Health Through Walls Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
Points to look into
- It owes more than it owns.
These come from the organization's own tax return. There may be a good explanation; ask the charity.
What it says it does
HtW was created to assists prisons in resource poor countries test treat and implement measures to control and stop the spread of contagious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, other STI's, TB, Cholera, COVID-19 and other emerging infectious diseases and also to implement programs to eradicate malnutrition and provide skills training to prisoners. HtW incorporates the use of A.I technologies to speedily identify diseases and Electronic records to manage them once they are identified. HtW focus is on key population affected family members and sex partners and the communities in which they live. At inception HtW was the only NGO dedicated to the care of the prison population. HtW also operates an outpatient clinic providing medical services to the poor and to released prisoners' family members and sex contacts.
- Income
- $3.9 million
- Spending
- $4.3 million
- Spent on programs
- 100%
- Reserves
- 0.1 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 79%
- Employees
- 0
- Volunteers
- 50
- Highest pay
- $30,000, chief of party
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Weak: 38 out of 100. Higher than 5% of charities in its peer group (international, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
4 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 0.1 months of spending.
Debt
0 of 20It owes 107% of what it owns.
Living within its means
4 of 15Spending exceeded income by 11% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 7% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 15100% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 64% of charities in its peer group (international, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2513 of 13 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (8)
- $947,701 spent. HIV/AIDS Assistance for Prisons in Haiti objective is the control and prevention of the spread of contagious diseases in Haiti's 17 prisons. Haiti's prisons do not have a sustainable system of care and HtW through funders help to fill in many gaps that exists to prevent neglect of care of the upwards of ten thousand inmates incarcerated there and eventual death of those who are sick or who contract a deadly disease while incarcerated. HtW has over 130 full time staff including doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, counselors, radiographers and psychiatrists who work at all locations throughout the country, in the East, North, West and South. HtW is charged with setting up a sustainable system of care providing sanitation for all the prisons and creating a clean working environment for the officers and health care workers and a healthy living environment for the prisoners. HtW implemented a WASH program to ensure clean water for drinking, cooking and showering. Success of the HAP Program: Universal HIV Screening & Early Detection: The HAP program has been one of Haiti's most successful prison based health initiatives because it achieved something rare in correctional settings: consistent, system wide HIV screening. * Routine entry screening, mass campaigns, and provider initiated testing dramatically increased case detection. * In several facilities, screening coverage reached 80-100% of the incarcerated population. * Early detection reduced late stage presentations and improved treatment outcomes. This level of coverage is exceptional in low resource prison systems. 2. Reliable Access to ART & Continuity of Care Before HAP, incarcerated people often went months or years without access to antiretroviral therapy. The program changed that. * ART became consistently available in all 17 prisons. * Treatment interruptions dropped sharply. * Viral suppression rates improved because patients were initiated quickly and monitored regularly. * HAP established discharge planning, ensuring people leaving prison were linked to community clinics. Continuity of care is one of the strongest indicators of program success. 3. Integration of TB/HIV Services Haiti's prisons have some of the highest TB rates in the region. HAP's integration of HIV and TB services has been a major achievement. * Co infection screening became routine. * TB treatment and DOTS were strengthened. * Staff were trained to identify TB symptoms early and refer appropriately. This integration reduced mortality and improved case management for the most vulnerable patients. 4. Strong Peer Educator Network One of HAP's most innovative and successful components is its peer educator model. * Incarcerated individuals were trained to deliver HIV education, support adherence, and reduce stigma. * Peer educators became trusted messengers, increasing program reach. * This model improved health literacy and created a culture of support inside facilities. Peer led programming is widely recognized as a best practice in prison health. 