Dillon Focused on Adoption Calls, Aid to Children’s Village
Almost three weeks after the earthquake that shattered the lives of Haitians, Dillon International continues to receive dozens of adoption-related calls daily and is raising support for an orphanage and hospital collaboration.
Cindy Davison, public relations and marketing director for Dillon, Buckner’s international adoption affiliate, said Dillon “has received 882 online pre-screening forms so far from families interested in adopting from Haiti when adoptions resume.”
Davison explained there is a continuing moratorium on processing new adoptions from Haiti “so that displaced children and family members can first be reunited. We are expecting this to take one-two years before new adoptions from Haiti would resume.”
“Children who had been assigned to U.S. families in the adoption process prior to the earthquake are being allowed to have their adoptions expedited and are being allowed to enter the U.S. through a special humanitarian parole policy implemented by the State Department,” she said. To read this policy in more detail and other articles, click here.
To date, Dillon has raised more than $50,000 for Haiti relief. Much of the funds have been slated to help Hope Hospital and Hope Village, subsidiaries of the Foundation for the Children of Haiti (FCH).
“Gladys Thomas, founder and director of the FCH, describes the scenes of destruction throughout Port-au- Prince as worse than what is shown on TV,” Davison said. “She asks that we continue to pray for the people living and working in the city, that they will be protected emotionally and physically. Gladys is using her contacts throughout the aid community to arrange for supplies and child care.”
Hope Hospital, she said, “continues to be involved in providing emergency care for people injured in the earthquake. The hospital has 50 in-patient beds and an outpatient clinic. However, given the number of people needing care and the lack of medical facilities in Port au Prince, at any given time there can be up to 1,000 people at the hospital seeking medical attention.”
Thomas and her staff are arranging relief medical personnel from other countries and asking that these teams also bring in new medical supplies with them.
Hope Hospital and all three of FCH's orphanages are located in one of the hardest-hit areas of Port-au-Prince, said Davison. “Amazingly, all four facilities are still standing having sustained only minor damage at the children's village. Hope Hospital did not sustain any damage and has been functioning since the quake to feed the children and community around who have come for aid and shelter.”
A visiting doctor reported that local police has stationed officers at the hospital around the clock to protect the people and supplies from the growing number of looters. Members of the military from various nations are also keeping a watch and assisting with security efforts throughout the city.
To learn more about the adoption process in Haiti, visit www.dillonadopt.com/Haiti-A.htm or call 918-749-4600 to speak with an adoption professional today.
To make a donation to the continuing relief efforts in Haiti, click here.
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