Much Ministries Inc

Much Ministries, founded in 2007, breaks the cycles of poverty in Gonaives, Haiti. Much Ministries exists to empower individuals, families, and communities to move from a place of generational poverty to a reality of thriving. MUCH creates opportunities and removes barriers, dismantling the structures of poverty in the process. Systemic Poverty is not measured best in dollars and cents, but rather in mindsets and attitudes that shackle families and communities. Our organization interrupts and dismantles the basic tenets of systematic generational poverty. We discovered in our 15 years in Haiti those trapped in crushing poverty are best served when enabled with opportunities to realize their own abilities and earn a living.  

Much Ministries has 3 main programs: 2nd Story Goods, Market Place Gonaives (MPG), and ProLead. 2nd Story Goods provides living wages (3x the amount of minimum wage in Haiti) by making and selling ethically made goods with local and recycled materials. MPG is a multi-business complex that provides job opportunities for the people of Gonaives. Before MPG, the only established grocery store was in Port-au-Prince, but this project has brought a full service grocery store to Gonaives. MPG is also the home to social enterprises, including the 2nd Story Goods Store. ProLead is a 12-week development program that provides training to encourage success for employees and businesses in Haiti. In 2019, we measured ProLead’s impact by surveying more than 400 graduates and a sample peer group of more than 100 people. We found our graduates earn significantly higher incomes and have meaningfully higher rates of employment, job satisfaction, and job retention compared to their peers in the community.

 Our measure of success is not simply sustainable business and jobs, but sustainable families. When communities are enabled with opportunities for independence, fear of scarcity subsides and families become stabilized. The result is a transformed culture and movement away from generational poverty.