The project for a housing center in Savanette (Mont-Organisé) was proposed by the members of the Focolare in Haiti in December 2009. It was meant to provide housing for Haitians living in poverty, abandoned and in need of daily care. They planned to raise funds for this project from their own resources and to ask the civil and religious authorities for donations. The land had been given to the organizers of the project some years earlier.

The earthquake of January 12th, 2010, changed everything. Port-au-Prince was at the epicentre of a disastrous earthquake and many of its residents fled to the countryside. Over 380 arrived in Mont-Organisé and more than 700 in Carice, a neighbouring town, asking for help. Some of these had relatives and friends to whom they went; others had no one to turn to. It was clear that the project had to be expanded. Thankfully, international aid arrived, particularly from AMU Italy, allowing the construction to start. With construction underway, the organizers decided to enlarge the hall that is part of the center to a capacity of 500. It provided us with a very nice facility for our summer Mariapolis; last year was the first time it was used for this purpose. The complex is now composed of 20 individual rooms, a large hall, a kitchen, a well, storage rooms, toilets and showers. The complex also houses the offices of PACNE.

Some people who had lost all their belongings in the earthquake were able to find help here, but have since returned to the capital. The people lodged in this project number about 15 so far; they are mostly people with some disability or families in very destitute conditions. People from the local community support the centre by cultivating the fields adjacent to the centre to produce food for its inhabitants, or in other concrete ways.