Alum raising funds to make hometown center a reality

Palm Beach State College alumnus Luc Beauliere has a big vision for his hometown of Saint-Marc, Haiti.

Beauliere, who graduated from PBSC in 2007 with an Associate in Arts degree, is currently raising funds to build a community center for the people of Saint-Marc and the surrounding areas.

The center, called the Artibonite Gospel Tabernacle (AGT) Center, will serve as a hospital, university, worship facility and musical conservatory.

The idea to build a center first originated from Beauliere's father, Roger, who always wanted to help the poor and give people a better life.

“When I moved back to Haiti in 2013, seeing the lack of opportunity and the level of poverty that people were living in, I felt an urgent need to help realize that vision,” said Beauliere, who has a bachelor’s degree in music education from Florida Atlantic University. “We envisioned a place to educate, provide health care and meet people's spiritual needs.”

In 2017, his vision started to become a reality when he purchased 31.9 acres of land where the center will be built. Today, he is raising funds to pay off that purchase. To date, he has $40,000 of the $100,000 needed.

According to Beauliere, once the land is paid off, the next phase of the project will be to obtain an estimate for construction. Beauliere, who serves as the administrative director of the AGT Center project, and his architect believe it will be a few million dollars.

The center, however, isn’t the only idea Beauliere developed to give back to Saint-Marc. In 2005, he created the Beauliere Academy of Music in West Palm Beach. Eight years later, he opened a branch campus of the academy in Saint-Marc, which holds a summer music camp each year.

He directs the camp and invites teachers in Haiti and former classmates and professors including PBSC Music Professor Allen Webber to teach there.

This summer was the second time Webber, who has also supported the AGT Center project, taught at the camp. He first taught in 2013, when the camp hosted 50 students. This summer, they had more than 150 students. He says he enjoyed the experiences immensely.

“It's difficult for me to describe how satisfying it is to teach alongside some of my former students at these camps,” Webber said. “I got such a kick out of introducing them as my colleagues.”

Along with Beauliere, the former PBSC students who taught with him were Edras Regisme and Christina Colletti in 2013 and Harley Galeano and Katharine “Kat” Yarbrough this summer.

Webber taught music theory, group voice lessons and directed the choral ensemble at the Gospel Tabernacle church in Saint-Marc where the camp was held and where Beauliere’s father is on the pastoral staff.

“Haitian music students are eager to learn, quick to comprehend new information, and a real joy to work with,” Webber said. “Their obvious gratitude is very moving. Both of the years that I have taught there, I have asked the students to teach me one of their favorite songs. This has been a wonderful experience both times, and I have been able to use these songs either as concert pieces for the choir or as teaching examples for all of the students.”

While Webber and the other instructors volunteered their time, Beauliere paid for their airfare, lodging, most meals, and provided them each with their own interpreter.

Beauliere hopes to change the name of the Beauliere Academy of Music in Haiti to the Beauliere Conservatory of Music and have it become part of the university at the AGT Center.

For now, however, he says his goal is to continue to help improve the lives of people in Saint-Marc through music, teaching people how to read, helping them get access to education and more.

To make a donation to the AGT Center, visit www.agtcenter.org/donation.