ABOUT GREGORY'S LEARNING CENTER
The GLC Story
My name is Gregory Victorin. All my life I have faced daunting challenges and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. But I worked hard and held onto my faith and today, at 42, I’m giving back to others who, like myself, have been held back. Let me tell you how I got to this place, where I am now, and what I hope to do.
My childhood and school history
I was born in Haiti in 1979, and am part of a family of 6 children. When I was a year old, my father left for the United States, and my mother followed him a couple of years later, leaving us in the care of my grandmother and aunt, and hoping to send for us as soon as they could. From the start, I struggled in school, with delayed speech and difficulty learning to read and write. When I was eight years old, we joined our parents in the U.S. and settled in a crime-ridden area in Brooklyn, NY. My disabilities continued to hamper my progress in school and I was written off by my teachers and the system. I stuck it out and graduated from high school, but I still had some learning deficits and so a few years later, I enrolled in and completed four semesters at a Columbia Teachers College adult learning program.
My family and work history
When I was 21, I moved from Brooklyn to New Jersey, fell in love and got married. My wife and I now have four children of our own and a fifth child we adopted. When my first child was born, I started Anadelle Spotless Cleaning and Painting, a side business (named for my daughter) to supplement my income and help support my family; I still own that company today.
Since leaving high school, I have worked in Office Services at two healthcare communication companies. Earning respect as a hard worker and someone willing to learn new skills, I advanced from handyman to mail and supplies, and was promoted to Facility Assistant. But I had loftier goals!
My dream: Gregory’s Learning Center (GLC)
I’ve always had big dreams in my head, to serve my community and people in need. In 2012, with the help of friends and family, I founded GLC, a not-for-profit, full service center dedicated to preparing disadvantaged children in Haiti for success.
My plan is to build a center there, to supply it with books and needed resources, and to hire teachers, some to focus on reading and writing skills and others to help students learn trades, or develop their sports talent. My goal is to help them realize their dreams with local community support, and to encourage them to stay in Haiti and give back to those coming up behind them.
Last May, in 2021, I returned to Haiti to look at potential properties for building my learning center, and while there, I saw kids on the streets of Port-au-Prince who were being left behind and lacked resources or support to pay school tuition. I decided then and there to help them, and when I returned to the U.S. I began a fundraising campaign in my New Jersey community and church. We raised $3500 in US dollars to pay tuition for 40 students, and with the help of principals in four Haitian schools, they were enrolled and are learning again.
I have an amazing team working with me, both here and in Haiti -- dedicated family members, teachers and friends – who are helping to make my dreams, and hopefully soon, those of hundreds of Haitian children, a reality. This is an exciting time for us, and I believe a turning point for GLC. With determination, faith, and your help, we will get there together.
GLC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Gregory Victorin - President
Markenston Brice - Director
Jouline Victorin - Secretary
Joseph W. Victorin - Board Director (US)
(Note: Many additional members of our Board of Directors are currently living and working in Haiti)
Markenston Brice, Director
Markenston Brice is a lawyer at the Quebec Bar in Canada. He practices in Montreal primarily in family law and immigration law. He has been a member of the Port-au-Prince bar in the past where he has been active in private practice and, at the same time, worked as counsel for the Haitian government through the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI).
He holds a master's degree in international law from the University of Montreal.
He was educated first through the public system of the Haitian government without which his dream of becoming a lawyer would never be turned into reality. Indeed, the humble financial conditions of his family did not allow his parents to pay his studies, even if they were ready for any sacrifice for the full intellectual development of their five children.
His dedication to social matters comes from the fact that not only he feels indebted to his country, but also, he shares the pain of the many children and young adults whose dream is compromised because, first, their parents do not have financial possibilities to support them in their studies and, second, the Haitian public system cannot absorb them all.
He believes that an initiative as GLC is timely to support the dreams that otherwise would have no chance of being realized.
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Jouline Victorin, Secretary
Jouline has been a member of Gregory Learning Center (GLC) since 2012 and currently serves as secretary.
Prior to joining GLC in 2012, Jouline previously served as Account Manager for Annadelle Spotless Cleaning and Painting (a cleaning company), where she is responsible for in and out going taste, financial budget. She is honored to be working with GLC board and staff to advance this work and looking forward through GLC success.
Jouline has a bachelor’s degree in science from Devry University and a certificate in Medical field. She is currently a busy working mom of five, and helping out with GLC’s journey.
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Joseph W. Victorin, Board Direcctor
Welcome to this site where learning is ongoing and purposeful. It is with great pleasure we bring to you this learning center, and pray and hope that by the grace of God, you would come to the best knowledge ever known to man. Once Again welcome.
I'm Joseph W Victorin. Born in croix- des- mission butte-Boyer in port-au-prince Haiti. I attended the elementary school Mix DumarsaiEstiméthere. Currently I am technician Graduate from DeVry of North Brunswick, and have a bachelor of science degree in biology. Most of all I'm a student of the Bible, the word of God the creator of the universe, because in the school of Christ there is no Graduation.
I look forward to Christ return and hope while we wait the learning center activities will contribute to a lifelong experience of growth success and satisfaction. I want to wish you the best, so I wish you a God feared lifestyle of Love Joy and hope. Read, read, read on and come to know and discover, among billions, the oldest yet most relevant book of all times, the Bible. This is my discovery for 25 years now, thank you for your time, have a blessed experience with us.