When Coleman “Coley” Gorham first visited Haiti in 1998 at the age of 80 years old, he could have easily concluded that he was too old to travel to a politically unstable and underdeveloped country. But after watching a video of the poor conditions in Haiti, he felt compelled to go there, and see for himself. His heart was forever changed when he saw the extreme poverty, the hopelessness, and the many children who wanted so desperately to go to school, but their families had no resources to send them. He knew that he had to do something to make a difference.
With his wife Anna by his side, Coley dedicated the next twenty years to helping Haiti. After the completion of multiple projects, Coley still felt as though his work there was unfinished. He had a big vision, the dream of helping young Haitians access higher education at colleges, trade schools and universities. At this time, Coley was nearly 100 years old, his health was failing, and he came to the conclusion that perhaps he had done all that he could do.
In 2016, Jeanne, his foot care nurse, accompanied him to Haiti. Over the next few years, she observed first hand Coley’s dedication to the youth in Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere. She was deeply touched when she witnessed him moved to tears; fearing that his dream would remain unfulfilled. She promised him that she would do her best to help carry his vision into the future!
In the meantime, in the spring of 2019, Beth and Josh Gray left their home in Seattle,Washington to take over the leadership of a small educational program in Port-au-Prince. Josh had been working in Haiti since 2011 when he befriended a group of young Haitians in their teens and twenties who were raising money to help children in their neighborhood to go to school. He was inspired by the grassroots effort of these young men, all earthquake survivors who were living in poverty themselves. However, he was dismayed to discover that they were also struggling to make it through high school much less continue on to college. He became convinced that one of the best ways to make a lasting impact in Haiti was to help young leaders such as these young men to access higher education so that they would be better equipped to impact their communities. Over the next few years, he collaborated with these young men to start a small program that helped many young Haitian men and women access education, mentoring, and technology.
Josh and Beth married in 2016, and three years later they moved to Haiti to further develop this program. They knew their path wouldn’t be easy, but they had no idea just how difficult it would be. Shortly after they arrived, Haiti plunged into a political lockdown followed by one of the most tumultuous times in its recent history. However, amidst this turmoil, they received an unexpected blessing when a friend of theirs brought a newborn baby to their door, explaining that he needed a home. They began caring for him and soon decided to adopt him, essentially becoming parents overnight. They named him Koa which means “brave” in Beth’s home state of Hawaii.
They had been scheduled to attend a Creole language course at the School of Social Work and Social Justice in Haiti just a few weeks after Koa arrived, but they had to postpone because they were now caring for a newborn baby. Five months later, they were finally able to attend the language school with baby Koa, and there they met Jeanne Otis and Chip Cain, who were in the beginning stages of forming the nonprofit organization, Higher Education and Leadership Program for Haiti, aka, HELP for Haiti. Josh and Beth shared their story of moving to Haiti and adopting Koa, and Jeanne and Chip told them about Coley’s vision to connect young people to higher education. They were all struck by the similar focus of their missions, and they agreed to stay in touch.
Shortly thereafter, the COVID-19 pandemic began. The pandemic was financially difficult for Josh and Beth’s parent organization in the United States, and it was forced to scale back support significantly for Josh and Beth’s program in Haiti. Therefore, they decided to start Thrive Ansanm as an independent 501c3 organization, and they were incorporated in the fall of 2020. By the summer of 2021, Thrive Ansanm was gaining momentum, but the gangs had taken control of neighborhoods near Beth and Josh’s home and kidnapping had become a daily occurrence throughout Port-au-Prince. No longer feeling safe, Josh called his friend Maillard Magloire, the founder of a small organization in southwest Haiti, and they decided to work together to establish Thrive Ansanm in Maillard’s hometown of Jeremie, Haiti.
Josh and Beth moved to Jeremie in October of 2021, and with Maillard’s help, their work has flourished since that time. They now sponsor a total of 16 university students and 14 K-12 students through their program, and they have a resource center where hundreds of students can access computers and high-speed internet. They also have a university mentoring program, and they pay for many of their university students to attend a local English school. Yet, even as their program is flourishing in Haiti, Josh and Beth have limited ability to leave Haiti due to Koa’s immigration status, and this has made it difficult to connect with potential donors in the United States.
HELP for Haiti was also fully established as a 501c3 in 2020. The organization is currently supporting 12 higher education students in Haiti (including two through Thrive Ansanm, and two through Faculté de Travail Social et de Justice Sociale – College of Social Work and Social Justice – FTSJS), and they are committed to supporting more students in the future. However, unlike Thrive Ansanm, most of the HELP for Haiti team is in the United States, so their biggest challenge is managing logistics on the ground. When HELP for Haiti’s consultant in Haiti resigned, the group realized that a partnership with Thrive Ansanm might be a perfect solution for them, and that it could also be beneficial for Thrive Ansanm. After a series of conversations, HELP for Haiti and Thrive Ansanm agreed to take their partnership to the next level. Moving forward, Thrive Ansanm will assume responsibility for assisting HELP for Haiti’s current students with facilitating their college payments and other needs. The two organizations will work together going forward to identify more students in need, sharing their knowledge and resources to reach as many new students as possible.
Both organizations have faced many obstacles to get where they are today, and they realize that the future will hold new challenges, but that goes with the territory when working amid the socio-political problems in a country like Haiti. But, that never stopped Coley Gorham from getting on a plane and traveling to Haiti for the first time at 80 years old, and it didn’t stop Beth and Josh from moving to Haiti and adopting a child.
Each time either of these organizations’ leaders feared their missions were on the verge of collapse, someone came along to help when they needed it the most. When Coley, towards the end of his life, feared his dream would remain unfulfilled, HELP for Haiti was created to keep his vision alive. When Josh and Beth were trying to escape the violence in Port-au-Prince, Maillard was there to help them move to Jeremie and take Thrive Ansanm to the next level.
In the spirit of the name “Thrive Ansanm” which means “Thrive Together,” the two organizations are now working in unison to extend Coley and Anna Gorham’s legacy to connect more young Haitians to higher education.
