FIRST AME CHURCH OF LOS ANGELES HOSTS KEY STAKEHOLDERS
FOR BRIEFING ON HAITI 

On Saturday, August 7, 2010, FAME Pastor, the Reverend Dr. John J. Hunter and First Lady Denise Hunter hosted Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-35) and other prominent members of the community for an update on Haiti and the progress of its recovery 7 months after the devastating earthquake. Joining Congresswoman Waters were Jimmy Jean-Louis, Actor, Activist and Founder of Hollywood Unites for Haiti (HUFH); Nicole Phillips, Esq., Staff Attorney, Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) and Adjunct Professor, University of San Francisco School of Law; Larry Collins, Battalion Chief, L.A. County Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue Taskforce; Caitlin Klevorick, Advisor to Counselor Cheryl Mills, U.S. State Department; Russell Porter, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Haiti Task Team, USAID; Gary Juste, USAID Office of Acquisition and Assistance; Dr. Cozzette Lyons-Jones, Humanitarian, Activist; and Haitians Won-G, Performer, Entrepreneur and Civil Mickelson, Founder/President of Vie Water. Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor of Africana Studies Cal State Long Beach and Executive Director of the African American Cultural Center also spoke and gave a spirited history of the struggles of the Haitian people.

"Congresswoman Waters is a strong advocate for Haiti and we are so pleased that she came to the FAME Renaissance Center to lead this discussion," said Reverend Dr. John J. Hunter. "The briefing served as a call to action to keep Haiti in the forefront of all of our minds and to keep the Haitian people in our prayers."

"Despite AME's donations and massive humanitarian efforts that occurred around the world in response to this devastating earthquake, people in Haiti are still suffering," said Mrs. Hunter. "We are so pleased that Congresswoman Waters and other members of the community came here to shine a light on what has been done well in Haiti and what can be done much better."

As Congresswoman Waters stated, "Our government needs to take a much stronger approach in regards to where the funds are going. 'We want you to show us how you received this money, how you dispensed this money, who's in charge of doing it and how it gets to the people, because we have just gone through the camps, and they aren't getting it.' We're going to have to get tougher."

Added Jean-Louis, "This was a necessary briefing to the community of Los Angeles to keep people in touch with the serious issues still existing in Haiti." To view exclusive video highlights of the Briefing on Haiti, visit: www.famechurch.org