5. Reduction in Stigma & Increased Health-Seeking Behavior HAP's education campaigns - posters, group sessions, peer outreach - significantly reduced stigma around HIV. * More people voluntarily sought testing. * Patients were more willing to start and continue ART. * Staff attitudes toward HIV care improved. This cultural shift is one of the program's most important long term successes. 6. Strengthened Health Workforce & Training HAP invested heavily in training prison nurses, physicians, and administrative staff. * Staff became proficient in HIV testing, counseling, ART management, and confidentiality protocols. * Facilities developed stronger internal capacity rather than relying solely on external partners. This workforce development is a major sustainability win. 7. Data Systems & Monitoring Improvements Even before EHRs, HAP improved record keeping and reporting. * Standardized registers and monitoring tools were introduced. * Facilities began tracking HIV indicators more consistently. * Data quality improved, enabling better planning and donor reporting. As you move toward AI supported EHRs, this foundation becomes even more valuable. 8. Alignment With National HIV Strategy HAP's success is partly due to its alignment with MSPP and PEPFAR priorities: * Provider initiated testing * Rapid linkage to ART * Differentiated service delivery * Community continuity of care This alignment ensured strong government support and long term donor investment. 9. Impact on Public Health Beyond Prison Walls Because thousands of people cycle in and out of Haiti's prisons each year, HAP's success has broader public health implications: * Reduced community transmission * Better linkage to care post release * Improved national HIV case management Prison health is community health - and HAP strengthened both. Concise Summary The HAP program succeeded because it delivered consistent HIV screening, reliable ART access, integrated TB/HIV care, peer led education, strong staff training, and improved data systems across Haiti's prisons. It reduced stigma, improved treatment outcomes, and strengthened national public health efforts.
- $641,235 spent. Impact Against TB and HIV is a project formed in collaboration with the Global Fund. These funds allow us to increase and improve prevention, screening and testing of HIV/AIDS and TB in 5 additional prisons in Haiti. These prisons are located outside of the metropolitan area. We also provide care and treatment services for all prisoners indentified as TB+ and HIV+. This program allows us to screen for MDRTB and negotiate and set up isolation areas for those identified. HtW is charged with renovation of prison medical offices and replacing destroyed equipment, development of a hospital ward at the PCPP-M, recruiting and training medical staff for facilities without staff, training Health Promoters and a peer education program in all the prisons.
- $2.0 million spent. Klinik Solidarite was formed from an alliance with AIDS Healthcare Foundation to provide medical and laboratory services to released prisoners infected with HIV or TB, their affected family members, their sex partners and anyone else infected in the communities where they live. Klinik Solidarite also care for women who were physically abused and abandoned or orphaned children. The clinic has its own lab and clinicians, and it is located in Bourdon, Haiti. Since the closure of USAID, AHF have doubled its funding in Haiti, helping to stave off hunger, starvation and death.
- $19,123 spent. Project ECHO: Ending HIV in Prisons is a collaboration with the Project Echo program, funded by Gilead Foundation that seeks to create a two-pronged Project ECHO learning platform in correctional settings of resource-poor countries to engage prisons systems to share best practices and learn strategies for managing, preventing, treating and ending the HIV epidemic in prisons. This free program will provide virtual training programs to both correctional clinicians and provide peer education programming to incarcerated persons with the objective to reduce new HIV infections and the eventual end to the HIV epidemic. Prisons in resource poor countries face many challenges in delivering adequate health services. The prisons often have extreme conditions of overcrowding, lack of sanitation, safety hazards, poor nutrition, and little access to health professionals. These are often the same countries with the highest prevalence of HIV infection. The ramifications of failing to identify or prevent or properly manage HIV infections pose a threat to the entire prison population, staff, visitors, and community. Incarcerated persons are a key population often missed by traditional HIV programs. HtW also has a joint program with Gilead Foundation to provide HIV management and care services in the prisons in Jamaica, Haiti and Dominican Republic. This program ended in 2025.
