Ti Kay means “Little House” in Haitian Kreyol.
TB was traditionally the “malady of the little house.” It was the disease of the small houses where patients were quarantined. At the same time, many of our patients have struggled since the earthquake to find housing. It is thus the disease of those in need of little houses or who have only the littlest of houses.

Objective
Stop the spread of Tuberculosis and HIV while preventing the illness (and death) caused by Tuberculosis and HIV, focusing in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Ti Kay exists to support local people in Haiti, who have often been personally affected, fight Tuberculosis and HIV.

Organization History
Work started in 2010 immediately after the earthquake in Port-Au-Prince. From 2010 to 2014 Ti Kay supported a critical care inpatient unit and outpatient clinic for TB and HIV, serving over 4,500 patients. In 2014, the hospital in which the unit was located began post-earthquake reconstruction, and the unit had to close. There is currently no place in the greater Port Au Prince area for the critical care of patients with TB. We are working to reopen in a new space.

The Ti Kay Team
Our Executive Director of Ti Kay, Inc., Dr. Megan Coffee, is a Harvard educated doctor who specializes in infectious disease. She started the original TB inpatient unit with a group of amazing Haitian nurses. They were then joined by a large pool of dedicated volunteers that lend their talents to Ti Kay in the form of medical, accounting, computer programming, social media, and administrative duties for our nonprofit (501(c)(3)). Locally in Port Au Prince, Ti Kay has, during its time, trained nurses, oxygen technicians, community health workers and data entry specialists that carry out the day to day operations of Ti Kay. Many are former patients or family members of former patients that are uniquely qualified to support patients through this disease process. Ti Kay concentrates on building a system that works for them, taking into account their education levels and being sensitive to the unique culture of Haiti.

What makes Ti Kay unique?
Care at no cost: To thwart the spread of TB in the community at large, treatment must be accessible to all. Those who have few resources are often those affected by TB; it spreads among those in crowded conditions or with poor nutrition. They may not able to pay for treatment and may face barriers to accessing medical care. Ti Kay helps remove those barriers.
Oxygen management: Oxygen is an important bridge to ensure survival while medications are given time to eradicate the TB from your lungs. Oxygen use requires careful management for each patient, so we have trained attendants to manage patients’ oxygen.
Complete patient support: To ensure that TB patients make the proper follow-up appointments and are compliant with their lengthy treatment regimen, it is necessary to make reminder visits or phone calls and to pay for transportation for those who cannot afford it. Patients often need supplemental nutrition to survive, Ti Kay provides food as needed to aid in healing.
Patient and community education: Ti Kay volunteers have created videos and visual printed materials to explain to patients, in a culturally relevant way, the importance of medication compliance and preventing the spread of disease (such as https://vimeo.com/115530204).
Telemedicine: While TB is traditionally treated with Directly Observed Therapy (DOTS), such a strategy is not feasible with transient patients and unpredictable transportation. Instead, patients are “virtually seen” by medical personnel daily via image messaging.