Community Organization Spotlight: AFAB-KAFANM

Since 1988, the Association of Haitian Women in Boston (known in Haitian Creole as Asosiyasyon Fanm Ayisyen nan Boston, or AFAB-KAFANM) has been bringing together and supporting women and their families in the local Haitian community.

AFAB-KAFANM’s mission is “to empower Haitian women by helping them develop their individual and collective capacity to improve social, economic and political status and thus be able to effect positive changes in their life and their families’ lives.” AFAB-KAFANM founded and organizes a monthly Haitian Round Table on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, in which a number of local service organizations and community members gather to strategize on how to best support Haitian survivors of domestic and sexual violence. The Round Table is currently run by Carmelle Bonhomètre, AFAB-KAFANM’s program director for domestic violence. BARCC has been participating in these monthly discussions for many years.

“AFAB is a really wonderful collective that is run by Haitian women and other community members for the Haitian community,” said Janin, one of BARCC’s client services access coordinators and current BARCC representative at the Round Table. “The Round Table is a space both for resource sharing and brainstorming how to best support members of the community—as well as for providers supporting one another in the work that they do and the vicarious trauma that can come from that.” Round Table attendees talk through the challenges that Haitian survivors are having navigating mental health care resources, legal systems and court processes, immigration challenges, and more. 

The Round Table also conducts a few outreach events a year, including an annual Clergy Breakfast. “The Round Table invites members of the clergy, particularly from local Haitian churches, and we’ll have a program with speakers talking about domestic and sexual violence,” explains Eliza, BARCC’s outreach and education manager who participated in the Round Table for several years. “Church leaders are often a first contact that people will disclose or go for support after experiencing domestic and sexual violence, so these events help build connections and awareness amongst clergy of how best to support survivors and connect them to resources, etc.”

In addition to the Round Table and other work to support survivors of domestic and sexual violence—and prevent it in the first place—AFAB-KAFANM runs a community center and provides housing and housing advocacy, adult education, and youth development programs. 

With such a central role in the Haitian community, AFAB-KAFANM is an invaluable resource for community members and for other local organizations. As Janin reflected, “Taking part in the Round Table enables us to meet community members where they are and gain a deeper understanding of the needs that are present. We can bring our knowledge and resources to the space to support the Round Table and learn from the grassroots leaders who are there about how we can support survivors in their community, what we could be doing better to engage the people that they are serving, and more.” Eliza added, “It’s really about building relationships.” 

To learn more about AFAB-KAFANM, visit their website.