- $50,707 spent. Screening, Testing and Treating in C.A.R. This project aims to deliver an integrated model of care that includes the strengthening of TB and HIV identification and treatment and screening and treatment of other illness in two Bangui prisons, namely Ngaragba and Bimbo prisons. Services will be delivered by Amici per il Centrafrica (Amici) and Health through Walls (HtW) in conjunction with the existing health and prison administration within the Central African Republic prisons and national strategic plans for health in prisons. One of the aims of this integrated partnership is to build capacity. The newly commissioned services will be integrated within the health program and include the identification, treatment, health promotion/education, and community referral (when discharge from prison occurs) for TB, HIV, malnutrition, fungal disease, skin conditions, hypertension, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular diseases, and mental illness. To enhance the TB program, digital interventions are proposed. These include annual digital chest x-ray screenings, artificial intelligence (AI) for rapid x-ray interpretation, and implementation of an electronic patient management system. This project will be aligned with current partners to support the existing work being done in C.A.R. Monitoring and evaluation will help build capacity to meet the holistic health needs of the incarcerated population.
- $56,113 spent. General Fund: Used to buy medication and provide support for delivery of food and other HIV/essential services in resource poor countries.
- Our project in Partnership with STOP TB/TB Reach is to deliver an integrated model of care that includes the strengthening of the TB care cascade, and the identification, treatment and support for persons with TB and DR-TB In three prison locations. The integrated service called CIPMATOD will be delivered and be enabled by embedding with existing health and prison administration services within Mozambique. The rationale for the Integrated partnership model is to build capacity in existing services offered to incarcerated persons and to provide additional health services. The newly commissioned services will be integrated within TB programs and include the identification, treatment, health promotion/education, and community referral (when discharge from prison occurs) for HIV/AIDS, syphilis, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, cardlo-vascular disease, mental illness, skin conditions, and malnutrition. The establishment of an ISD model is anticipated to have positive impacts on TB treatment outcomes by focusing on a holistic and comprehensive approach. The integration of TB and HIV services provides an opportunity to address the burden of TB/HIV. The positive outcomes of service integration are to enhance efficiency, quality of care and patient satisfaction. Establishing an ISD will support the effective implementation of the Stop TB Strategy, improve HIV prevention and care, and improve health outcomes. Our service model incorporates the development of communities of clinical practice (Project ECHO) and provides training and deployment of peer educators in prison. The digital interventions include annual digital chest x-ray screenings, and artificial Intelligence (AI) for rapid x-ray readings for staff or persons with active disease released from prison during treatment. The Everwell Hub and SureAdhere patient management system will also be employed to support exceptional multi-disciplinary work, enhance medication compliance with DOT and VDOT. Some of our clinical interventions Include a medical history, screening questionnaire for TB, mental illness and depression screening, vital signs with weight and pulse oxlmetry, chest x-ray, point-of-care testing for HIV and syphilis and diabetes, and physical examination. This project ended in 2025.
- $602,162 spent. Closing thegap in TB, HIV & Malaria Care for Haiti's Prisons and Community. To bridge this gap and lay the ground for a more robust response to HIV, TB and Malaria, complementary interventions are urgently needed especially in 6 prisons not covered by current Health Programs. Our intervention will be mainly concentrated among detainees, released prisoners, and their families who form the most vulnerable and most at-risk population groups as a continuum linkage of care from the prisons to the community to address the Gap in Tuberculosis, Malaria, and HIV in a patient centered gender approach. Our overarching goal is to establish an integrated healthcare program aimed at enhancing access to comprehensive TB, HIV, and malaria care within Haiti's prison system while extending these vital services to the communities, and family members of incarcerated individuals. The project seeks to bridge the healthcare gap by ensuring equitable access to quality medical services and education and reducing the prevalence and impact of these diseases among incarcerated persons and the community. Our direct beneficiaries will be the incarcerated persons in a primary place, and correctional agents in all 17 prisons where HtW is implemented its Health services. Persons deprived of liberty (PDL) are part of key populations with specific needs. HIV, Syphilis, other STIs, Malaria, and TB are of major concern for people detained in prisons and other closed settings. Haiti's prisons are among the most overcrowded in the world. Overcrowding contributes to the spread of infectious diseases through various pathways.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 2006.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
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