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We are families of the children in Haiti. We were all at different stages of the adoption process when the earthquake hit, but we all share a common mission: Get our children home and help the people of Haiti.


We are one of many families who have been deeply affected by the earthquake. Like many, we are devastated by the death and destruction that is happening in Haiti. For us, we are concerned about the welfare of our little boy Fauberson, who is 29 months old. He has been in Rainbow of Love, in Children's Village of Hope, Port-au-Prince. After many hours of wondering whether he was okay or not, we heard on Wednesday morning that he is fine and the orphanage he is at sustained minimal damage.

After that enormous relief, we are still concerned for his safety and for the other Haitian children who have U.S. families waiting for them. Since we were at the final stages of the adoption, just getting passports and Visas, we are hoping that our government will work with us in getting him home. We have not been able to visit Fauberson, since we have been matched. We have been saving our money for the trip down to get him and for other adoption fees. Now, we do not know how we will get him, just that we will get him. Please give what you can to help with the costs of getting Fauberson and other children home.

We are asking for help through Hand in Hand International. Please see the Donate link for their information.


Katy & Jordan Snider
Litchfield, Minnesota
ayitimn@gmail.com

FRONT PAGE OF WILLMAR, MINNESOTA PAPER:
Click above to see Katy, Jordan & Jonas on the front page of the Willmar West Central Tribune Newspaper. You can see the article at this site!!! They have Fauberson's picture, too!



GREAT NEWS!!!!!
1/21/10 KATY EMAILS NEWS OUT AT 5:38 P.M.

Okay-

I am writing this as we are trying to get our feet back on the ground. We just talked with Karin-who we love and has been incredible throughout all this- and we have the most spectacular news. We are in Category 1 of getting out the kids from Haiti-which means we are the first group of adoptive parents that will have paperwork completed. He will be coming on a regular Visa and not under humanitarian parole, which means a lot less paperwork and red tape once he is here. This means we literally wait for the call. It could happen tomorrow or in a couple of days. But Karin said (and I believe her, because she has been very realistic about everything) that he should be with us by this time next week. WOW!!!!!!

If you have been reading the website USFCH, we don't know if it says but we heard that the social worker is alive and okay. Actually, Gladys sent him on the mission to the Embassy daily to see if Fauberson's Visa has been issued. These are truly incredible individuals who are going to extraordinary measures to get our son home to us. We are so grateful to them, so please continue to donate to their organization to pay for supplies.

Again, this is incredible news and we will let you know when we are off to Miami! We get about one day's notice!

Thank you for taking this journey with us and for your thoughts and prayers. We will be celebrating Jonas's 2nd birthday tomorrow!

Katy, Jordan, Jonas and Fauberson




Sounds like the time to get Fauberson is getting close:


1/21/10 Katy updated us with a press release form Secretary of State Hilliary Clinton. You will find this at this link, to the Dept of State:

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/01/135461.htm
________________________________________________________________________

1/20/10 From REBECCA HARRIS of the Joint Council on International Children's Services,Director of Programs and Services has issued a call to action.

Please check the "Aiding our Struggle" tab on what we can do to help ensure the safety of the children of Haiti.

_______________________________________________________________________

1/20/10
*****IMPORTANT UPDATE...PLEASE STAND BY AND CONTINUE TO PRAY THAT STEPS ARE TAKEN TO ENSURE THE ORPHANS ARE BROUGHT HOME! IMPORTANT INFORMATION TODAY!!!

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Press Release
Contact: DHS Press Office, (202) 282-8010

January 18, 2010


SECRETARY NAPOLITANO ANNOUNCES HUMANITARIAN PAROLE POLICY FOR CERTAIN HAITIAN ORPHANS

WASHINGTON—Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano, in coordination with the U.S. Department of State, today announced a humanitarian parole policy allowing orphaned children from Haiti to enter the United States temporarily on an individual basis to ensure that they receive the care they need—as part of the U.S. government’s ongoing support of international recovery efforts after last week’s earthquake.
                                                                                                       
“We are committed to doing everything we can to help reunite families in Haiti during this very difficult time,” said Secretary Napolitano. “While we remain focused on family reunification in Haiti, authorizing the use of humanitarian parole for orphans who are eligible for adoption in the United States will allow them to receive the care they need here.”

Humanitarian parole into the United States may be granted by the Secretary of Homeland Security to bring otherwise inadmissible individuals into the country on account of urgent humanitarian reasons or other emergencies. The humanitarian parole policy announced by Secretary Napolitano today will be applied on a case-by-case basis to the following children:

Children who have been legally confirmed as orphans eligible for intercountry adoption by the Government of Haiti and are being adopted by U.S. citizens.

