Welcome to the Foundation For Peace
Building Foundations. Sharing Hope. Working for Peace.
The Foundation for Peace reaches out to thousands of people in a personal way to strengthen communities and churches and to help individuals through service with our partners in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Kenya.
Through these efforts materially-poor families are able to send their children to school, eat, drink clean water, obtain health care and build a better life for themselves.
You can help strengthen our continuing fight against poverty and our efforts to respond to desperate needs by joining a mission trip and/or making a donation today.
News, Needs and Upcoming Events
The Foundation for Peace Hires Michel Valentin to lead Expansion of Long-term Mission Programs in Haiti
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In order to better serve the long-term needs of the Haitians and expand the FFP mission team activities in Haiti, we have hired Michel Valentin. Valentin as he prefers to be called is a Haitian attorney and pastor who had been living in Port-au-Prince until the earthquake. He is fluent in Creole, French, Spanish and English. He has been hired full-time by the FFP to build up our ministries in Haiti in partnership with local churches. So we are ready to have you and your friends, family, co-workers and church members join us on a mission trip to Haiti!
The Foundation for Peace continues to work to deliver relief to the people of Haiti in the aftermath of the massive earthquake
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Our recent and upcoming teams of volunteers are working in Fond Parisien, Haiti to provide assistance to hundreds of internally displaced people (IDP). The seventh of eight FFP teams will arrive at the border on March 28th to continue the work of team 6 who began the construction of a new school.
The new school will serve children in the surrounding community as well as those living in the IDP camp, Camp Hope (see photo of old school to right below). This new school is needed as soon as possible since the children are crowded into tents, severely limiting the quanitity and quality of their education (see photos to the left). In addition to the construction project, they will be providing personalized care (e.g. medical care, education programs.
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In order to complete the construction of the school to meet the new building codes, to provide learning materials and for funds to pay Haitian teachers for the next year, we need to raise $35,000 (US). Please generously contribute to this important need today by clicking here to donate on-line or by mailing a check payable to Foundation for Peace and mail to: Foundation for Peace, P.O. Box 424, Ironia, NJ 07845.
To date, FFP teams have accomplished the following:
- Recruited and provided Dominican physicians and nurses to assist as first responders in the Good Samaritan Hospital in Jimani, Dominican Republic
- Provided one-on-one care to patients in the Good Samaritan Hospital
- Provided security guards at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Jimani, Dominican Republic
- Purchased and delivered casting materials and IV fluids for the Good Samaritan Hospital in Jimani, Dominican Republic
- Provided logistical, nursing and pharmacy assistance in the Good Samaritan hospital
- Provided one-to-one care to displaced Haitians in the IDP camps, Love A Child and Camp Hope, in Fond Parisien, Haiti
- Built shower stalls and latrines in both IDP camps in Fond Parisien, Haiti
- Obtained and installed a generator in Anse-a-pitre, Haiti to enable the provision of clean water for distribution to earthquake victims in Jacmel, Haiti
- Loaded and shipped three 40ft shipping containers of supplies to Haiti via Santo Domingo
We still have space for YOU to sign-up to serve in person in Haiti by clicking here. There are 2 more trips to choose from in April! The next trip after that will be in July. Please click the link in the menu bar above to go to the Haiti Crisis Response page to learn more.
You can also donate to the relief effort by clicking here. Please contact Ken at ken@foundationforpeace.org or at 973-813-6122 if you want more information.
The dates for our 2010 Mission Trips are now on-line!
If you are interested in participating in a mission trip, download an information sheet in PDF format by clicking here or sign up online below. Additional trips are expected. Please contact Ken Culver at ken@foundationforpeace.org, Wendy Patchin at wendy@foundationforpeace.org or call us at 973-813-6122 if you want to join a trip, help organize a trip and/or would like more information about our organization.
Online Applications
Click here or on the photo to join a mission trip!
You will need your passport, medical insurance information and your physicians contact information to complete the on-line application. Once your application is received, you will receive an email with contact information for the mission team leader and additional instructions for trip preparation.
Click here or on the photo to sponsor students! There are more than 200 children waiting for a sponsor and more than 20 young adults waiting to attend high school or college. The cost is only $12.50 per month for elementary students and $30 per month for high school and college students. Please sign-up to be a sponsor today!
The Foundation for Peace is building foundations, sharing hope and working for peace at home and abroad....
These foundations not only support schools, water purification facilities, churches and medical clinics, but are also a key part of the long-term friendships formed between the North American volunteers and the Dominican, Haitian, Jamaican and Kenyan people.
Our working together hand in hand on construction projects, providing medical care, clean water, food, clothing and education for and with the local community has brought hope, community improvements and promoted understanding across cultures.
Our world is in desperate need of peace. While working with government, church, business and non-governmental entities at home and abroad, we have stood for all people, especially those who have been ignored by society. Donating resources and time to work hand in hand is bringing attention to the needs and promoting tangible improvements in marginalized communities.
