Disaster Response Experts Team With Orphan Care Organizations to Create Long-Term Solutions in Haiti

Unique team to deploy Valentine's Day

RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A volunteer team of U.S. disaster response experts and orphan care providers is coming together to provide strategic help to Haitian churches.  The team will equip and train Haitian church leaders to provide local, long-term care for orphaned Haitian children in the aftermath of the January earthquake.  

The Haiti Orphan Relief Team (HORT) is a cooperative volunteer effort of disaster response experts and orphan-care professionals from many U.S.-based ministries that have joined forces to respond to the crisis in Haiti. An initial HORT on-the-ground team will deploy for a two week period beginning on February 14, 2010.  The team will work to identify churches in Haiti that can be paired with U.S. churches for ongoing partnerships in caring for orphaned children, so that local resources can sustain this effort beyond the HORT team's deployment.  

"We know that this disaster is not going to be fixed overnight, but by putting in place key pieces of infrastructure, efforts can be sustained and strengthened long after the HORT team has returned to the United States," said John E. Roberts, past Director of the Federal Government's National Interagency Training Center, and Incident Command System (ICS) team commander for HORT.  "We are looking to build a long-term solution to the immediate crisis."

Recognizing that many Haitian church facilities were destroyed, HORT will use advanced mapping techniques developed by the U.S. government to physically identify the church facilities that are best able to provide long-term solutions to children now and in the future.

"We are looking for churches that want to become part of the long-term solution to the orphan need in Haiti.  We encourage U.S. churches to come alongside the churches of Haiti to address this catastrophe," said Paul Myhill, President, World Orphans, and a member of the deployment team.

A Valentine's Day fund-raising drive is under way to help HORT deploy.  Donors can personalize an eCard with a Valentine message and for every eCard sent, the team will personally deliver a Valentine to a Haitian orphan.

"Outside help alone won't reach Haiti's deepest need.  If we're serious about helping Haiti's orphans toward a bright future, it'll be absolutely vital to equip and support committed local Haitian churches to care for the orphans in their communities," said Jedd Medefind, President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans. 

More about HORT can be found at:  www.haitiorphanrelief.org

Collaborators in this effort include:

Christian Alliance for Orphans, www.christianalliancefororphans.org

Global Aid Network, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International, www.gainusa.org

Hope for Orphans, a ministry of FamilyLife, www.hopefororphans.org

Lifesong for Orphans, www.lifesongfororphans.org

Love Haiti, www.lovehaitimissions.com

Loving Shepherd Ministries, www.loving-shepherd.org

Sweet Sleep, www.sweetsleep.org

Together for Adoption, www.togetherforadoption.org

University of North Carolina, School of Public Health, www.sph.unc.edu

World Orphans, www.worldorphans.org

SOURCE Haiti Orphan Relief Team