“Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things." Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Check here regularly for the most recent PTPA news.

News of the Day: 

  • PTPA hosts a national conference every several years to provide an opportunity for twinning members to network and share best practices.

    This year PTPA and its participants ignited hearts at the conference: Hearts on Fire, Fanning the Flames of Passion to Serve Our Twin Parishes in Haiti and Latin America

    As many participants shared, their hearts truly were on fire as they departed; renewed in faith, inspired by community, and committed to deeper solidarity.

    CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO READ ABOUT CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS!

  • The PTPA Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Cassandra Bissainthe as our new Executive Director, effective July 1. We are blessed to have Cassandra lead our organization moving forward in the future. Her extraordinary experience and leadership skills will benefit PTPA and strengthen our ability to have a positive impact on poor Catholic communities in Haiti and Latin America.

    Cassandra’s experience includes leading many successful projects in Haiti and Latin America. For the past three years, Cassandra led program management and partner engagement for University of Notre Dame global education initiatives focusing on literacy and social-emotional learning resources for grade school children in impoverished countries, including Haiti. Cassandra also worked for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for more than seven years developing emergency preparedness and response projects across Latin America, the Caribbean and West Africa. She brings strong multilingual and cross-cultural communication skills, as she is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Haitian Creole.

    With her legacy of leadership and global impact, Cassandra is the right person to lead us forward in continuing the vital mission of PTPA. She embraces our commitment to share God’s love with impoverished Catholic communities in Haiti and Latin America by supporting the important work that you do on behalf of your twin parishes.
    Cassandra wrote a message to you that she asked us to share: "I'm truly excited about this new role because it allows me to deepen my connection with the incredible work Catholic parishes in the U.S. are doing to support parish communities in Haiti and Latin America. It’s a meaningful opportunity to build stronger relationships, share stories of impact, and walk in solidarity with our brothers and sisters across the region."

    We are eager for you to get to know Cassandra. We held a special Zoom meeting to meet her on Thursday evening, May 29. Also, we hope you will take advantage of the opportunity to meet Cassandra in person at the upcoming 2025 PTPA National Conference, August 15-17, in Nashville.

    Click the link above to view the news release issued by PTPA when we announce Cassandra's hiring.

    If you have any comments or questions, feel free to send PTPA Board President Mike Hogrefe an email at info@ptpausa.org

  • Report about PTPA Trip to Honduras with Food For The Poor

    Several members of the PTPA Board and the PTPA Executive Assistant traveled as guests of Food For The Poor (FFTP) to San Pedro Sula, Honduras on March 31–April 4. We visited a PTPA twin parish in El Progresso, went to see some of FFTP’s projects in Honduras, and met with Archbishop Michael Lenihan of the Archdiocese of San Pedro. The purpose of the trip was to get better acquainted with the work of FFTP in Honduras, to learn about CEPUDO, FFTP's partner in Honduras, and to explore how to establish a working relationship with the Catholic Church in Honduras.
    CEPUDO's name is based on an acronym for its mission and work: Capacitacion (training), Educacion, Produccion, Unificacion, Desarrollo (development), Organizacion. Working together in Honduras, FFTP and CEPUDO build homes for those in need, help impoverished communities develop, provide education and training services, support homes for orphaned and abandoned children, provide food, supplies and medical care, and even more.
    Following our trip, our goal is to identify new US parishes interested in a twinning relationship with a parish in Honduras and elsewhere in Latin America. Of our approximately 250 parish members, only about 30 are twinned with a parish in a Latin American country, with 6 twinning in Honduras; PTPA currently only has a few U.S. parishes twinned in Honduras. The need is tremendous. We hope and pray to find U.S. Catholic parishes who will be inspired to respond!

    You can read more about Food For The Poor here: https://foodforthepoor.org
    and CEPUDO here: http://cepudohonduras.org/index.php/en/

  • PTPA wants to establish more twinning relationships between Catholic parishes in the
    United States and Haiti, but to do so PTPA needs your financial support. Together with the
    other Bishops of the CEH, I would be grateful if you would consider making a generous
    donation to PTPA.
    Mgr. Max Leroy Mesidor
    Archbishop of the Metropolitan Area of Port-au-Prince
    President of the CEH

    CLICK THE TITLE ABOVE TO VIEW THE LETTER.

  • Tennessee Register article published 27 Feb features two parishes in the Nashville Diocese with twinnings in Haiti through PTPA.

    CLICK THE TITLE ABOVE TO VIEW THE ARTICLE.

  • Click the title above to read our most recent blog posts.

  • Check the title above regularly for copies of the PTPA Newsletter and read about the impact of PTPA and the Twins.

  • Click the title above to view PTPA Zooms from the past, including the most recent 3 listed below.

The Most Recent & Upcoming Zoom Sessions: Click on the Titles to Register for Upcoming Session or to View Recordings for Past Sessions

  • Please join us at our February 2026 PTPA Zoom Gathering to hear more about “Lessons Learned from Phase 1 and Next Steps in the Haiti Parish Visit Pilot Program,”

    The presenter will be Cassandra Bissainthe, PTPA Executive Director and Pilot Program Chief.

