Zel Haiti's artisan program began in 2013 with the goal of empowering families to remain together by creating jobs for Haitians to earn a dignified, fair wage so they can provide food, shelter, clothes and education for their children. Skill development, employment, and business development address the needs of families suffering from extreme poverty before they are at the point of desperation: driven to give their children to an orphanage for the sake of their survival.