the bakery,” says bakery worker Facile Lisaire. “I can provide food and school fees from the scholarship. I have two daughters. I do my best for them. Work means freedom to me.”
The bakery is just one chapter of a much larger story. SJHP’s solar-powered water project delivers approximately 15,000 gallons of clean drinking water annually — truly a life-changing gift in a region where access is never guaranteed. A thriving garden project is strengthening food security from the ground up, while weekly computer lessons led by Pedro Bellabe are opening digital doors for workers eager to build new skills. Music lessons, inspired by M-Lisada, a Ugandan-based NGO, are nurturing the souls and talents of scholarship students, reminding them that joy and beauty are as essential as opportunity.
Scholarship support for the children of workers and bread sellers ensures that the investment in today’s families becomes the transformation of tomorrow’s generation.
Through every challenge the Haitian people have endured, the faith and determination of the community have never wavered. Neither has the St. Julie Haiti Project.
Named for a saint who believed fiercely in the goodness of God and the dignity of every person, SJHP carries that joyful spirit forward every single day, one loaf, one drop of clean water, one child’s dream at a time.
