Haiti's Criminal Deportee program to hold awards benefit in New York City, Saturday, October 28, 2006

Ten Years of Services & Advocacy for Haiti's Criminal Deportees

Bringing together committed activists concerned about injustices of Criminal Deportation to Haiti


Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 12, 2006 -- Alternative Chance (Chans Altenativ in Haitian Creole), a self-help, peer counseling and advocacy program in Haiti for Criminal Deportees since 1996, will hold an Awards Dinner and Fundraiser in downtown Brooklyn marking its Tenth Anniversary and honoring those engaged in fighting the injustices of Criminal Deportation to Haiti and those fighting for respect of the rights of Haitian Criminal Deportees. The evening of solidarity, networking, Haitian food and entertainment will be held Saturday, October 28, 2006, at 6 pm at the Belarusian Church, 401 Atlantic Avenue, corner Bond Street, in downtown Brooklyn, New York and will feature Special Guests of Honor, Ira J. Kurzban, Esq. (leading Haitian refugee rights attorney, author of Kurzban's Immigration Law Sourcebook, and former counsel to the Government of Haiti) and John P. May, MD (Founder and Medical Director of Health through Walls -- providing sustainable health care in prisons in developing countries).

The evening will include an authentic Haitian dinner, Silent Auction, Photo Exhibit, Awards and remarks, including by Renal, who lived in Haiti as a Criminal Deportee for a few years before returning to the US when his U.S. citizenship was established. With the help of Alternative Chance, Renal got a start as a rapper in Haiti, and now, in addition to his day job, continues to rap while back in his home town in Florida. Musical performances by Renal, Riva Precil, Caitlin Karshan & Ahmed. The silent auction will include Haitian sequined & beaded art, a life-sized cloth & papier mache Haitian market woman statute, Haitian paintings and iron works, and other high quality items. Michelle Karshan, returning from Haiti, will briefly comment on her findings regarding current conditions for Criminal Deportees there.

Awards, presented in several categories to those who over the past ten years contributed significantly, and courageously, over a long period of time, to the plight of Haiti's Criminal Deportees, will go to (in alphabetical order): Father James Aherne, Sisters Ann & Ellen, David Belle/Katherine Kean, Samantha Black, Isabelle Braun, Olivia Cassin, Esq., Jennifer Cheek Pantaleon, Yves Colon, Edwidge Danticat, Donna DeCesare, Rebecca Feldman, Esq., Virginia Floyd/Janet Lugo, Steven David Forester, Esq., Thomas M. Griffin, Esq., Ira J. Kurzban, Haiti's former Minister of Foreign Affairs Fritz Longchamp, John P. May, MD, Privat Precil, Esq., Riva Precil, Andrew Reding, Susan & Guy Renaud, Jan Voordouw, Jack Wallace, Esq.

A special thanks will be made to Jack Wallace, Esq., and a warm welcome extended to Jessica Zagier, Esq., of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Coalition, who recently replaced Jack as a central resource for attorneys and keeper of a data bank relating to legal representation for Haitian Criminal Aliens in their deportation cases.

Brooklyn, where many Haitian Criminal Deportees grew up, attended schools, and started families, is also the original home of Michelle Karshan, the co-founder and Executive Director of Alternative Chance (Chans Altenativ).

Tax-deductible donation of $100 per person to attend Awards/Fundraising benefit. To purchase a ticket: contact  altchance@aol.com or telephone 212-613-6033

For more information please see www.alternativechance.org or contact Michelle Karshan at  altchance@aol.com

Donations to support the work of Alternative Chance can be made by visiting www.alternativechance.org or contacting 212-613-6033.

Editors: High resolution photos available to press. Please contact Jennifer Cheek Pantaleon at  jetphire@aol.com or Michelle Karshan at  altchance@aol.com

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