Thank you to all who have contributed to the work of the FFP in person, via donations and through prayer. Your efforts have been a blessing to thousands! You can read about these endeavors on this website. We hope that you will consider joining us on a mission trip, not only to provide hope and improve the lives of those in need, but to grow personally in love, faith and understanding.
Our Mission
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The FOUNDATION FOR PEACE is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization dedicated to education in the United States and to working hand in hand with people in materially impoverished areas of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Kenya to provide educational support, healthcare access, economic opportunity and hope. We work together as long-term partners in solidarity to enable personal success and community achievement. We believe this will result in sustainable and successful initiatives that relieve the effects of poverty, encourage personal growth, and overcome injustice. Founders of the Foundation for Peace began serving together for more than 20 years. The international aspect of the FFP's work is an outgrowth of the ministry initiated by Drs. Alberto and Rosalina Martinez in the Dominican Republic more than 40 years ago.
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The FFP works in partnership with local community groups, government agencies and religious organizations on a variety of projects in the United States and abroad. In the USA we are focusing on education of students and community groups about those who live in poverty and establishing opportunities to work for peace and provide hope. For those who travel abroad, we are pursuing the sustainable provision of education, clean water, health care, and economic opportunities for those in some of the poorest areas in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Kenya. The photo to the left is a typical street in the area where we are working in the Mathare Slum, Nairobi, Kenya.
Why Choose to Participate With Us?
- In the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Kenya, we work hand in hand with the local church and community on construction, education and healthcare projects allowing for the direct delivery of services and donations to those in need. There are no "middle men" who could impede or complicate the delivery of these essential programs and services.
- The FFP involves both church-based and non-religious organizations in its education, healthcare, mission trips, ministry partnerships, and economic development activities. We believe this open approach more effectively reaches the broader community and best utilizes the strengths of each partner for maximum benefit for the community.
- Our mission trip work groups are open to all ages (typically ranging from 5 to 70 years of age) and diverse faiths, with families constituting about one-third of the group members. This fosters the engagement of people of all ages in the community.
- The first emphasis of each work group is the development of friendships with the local community regardless of race, socioeconomic status or religion, because through these relationships lives are changed for the better which promotes peace and social justice.
- The schools, medical clinics and churches are built in partnership with the local community at their request. All are operated by the Dominicans, Haitians, Jamaicans or Kenyans in an effort to promote sustainability and opportunities for people in the local community.
- Services sponsored by the Foundation for Peace are open to all persons regardless of socioeconomic status, religious beliefs or political preference.
- In the United States, we conduct seminars, create pen pal programs, student/teacher programs and other opportunities for students and adults in the US and abroad to communicate and learn from one another. The photo of the Marthare slum above can be intimidating, cause pity or create false negative impressions of the people who live there. However, the people of Mathare with whom we work are full of life and striving daily to create a better life for themselves and their family. Our US-based programs are designed to create a healthy, informed attitude that translates into action to help our fellow brothers and sisters in some of the poorest countries of the world.
2009 projects in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Kenya:
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- More than 600 volunteers worked in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Kenya
- During the summer of 2009, the following were under construction or completed in the Dominican Republic and Haiti:
- 9 community gardens
- 5 latrines
- 4 churches
- 4 schools
- 2 medical clinics
- 1 water purification system
- During the summer of 2009, the following were under construction or completed in Kenya:
- 1 orphanage
- 1 septic tank
- 1 chicken coop
- Medical care for more than 25,000 people in all 3 countries
- Summer education programs for thousands of children in all 3 countries
- Distributed over 100,000 lbs of medicines, educational supplies, food, clothing and other items to the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Kenya
- Provided donated medicines to more than 20 communities and organizations throughout the year in the Dominican Republic
2009 projects in the United States:
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- Held 3 conferences in the US (NJ, VA, DC) focused on ways people can get involved in the US and abroad to provide education and poverty relief to those in need in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Kenya
- Provided education programs for US schools regarding the life of children living in poverty in the Dominican Republic
- Established a class-to-class education program, allowing communication between students in the US and the Dominican Republic
- Marketing of handmade items produced by women in Yaguate (Creaciones Yaguate) and Tumaini beads (Mathare, Nairobi, Kenya)
- Partnered with Blairstown Rotary Club to provide delivery for their Dictionaries for Students Program that included letter writing between the students.
- Provided opportunities for US students to serve the global community by collecting donated items and loading shipping containers destined for the needy abroad resulting in over 100,000 lbs of medicines, educational supplies, food, clothing and other items being shipped to the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Kenya.
- Provided opportunities for US teachers to offer professional development to Dominican and Kenyan colleagues
We believe that working together as long-term partners in solidarity will result in sustainable and successful initiatives that relieve the effects of poverty, encourage personal growth, and overcome injustice.
— Ken Culver, a co-founder