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Anna Pierre was born in Haiti. She is the third child in a family of nine siblings, Anna Pierre immigrated to the United States in 1981 and has been a resident of South Florida ever since. She attended Lindsey Hopkins Technical Education Center where she obtained her High School Diploma and Practical Nursing education. (1982-1984) While working at The Miami Jewish Home and Hospital For The Aged, She went on to Miami Dade Community College, becoming a Registered Nurse in May of 1987...

Anna Pierre’s higher education includes a Bachelor in Health Services Administration from Barry University (December 1995), a Master in Public Health from Florida International University (December 1999) and certifications from various disciplines in her field. Notably, HIV/ AIDS COUNSELOR Certificate from The State of Florida, Certification as a TRIPLE TOUCH BREAST INSTRUCTOR from The American Cancer Society and training to become a Nurse Transplant Coordinator with specialization in Liver and GI Transplant. As if these were not enough, in her quest to obtain the highest level of education necessary to perform her work as a health care provider, Anna Pierre is currently attending Barry University, working at becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner. As a nurse, mother and an entertainer, Anna Pierre works tirelessly to enhance children and women’s lives by developing programs geared toward health promotion and disease prevention. To make health care accessible to uninsured and underserved members of South Florida’s Haitian Community, Anna Pierre, then a popular artist singer founded in 1990 APHEC INTERNATIONAL, INC known as The Anna Pierre Health Education Center, where she started to provide health education, geared toward Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, via Radio and Television broadcasts. Through her contacts with professional colleagues from Jackson Memorial Hospital where she worked as a nurse, she obtained professional advice, organized major Health Fairs and opened APHEC‘s first physical location in 2001. Soon the center was providing free health screenings for Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, HIV/AIDS Counseling and Testing, Cancer screenings for men and women as well as referrals to area clinics and hospitals for follow up care. In 2003, seeing that the patients she referred for care keep coming back to her with their ailments untreated - secondary to lack of health insurance, Anna Pierre moved on and with her own money, opened the PEOPLE’S CLINIC in North Miami, a Primary Care Center equipped with Lab drawing facility, so her people would have access to health care. Unfortunately, due to lack of operating funds, the clinic is now closed, but thanks to Anna Pierre’s great ability to connect with others and leadership skills, the Center still providing health care through its referral service, health fairs and large arrays of Health Care Providers network. Anna Pierre has been the recipient of several Awards and Honors from some prestigious institutions for her outstanding community work, on behalf of individuals with no access to health care. Notably, many proclamations from The Mayor / The City of North Miami, Miami Dade Board of County Commissioners and the mayor, Mother of Haiti, for motherly love given to patients infected with the HIV virus (1990) S.O.A.P. Outstanding Female Artist of the year (1996) Haiti Focus, Outstanding Community Leader (2001) Jackson Health System, Nurses Who Go Above & Beyond (2001) National Nurses Alliance, Nomination to The Florida Women Hall of Fame (part of top 20), Hats off to Caribbean success / La Belle Top Event Model Agency (2009) Model of Resilience of Haitian Women Award (2010) Children & Families Global Development Fund, Inc. When Anna Pierre enters a room, give her a few minutes and you can immediately feel her energy. Beneath her radiant smile and girlish laugh, however is a woman of tremendous strength, courage and determination. After graduating from High School in Haiti, Anna Pierre was fortunate enough to receive training as a Practical Nurse, but when she later applied for admission at the Registered Nursing Program, she was turned down. Undaunted, she made arrangements through a friend who was living in Montreal Canada and headed to Montreal, only to face immigration problems after a few months, which forced her to return to Haiti for another six months. In Canada, she says: “It didn’t matter if you were good and productive, if you are an illegal alien, you can hide in a hole, when and if the bureau of Immigration needs you, they’ll find you”. Finally, Anna Pierre left her native City of Cap-Haitien again to relocate to Miami. Although she had friends and knew what she wanted to accomplish, the transition was not easy. She had to learn to speak English fluently and find employment. Anna Pierre always jokes about, how on her first job application, she checked that she was a thief and had been in jail 3 times, secondary to not understanding English at the time and not knowing the meaning of the words thief and jail. Seeing her innocence and lack of English, the office manager of the clinic where she applied for the job hired her and helped her register at Miami Dade Community College to study English as a second language.

Hoping to continue her work as a Practical Nurse, she sent for her transcripts, but The then Haitian government- sponsored school refused to send them, claiming that she had not completed her two year-residency after finishing nursing school. Despite this disappointment, Anna Pierre persevered, even though it meant starting all over again. While working as a Nurse’s assistant at the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital For the Aged, Anna Pierre took the entrance exam at Lindsay Hopkins Vocational School to receive a High School Diploma and once again, obtain a degree as a Practical Nurse. An LPN, Licensed Practical Nurse, she then continued at Miami-Dade Community College, where she graduated with honors as a Registered Nurse. In 1988, she was hired by Jackson Memorial Hospital as a Nurse 1 and was eventually promoted to nurse 2, then to Transplant Coordinator / Clinical Care Coordinator.

