Church seeks waiver to bring orphans to N.C.

Allowing 10 Haitian orphans to stay in the United States while their country rebuilds might seem reasonable, but a Clayton church has found out that it isn't as easy as putting them on a plane and finding families to take them in.

Organizer Patrick Tormey said he was told not to bother filling out the necessary forms because the U.S. government wasn't allowing it.

He is working with North Carolina's congressional delegation to change that.

"Why do we have to let the border between Haiti and the U.S. get in the way of that?" Tormey asked, adding that the plan was similar to the temporary resettlement of Gulf Coast residents after Hurricane Katrina.

Don Owens, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, said the congressman's office was doing everything it could to help the effort. But he said the applications are on hold, likely due to public health concerns and resistance from the Haitian government. Still, he's hopeful about the church's chances.

Horne Memorial United Methodist Church sponsors the Ryan Epps Home for Children, an orphanage in Haiti. The orphanage's home, in a rented space, was badly damaged in the earthquake, and the church wants to bring the children here until a planned building is finished.

For now, the children and orphanage director Yvon Pierre and his family are sleeping on the ground in the yard of an acquaintance.

Fifty people are sharing the yard, and Friday morning, Pierre reported that all of the children had come down with cold symptoms, including fever. A doctor from North Carolina was able to check on the children over the weekend, Tormey said.

The orphaned children have food and water for now, but those supplies could soon run low, because Pierre is sharing them with everyone camped in the yard. Four pallets of supplies left Clayton on Friday bound for the orphans; church members planned to get them on a Royal Caribbean ship bound for Haiti. More will be sent this week.

If church members can get the orphans "advanced humanitarian parole status," which would allow them to come to the United States for a year, they will fly to North Carolina with Pierre's family.

But an announcement last week from the Department of Homeland Security indicates that status is reserved for Haitian orphans who were in the adoption process before the quake. Department spokesman Matt Chandler said other categories of orphans aren't eligible at this time, largely due to concerns about human trafficking.

If the children get cleared by the government, church members will take them in; and Pierre's wife, Eunide, will likely continue to be their teacher. Pierre will remain in Haiti to supervise construction of the new orphanage.

"That really is another big reason we wanted to get the children here," said Valerie Carpenter, one of the church members who was in Haiti during the quake. She noted that the security walls and foundation of the new orphanage suffered damage and need attention before construction can resume.

Plans for the new orphanage include housing for 32children, a school for 180students and a church. The church in Clayton is continuing to raise money for the project.

The orphans aren't the only people in Haiti the church is trying to help. Last week, Tormey got a call from a woman in Rocky Mount who wanted him to fly her five relatives out with the children. One of the relatives is a U.S. citizen; the others have green cards.

"They were caught in a situation where they had nowhere to go," Tormey said. "They haven't eaten for days, they were scared, theyhaven't had water."

Tormey sent Pierre out to pick up the family; they stayed in the yard with the orphans before flying out Sunday night. As for the orphans, Tormey is now looking into hiring an immigration lawyer to handle their case.