Our Home

A Note from Len and Cherylann Gengel

Brit's Home in Grand-Goâve, Haiti was built to honor the memory of our daughter Britney Gengel, who died tragically in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti along with approximately of 300,000 others. To honor her life and to honor her commitment to those less fortunate among us, we’ve built this home and are now working towards fulfilling our Vision to raise the next generation of leaders in Haiti.

During the course of just two years in an earthquake-ravaged country, atop a mountain overlooking the town of Grand-Goâve and the Gulf of Gonâve, our 19,000 square foot earthquake-proof facility was built. Today, Brit's Home is home to our 66 children and welcomes more than 350 visitors through our Britsionary program each year. We take great pride in our certified rating for seismic standards among the strongest in the country, and in being awarded the Global Best Projects Award in June of 2013 by Engineering News-Record.

The building of Brit's Home would not have been possible without the hundreds and hundreds of volunteers and experts who traveled to Haiti in those first two years after the earthquake. What was once a construction site is today a beacon of hope on the hill, sitting far above the poverty that surrounds us and plagues this country of great beauty and a people of incredible spirit.

Everything about Brit's Home is by design purposeful and intentional. Today, we have 33 boys and 33 girls living with us at Be Like Brit, a reflection of the 33 days that Britney was missing in the rubble of the Hotel Montana. Brit's Home takes the form of the letter ‘B’, for Britney and is supported by 8 main columns, reflective of the 8 survivors on the Journey of Hope. Six Britsionary (volunteer) rooms are each named after one of those who lost their lives on this Journey of Hope with Lynn University. Our colors, blue and yellow, are the same colors Britney was wearing in the last known photograph we have of her.

Our on-site, 1200 square foot medical clinic includes some of the best equipment available in our area, as well as telemedicine equipment which enables us to connect with health care providers from around the globe. Our state-of-the-art nanotechnology water filtration system makes our water source one of the safest in the country.

What started out as an orphanage has grown into Brit's Home, and while the work we do will always, for us, be about our Britney, we are now reaching far beyond ourselves into the community here, responding to need as we are able, while always Continuing the Compassion that Britney so effectively demonstrated. Brit's Home is creating hope for so many, and while we will never forget the tragedy of losing Britney and the effects of the earthquake on this country, it is comforting to know that so many people are coming together because of our daughter’s wish.