With her flourishing nursing career, in 1987, Anna Pierre suddenly had an opportunity to explore another one of her many talents. She had always loved singing. However, growing up in a country where music was not a popular profession for girls, Anna Pierre quickly understood that she had to give priority to her nursing career. When a friend of hers asked her to perform in a show he was producing at the Joseph Caleb Center in Miami, she agreed. The response was so positive that she began taking voice, piano lessons and writing her own songs. The next step was to make an album, but producers told her of course, to come back when she was better known and had done the pre- requisite ”back-up singing for known solo performers.” As usual, Anna Pierre was kicked by rejection. “I hate to hear “No” She said,” I refuse to let people tell me you can‘t do this, you can‘t do that because I am a woman, because of where I come from, or because I have a French name. It’s like putting fuel in my tank” And full speed ahead, Anna Pierre formed her own company, A.P. Productions, Inc, found the musicians, produced and released her first album in November of 1989. This record which included the single” Mete Suk Sou Bonbon-m” made her literally an overnight success, both in the States, in Haiti and in parts of Europe. To this day, this song has remained the favorite of everyone from the very young to the very old. At the request of Hispanics and English speaking fans, “ Mete Suk Sou Bonbon-m” had been translated into Spanish “ Echale azucar a mi bonbon” and in English,” Put sugar on my bonbon ” Needless to say that Anna Pierre has conquered the hearts of fans in the Caribbean’s, as well as Latin America. Sometimes”, she said, “Women must invest in themselves” Be the first to invest in yourself and in your projects, if you believe in your dreams. Others will follow you” In addition to “Mete Suk Sou Bonbon-m”, Anna Pierre released two consecutive albums. Don’t give me heartache” Pa Vin rete ke-m (1991) a collection of love songs with the gospel tinged, An artist’s prayer “Priye yon atis” and “Pa Fe-m sa Konsa”, (1995) which included the humorous dance track “ Bos Fetout” The Handyman. The need for more education to become a better health care provider, coupled with the arrival of Anna Pierre’s daughter, Vicki Imani forced her to take a break from the music after the release of “Pa fe-m sa konsa” She needed time to concentrate on her studies and raise her daughter. During this time, Anna Pierre worked on her other passion which is providing access to health care to the less fortunate. Now with her daughter in high School, the constant reminders from fans and insiders in the music industry, her own desire to fill the void in the hearts of her fans, Anna Pierre decided to get back to the music. She just released a Gospel CD titled “ PAPA-M SE WA / MY DAD IS A KING” and with this new CD comes the sobriquet Princess Anna Pierre. In addition, she is working on a clothing line bearing the name of her mega hit songs” SUK SOU BONBON” (SSB) from her 1989 1st release and ZOTOBRE which means “Very Important Person / Big Shot”, taken from her latest release. With such gusto and determination, the singing nurse is ready to conquer the rest of the world… Despite these achievements, Anna Pierre has never considered a singing career as her main endeavor. Unfortunately” she said, “Very few Haitian artists are able to sustain themselves and live as their contemporary fellow African-American or Hispanic artists without having another job or profession.” Moreover, Anna Pierre’s primary focus has always been on nursing and serving the public. If anything, her fame as a performer has enhanced her work as a caregiver. To reach other parts of the nation with her message, Anna Pierre uses the internet and writes sensitive, informative health articles and stories geared toward health promotion and disease prevention, where she informs and gives advice to members of the community. Depending on what’s going on in the news, at times, she takes inspiration right from the news media and writes educational articles, complete with referral telephone numbers and names of important organizations, where people can call for assistance if needed. In an effort to go global with her message, Anna Pierre, through APHEC INTERNATIONAL, INC and with the help of other Community-Based Organizations, is pioneering several international efforts in Haiti, The Caribbeans and Latin America to bring health services to those needy communities as well. To finance her healthcare initiatives, Ms. Pierre uses part of her Nursing salary, takes the profit from her musical recordings, manufactures school backpacks which she sells at discounted price, in order to raise funds to help the uninsured & provide access to health care for the needy in her community. That’s not all, to provide family cohesiveness, for the past twenty years, Ms. Pierre organizes every year a Father’s Day Concert where she honors deserving fathers in the community and crown one of them “Father of the year.” Ms. Pierre’s favorite quote when other women chastise her about honoring fathers: ”Stop worrying about what fathers do and don’t do! God will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers”* Because of her initiatives, a lot of families have been reunited, lots of people are brought into care early, spared from expensive hospitalization costs and plenty of lives have been saved as well. Though extremely busy with school, her musical career and community work, a loving mother, Anna Pierre sets aside quality time for her children Vicki, Wiljuna and Jay - even if it meant sometimes cutting down on some of her activities, or getting her children involved in her work, by taking them to some of her events, which the children enjoy. To repeat Ashley Rice, ”There are women who make things better…simply by showing up. There are women who make things happen. There are women who make their way. There are women who make a difference and women who make us smile. There are women of wit and wisdom who through strength and courage - make it through. There are women who change the world every day… “These are women like Anna Pierre “

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