Who Are we?

Who We Are:

We are community members, volunteers, and donors, who share the common goal to provide technology and solutions from a developed country to one that can barely meet most basic needs. Founded and directed in the USA, HTSCongo also has hands-on leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo to ensure daily operations and end results. We are a bridge between the problems and the possibilities.

Mission:

Working in conjunction with the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and other partners, our mission is to transfer technologies to the DRC that create sustainable access to clean drinking water, proper sanitation, and durable housing while minimizing the impact on the environment.

Vision:


We envision a future in which all people of the DRC are able to take charge of their own resources and live in a healthy, productive environment.

Drilling a well

Who we serve:

We serve the remote poor rural communities most directly affected by the lack of resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

While technologies and tools are essential, the most important aspect of our work lies in engaging the respectful participation of a community. Schools and health clinics are respected, permanent community institutions and have become our partners in engaging and fostering effective relationships and community outreach.

What we do:

We focus on water, sanitation, and hygiene needs. We bring technical expertise, skills, and specialized tools to the field and stay as needed to ensure that an effective and sustainable project outcome. We partner with local communities to determine appropriate solutions for safe and abundant drinking water and sanitation, while respecting culture and traditions. Our approach to ensure safe water and sanitation for the entire villagestarts first by equipping schools and health clinics as they are the centers of the community.

Why us?

HTSCongo offers its unique on-site project management capabilities. In addition to speaking the language, we are fully versed in local hiring, materials procurement, security, banking, and other construction practices. We bring experience in collaborating successfully with village elders and other community leaders. We have the proven ability to provide the training and technical expertise necessary to design, complete and manage construction of water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities.

Our Values and Guiding Principles:

Respect: Acknowledging the cultural differences — even between villages within the Congo, it is crucial that community members and respected elders not only support, but are also engaged in our work. We do this by listening to and developing working relationships with villagers. They are our teachers and guides, as much as we are theirs.

Empowerment: We believe that working side by side with community members fosters sustainability as well as strengthening the community at large. We employ and train villagers during the building of water and sanitation facilities, empowering them to become trained technicians capable of building and caring for their own systems in the future.

Integrity: HTSCongo conducts business in an honest, transparent way. We holdfast to our ethics, and strive to be good stewards to not only our fellow man, but also to our earth and resources..

Collaboration:  HTSCongo seeks to build strategic partnerships with the Local Governments, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), SHGs (self help groups), CBOs (community based organizations) and other like-minded national and international organizations by planning and implementing appropriate interventions. While strategic partners represent an array of potential resources that can be brought to any single project.

Respect for the Environement: HTSCongo promotes and uses earth friendly alternatives in our construction projects and endeavor

Meet Our Team

Except for our construction team in the DR Congo, HTSCongo is a 100% volunteer organization dedicated to improve the health of the rural people of the DR Congo.

Leon Fontier
Founder and Executive Director

Mr. Fontier has an associate degree in tropical husbandry, and is retiring from a long career as the owner of Fontier Designs, inc, a metal working business. Mr. Fontier has extensive knowledge of business management, machine and technical operations, metal work, and light construction. He is studying the field of appropriate technologies and using his long career in machine operations to develop the HTSC program. His duties include supervising the day-to-day business and affairs of the organization. He works with the board to develop projects and funding for the organization.

Lou Vogel
President

Mr. Vogel has a BSME from Purdue University in 1980. He has worked as a solar energy designer and has designed numerous plumbing systems, including water sterilization and greywater systems, in addition to HVAC systems. He is accredited as a LEED designer for green buildings. He is the President of Taitem Engineering (Technology As If The Earth Matters), which provides energy consulting services to state and federal institutions. Mr. Vogel is also a musician, massage therapist and bicyclist. His technological expertise will assure that HTSC implements the most evironmentally stable technologies available.

Rachel Warden
Vice President

Ms. Warden contributes her talent as a communication specialist to HTSCongo.

Peter Voorheis
Treasurer

Mr. Voorheis has an M.A. in Folklore and Mythology from UCLA and a Ph.D. in Folklore and Russian Studies from Indiana University. After working in communications for a Defense Department contractor he became a folklorist with a regional arts council, organizing school programs, museum exhibits, and musical events featuring the traditional folk cultures of the Corning-Elmira New York region, while also taking on the bookkeeping for the organization. Since 2008 he has been Financial Services Coordinator for AspireHopeNY, which provides mental health services to individuals and families in an eleven-county region of Western New York.

Gabrielle Kennedy
Social Media Director

Gabrielle has been working with non-profits since 2014. As a classically trained chef, her culinary career was sparked by a zeal for nutrition and healthy eating. She has volunteered for the Food Bank of New York and the James Beard House.  
Currently, she is a freelance chef and educator, focusing her skills and passion on working with non-profit organizations to strengthen human rights initiatives, she has shifted her focus to cooking for the greater good, where she has been a culinary influencer and educator for First Descents, Cape Wellness Collaborative and The Mercy Ships.
Gabrielle diverse interests  all have a commonality: humanitarianism, purpose and helping communities.

Lee Haefele
Director

Mr. Haefele is the founder and CEO of Haefele Connect, a Telecommunications and Internet Service Provider.
Lee is a loyal supporter of all our activities

Richard Smith-Overman
Project development Director

Mr. Smith-Overman worked in the non-profit and public sector for over thirty five years before retiring in 2014. While living in rural Western NY his work focused on workforce development by providing job training and educational opportunities to people with multiple barriers to employment who lacked  marketable skills and positive work habits.
After 20 plus years in Western NY,  he and his family moved to North Carolina. While at the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency Mr. Smith-Overman managed a number of statewide housing rehabilitation programs, which improved the living conditions for thousands of North Carolinians, during his 20 year tenure.

Ruphin Bokaa
Democratic Republic of Congo Chief of Operation

Mr. Ruphin Bokaa graduated from the College of Ispeche in DR Congo with a degree in water, forest and environement.
Mr. Ruphin Bokaa is in charge of all our projects in the DR Congo.

Archana Prakash
Volunteer: Legal Counsel

Ms. Prakash has a Juris Doctorate from Columbia University, and a BA from Cornell University. She has worked in not-for-profit corporations as a staff attorney and currently is a Supervising Attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem. Ms. Prakash is a first generation immigrant of Indian decent. She has travelled extensively in developing nations, including her home country of India. She is now focused on using her legal education to assist in the developing world.




In 2010, HTSCongo founder Leon Fontier took his family on a trip to the DR Congo to show his children his country of birth. Leon was struck by the sight of the people’s extreme poverty. The country has great natural resources available and yet services are grossly inadequate and there is no opportunities for its people. He felt that with minimal financial commitment great change could be effected.

On his return to the USA, Leon dreamt of a grassroots effort that could transfer technologies and improve the health and well-being of the people of the DR Congo.

Leon began educating friends and family about the crisis he had witnessed. Within a year, six people gathered in Penn Yan, NY, determined to form a non-governmental organization that could bridge the ocean and give a hand-up.

In July, 2012, Habitat Technologies Solutions for the Congo became incorporated as a 501(c)(3) international non-profit humanitarian organization and Leon’s dream became a reality .