    The visits in the initial phase of the Haiti Parish Visit pilot, focused on the Northern Department, have now been completed. We will soon be launching Phase 2, targeting the Southern Department, Les Cayes and surrounding areas.

    The program is designed to support U.S. parishes that are currently unable to visit their twinned parishes in Haiti. Our Haiti-based team, led by our in-country director, Domond, is conducting visits on behalf of the U.S. parish to its twin parish in Haiti to help maintain engagement, gather updates, and strengthen relationships.

    After his visits, we then draft individual reports, which include photos from the visits and share them with the U.S. twins. Once the parishes receive their report, PTPA schedules individual follow-up calls with Domond to address any questions the U.S. parish may have and provide an opportunity for him to share additional updates from his visits.

    We look forward to connecting with you again, sharing good resources to support twinning, and continuing this journey of faith and solidarity together.

    Here is additional information for PTPA members who have not already registered to participate:

    Participation in this initiative requires approval from both the U.S. and Haitian parishes for an in-person visit by PTPA team members. If your parish is twinned with more than one Haitian parish, please complete a separate form for each.
    If you haven't already done so, click below to read more in the Haiti Visit Pilot Interest Form and/or to register to participate in the Haiti Parish Visit Pilot Program:
    https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=lbrAcUx-yUCFSjGmKDrUAWp2kjZmM_BDtG8nv-YgZWJUN1JSR0swRE4zMDI4M05SNFNaVFZDNlBOTC4u

    CLICK ON THE TITLE ABOVE TO REGISTER.

  • Our January 2026 PTPA Zoom Gathering featured presenters from the University of Notre Dame’s Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (“GC-DWC”), a group that shared its systems based approach to strengthening education in Haiti: its work across the home (lakay), church (legliz), and school (lekòl) environments, and highlighted emerging opportunities for alignment between PTPA members and GC DWC to support parish families throughout Haiti.

    We were honored to welcome the following presenters from the UND GC DWC team:
    1. Dr. Neil Boothby, Professor and Director, GC-DWC
    2. Ms. Kate Schuenke Lucien, Director for Haiti and Senior Associate Director for Strategic Planning, GC-DWC

    Click Here to learn more about the University of Notre Dame’s Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child on its website: https://iei.nd.edu/gc-dwc
    Click Here to view their Resource Library:
    https://iei.nd.edu/initiatives/global-center-for-the-development-of-the-whole-child/gc-dwc-haiti-resources

    At the 2025 PTPA National Conference, we addressed the burning question:
    "How can we ensure a brighter future for our brothers and sisters in Haiti and Latin America?" The answer: "Through Quality Education." Kate presented "The Power of Parish Twinning for Education in Haiti."
    Click the link below here to view the presentation in the PTPA Members Portal

    In addition, the University of Notre Dame also has an Institute for Educational Initiatives. They held a conference in April 2025: Education in Haiti: Navigating Challenges and Unlocking Opportunities. Two PTPA Board members participated. As Dr. Neil Boothby stated: “Given the ongoing instability in Haiti, and funding challenges presented by the current US administration, the need for a focused consortium on Education in Haiti is more necessary than ever.” The conference achieved many of its goals. He shared with PTPA the summary report for the conference and its objectives and a learning report for the period 2020-2024.
    Click the link below to view the Conference Summary and Learning Reports in the PTPA Members Portal:

    We look forward to connecting with you again, sharing good resources to support twinning, and continuing this journey of faith and solidarity together.

    CLICK THE LINK ABOVE (THE HEADING) TO VIEW THE YOU TUBE RECORDING

    -- Click Here to view resources in the PTPA Members Portal about Navigating Challenges and Unlocking Opportunities for Quality Education in Haiti and Latin America: https://www.ptpausamembers.org/resources/navigating-challenges-and-unlocking-opportunities-for-quality-education-in-haiti-and-latin-america
    --Click Here to view resources in the PTPA Members Portal about the Notre Dame Conference and Learning Reports: https://www.ptpausamembers.org/resources/education-in-haiti-navigating-challenges-and-unlocking-opportunities

  • Our guests during the one-hour session were Ernso Sylvain, Haiti Country Director of Unlocking Communities, and Heather Seeley, Senior Director, Institutional Partnerships.

    Unlocking Communities is a nonprofit social enterprise dedicated to empowering Haitian communities through sustainable entrepreneurship. Founded in 2018, the organization trains local entrepreneurs in business fundamentals, disaster resilience, personal finance, and WaSH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) practices. These entrepreneurs are then equipped with essential products such as water filters and clean cookstoves which they sell within their communities, earning commissions while promoting health and environmental sustainability.

    As we do often in Zoom Gatherings, this was a good opportunity to share good resources to support twinning, and continue this journey of faith and solidarity together.

    CLICK THE LINK ABOVE (THE HEADING) TO VIEW THE YOU TUBE RECORDING

    Click Here to learn more about Unlocking Communities, its mission and the services it offers: https://www.unlockingcommunities.org>

    Click here to read about its Water Filter Program for Haiti Schools, and how the program allows PTPA US parishes to provide clean water access to their twinned schools in Haiti.