I am taking this info directly from Kristen Howerton, another adoptive mother from Heartline mother to Keembert and one of the boys who lives with Frankie at Heartline.  She did a great job informing us on what we can do.  All of us mothers and fathers are trying to mobilize our energy to get our children home.  It’s very difficult to have our children in Haiti right now when if only they could be granted humanitarian parole, we could get them out of there as relief efforts continue.Per Kristen and all of us…  THIS IS HOW YOU CAN HELP.  If this smacks of desperation, it’s because we are desperate. We want to get our children  home.

We need to make some noise to get our congressman and senators working on this. I would also love you to use any contact you have with immigration, attorneys, press, or anyone who might have influence to get our story and other story’s of Heartline children out there and put pressure on the state department to intervene. I am outlining the points below. There are also easy form letters on Facebook here. If you are interested, let’s flood our state reps from all sides: phone, email, and fax. If you contact people in Haiti, please be very sensitive to the fact that they are dealing with their own grief right now. 

Kristen outlined the talking points below, which is followed by the contact info for some of our government officials. If you know of others, feel free to pass this along. We all are willing to do press interviews IF they will allow us to talk about Heartline’s relief efforts, or about the need for orphans to be granted humanitarian relief. 

 OUR ISSUE: We have been in the process of adopting Frankie for 2 years and were making great progeress when the earthquake hit. Dave and I were just in Haiti in November for a visit to see him.    The government buildings that were processing our adoption were demolished. Many government workers are feared dead. Orphans in Haiti are in grave danger, and yet have willing families in the US who can care for them. When Kristen left Haiti a few days ago our son  and the other children from the orphanage were homeless, sleeping outside of a missionary’s house because of damage to the crèche and to the missionary’s home. They are at risk of looting and robbery. Everyone in Haiti is at risk of food and water shortages and air-born disease due to the current situation. The local caregivers are focused on their own families, so the orphanage is short-staffed. Supplies are running low. The situation is desperate.  

THE SOLUTION:  THE SOLUTION IS HUMANITARIAN PAROLE FOR ADOPTIVE CHILDREN. These children have willing families to care for them and can be brought to the US for care. While granting a humanitarian parole is outside the normal procedures, the United States government has granted them in the past (e.g. Cambodia and Romania). 

THIS IS NOT AN EXPEDITED ADOPTION. The adoption process is now completely incapacitated, but when it resumes the United States seeks to honor the adoption process established in Haiti. This is a humanitarian effort to care for these kids, and the adoption will be processed using the usual procedure at a later time.  

THE BENEFITS:  Humanitarian parole for adoptive children benefits everyone involved. The kids are moved to safety. There is no cost to the government because these children have families ready to care for them. This frees up the orphanages in Haiti to care for more children. It does not circumvent the already established adoption process. It is ethical and compassionate.  

OUR FAMILY’S DETAILS: Our dossier entered Haiti’s system in the Fall of 2008. We have visited numerous times. We have a certificate from IBESR, the Haitian social services office, granting us permission to adopt. We are in the process of filing our I-600, which is the petition to classify Frankie as a US citizen. Our homestudy and fingerprints are up-to-date. Our son’s legal name is Franklin Joseph, date of birth is 3/20/07.  He lives in Port-Au-Prince. Orphanage is run by John McHoul of Heartline Haiti. If he and the children at Heartline are granted humanitarian parole, we can arrange for getting all of them home. 

 Here is the last photo we had taken of him just 8 weeks ago in Haiti. 

  

Here are are some people to contact:  
The Honorable Barbara Boxer
United States Senate
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-0505
202-224-3553
202-224-0454
http://boxer.senate.gov/en/contact/policycomments.cfm
Twitter: @Barbara_Boxer

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
United States Senate
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-0504
202-224-3841
202-228-3954
http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/
index.cfm?
FuseAction=ContactUs.EmailMe
http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/

The Honorable Dana Rohrabacher
United States House of Representatives
2300 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0546
202-225-2415
202-225-0145
http://rohrabacher.house.gov/Contact/Zip.htm
http://rohrabacher.house.gov/
Voice: 714-960-6483
FAX: 714-960-7806

Clinton Foundation
http://www.clintonfoundation.org/about-the-clinton-foundation/contact-us/contact-form

Raymond Joseph
Haitian Ambassador to US
embassy@haiti.org
p 202-332-4090
f 202-745-7215

Kenneth H Merten
US Ambassador to Haiti
Tabarre 41, Blvd 15 Octobre
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Haiti-earthquake@state.gov
P 509 22 29 8000
F 509 22 29 8028

Hilary Clinton/Dept of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
 Main Switchboard:
202-647-4000