During my first trip to Haiti, nearly ten years ago now,  my heart was forever changed when a young mother begged us to take her baby. Powerless to feed her child, she was willing to give her away. As a mother of five, I put myself in her shoes for an instant and tried to imagine how desperate I would have to feel to hand our youngest child over to a stranger, never to see her again…I could not fathom it.

Looking back, I guess, 2ND STORY GOODS was born that day.

Through Trade School Haiti, we have helped men and women in Jubilee receive training in skills and develop marketable products to form guilds/businesses. Presently, the work of approximately 150 people are represented in 2ND STORY GOODS.

This month, 10 years later, Brandon Brooks, joins MUCH ministries, as director of marketing and distribution of goods produced in Haiti.  We have set up a small warehouse /shipping center in Georgia. This will allow a viable flow of demand on the goods produced and sustainable work for the men and women of these guilds.

Steadily we are watching families make their way from desperation to a peaceful dignity. It is a beautiful thing.

Kathy Brooks

 Summer 2011