We do this by operating a community center in the micro-region of Arcahaie, Haiti that is a physical space for community engagement and empowerment through music and performing arts.  We also provide music education classes for children enrolled in our partner schools in the Arcahaie region.  At Hope on a String, individuals participate in music, dance, and performance classes, as well as skill-building workshops and grassroots development initiatives that respond to community needs and goals.  In our program, participants build hope, confidence, collective pride, powerful relationships, and skills needed to succeed.  Local organizations build critical social capital, positive synergies, and collaborate on mutual goals that advance the community’s interests.  Hope on a String invests in locally driven change, and ultimately seeks to have a long-term impact on a national level by developing a scalable model for social development in Haiti.

In our community center in Arcahaie, we offer instrument instruction classes, traditional dance, chorus, musical theater, and other cultural activities that feature music and the arts- all free of charge.  We leverage this learning into broad community engagement through showcase performances featuring Hope on a String students and local artists.  We utilize the power of music to build hope, confidence, identity, collaboration, and individual empowerment among the thousands of youth with whom we work.

We also provide free music education classes to partner schools in the Arcahaie region.  By creating opportunities for creative learning and expression in these impoverished educational settings, we seek to achieve the same outcomes for youth that we seek in our community center classes while also working to improve conditions for academic success.

We have collected hundreds of pieces of in-kind donations from international sources (instruments, music equipment, books, materials) for use in our program (but we always need more!)