Children who have been previously identified by an adoption service provider or facilitator as eligible for intercountry adoption and have been matched to U.S. citizen prospective adoptive parents.

Under applicable laws, unaccompanied minors entering the country without a parent or legal guardian will be turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement.  

Today’s announcement expands the humanitarian relief that the U.S. Government is extending to Haitians in response to the devastation caused by the earthquake. Last week, Secretary Napolitano announced the designation of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals who were physically present in the United States as of Jan. 12, 2010—allowing eligible Haitian nationals to continue living and working in the United States for the next 18 months. Those who attempt to travel to the United States after Jan. 12, 2010 will not be eligible for TPS and will be repatriated

More information about humanitarian parole and TPS is available at www.uscis.gov or by calling USCIS toll-free at (800) 375-5283. DHS encourages U.S. citizens with pending adoption cases in Haiti to send us detailed information about their cases to HaitianAdoptions@dhs.gov.

###



1/18/10 WANT TO EXPRESS YOUR CONCERN with the Depart of State regarding expediting the evacuation of Haiti orphans? They have a web site for this:
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/haiti_earthquake_and_intercountry_adoption/

1/18/10 Katy had an email sent 11/17 @ 11:28 p.m. received from Kali Cruz,Director of Constituent Services of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar office. This was a part of her news:

Several of you received reports tonight that some children have begun to be evacuated from Haiti and brought into the U.S. through Humanitarian Parole. Our office has not received this information from the Department of State or Department of Homeland Security. I believe CNN was reporting this, and there were also updates sent out from a few orphanages. I have been trying to reach the Department of State Office of Children’s Issues this evening to see if I can get you more information about what exactly is happening. As you can imagine, they are incredibly busy working on this very issue so I have not received an update yet. As soon as I receive any information, I will let all of you know. I know they are working through the holiday weekend to work this out, but I also know that for you, the waiting parents, the work cannot happen fast enough.

You are all in our thoughts and prayers, and we will continue to do everything we can to try and help you get your children home safely. Senator Klobuchar has spoken with Secretary Clinton, and also wrote to Secretary Napolitano, and has been following this issue closely.


1/18/10 Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in dialogue with Sanjay Gupta of CNN on Jan. 17 http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/01/135280.htm

(SG)QUESTION: (Inaudible) you sort of think about the future here, issues like orphanages, for example --
SECRETARY CLINTON: Like what?
QUESTION: Orphanages --
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes.
QUESTION: -- American citizens are going to adopt --
SECRETARY CLINTON: Right.
QUESTION: It’s been difficult in the past. Would that be something that you (inaudible)?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, in fact, there are several hundred children who’ve gone through the process who were waiting final clearance to actually be adopted and transported to the United States. That’s something that I’ve worked on for many years, and I’m personally directing that we do everything we can to try to find and identify those children who are already adoptable – they have parents waiting for them, a new family in our country – and to try to expedite all the paperwork that has to be done to get them to their new homes.
QUESTION: One thing – I’ve been here for a few days, as you may know, and I was in a situation last night where it was very confusing. Information was hard to come by. It was hard to know who was saying what, exactly. Have you been confused as an official (inaudible).
SECRETARY CLINTON: It’s been difficult because, with the communications system down, even members of the Haitian Government can’t find each other; they can’t talk to each other. The communications between our Embassy and the UN, we have to do it face-to-face. And understandably, that takes a lot of time. And the telecom system is coming back up, but it’s not where it needs to be. But I know there’s been confusion. There’s been some confusion on the streets. There’s been some confusion among the organizations here. You just can’t snap your fingers and fix those, but every day that goes by, we are making progress. And I expect to see that continue.




Katy emailed 1/15/10 and said: We have some good news-we love Amy Klobuchar. Watch Almanac at this link. http://www.tpt.org/almanac/popup_player.php?node=3345&parent=3342 .


Katy & Jordan have been working with representatives of the United States Government, and have received help from US Senator Amy Klochubar's office. She is also in touch with US Senator Franken's office now, and seeking assistance from the State Department on the next steps to take to get their son home. Please check out the link "Aiding Our Struggle" to see who has been a resource for these families.

Many parents across the country are awaiting the arrival of their adopted child, and have their stories told in media, please see the link: "Other Stories".

Updates by Natalie Seim - nat1@catpin.com