Who we are
Meet Our Founders: Letter from Sue and Brian
When we led our first mission to Gramothe, Haiti, in 2006, our intention was to lead a service trip of advanced practice nurses and nursing students. We wanted to alleviate the suffering of the Haitian people in a remote mountain village, if only for a short while. We focused our resources to treat infections, intestinal worms, along with skin infestations such as scabies and fungus. These conditions commonly affect all of the women and children in the village. We also provided vitamins, peanut butter, and educated many women about the benefits of breast-feeding. We taught about how to maintain their clean water source and prevent re-infestation of worms and scabies.
Our first mission was so successful that we returned with a larger group in January 2007, serving more than 1,000 Haitian people in one week. We were amazed to see how the simple care delivered the prior year had improved the general health of the women and children of the village. Naturally, we talked to our friends, family and members of our church, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, about our trips and the great need in Haiti. Our excitement over the small but obvious improvement in the villagers’ health became contagious! We were met with an overwhelming support for these mission trips. Word of mouth spread, and unexpectedly, people kept coming forward to offer donations, time, and prayers. Especially surprising was how students throughout Chicago’s North Shore offered their time and talent in many ways to collect basic necessities such as peanut butter, vitamins, and cloth diapers, and to raise funds to buy essential medication. We have been humbled and inspired by the outpouring of this selfless commitment to the well-being of others.
We began Little By Little, a nonprofit organization, to structure and direct this giving by American families to the ongoing healthcare and health education of the Haitian people in Gramothe. Our short term goal is to continue our mission trips to provide basic healthcare, especially to mothers and children. Our long term goal is to advance the maternal child wellness center, supporting sustainability and reciprocity with the villagers of Gramothe.
Little By Little is built on the enthusiasm of average people – no one with great wealth, no one with extraordinary skills, and no one with celebrity. Rather, everyone has simply a heartfelt and unselfish desire to help others in need.
Together, it’s amazing what we can accomplish, little by little.
Sue and Brian Walsh
Our Values
The Paradoxical Commandments by Dr. Kent M. Keith
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
Sustainability & Reciprocity
Education, healthcare and nutrition are the cornerstones of Little By Little’s mission. The goal of our organization is not only to provide support to those in need but also to promote self-reliance and sustainability through various educational initiatives. We also believe in reciprocity between our missioners, our donors and our friends in Haiti. A smile or a hug shared with us either in person or via a photo are equally as important as the medication and services shared with the villagers. Seeing a healthy baby, a well nourished mom breast feeding, a child with the well being and stamina to attend school, and parents providing their children with basic needs for a healthy start is all we need to motivate us to keep our organization going.
Our Team
Our volunteer medical teams consist of primary care providers such as physicians and nurse practitioners, registered nurses, pharmacists and lay people who have a heart of compassion and the willingness to learn simple medical tasks. Also, both medical and graduate nursing students are integral members of our teams. There is no electricity in the clinic so we do our work by sunlight through open-air windows. Little By Little’s efforts to relieve suffering, treat illness, improve nutrition and promote basic health care are focused in the village of Gramothe, where some patients walk for miles over the mountainous terrain to seek relief in the clinic. Teams of less than 20 members typically see and treat over 200 patients per day on the weeklong mission trips.
Our Board
President and Founder: Sue Walsh MS, PNP
Leslie Cordes MD
Laura Hayes
Vanda Marsh MS, PNP
Megan Miller
Patty Mulvihill
Elizabeth Murchie MS, PNP
Mary Gomez Nickele MS, PNP
Amy Walburn
