Tim Rowe, Heather Elyse and Michelle See are cofounders of Giving Hope Rescue Mission (GHRM). Tim and Heather are incorporators of Voice of the Orphan (VOTO).
Giving Hope is the creche
in Haiti placing children for adoption through VOTO, the adoption agency in
Indiana. These people are responsible for adoptions through Giving Hope and
Voice of the Orphan.
A. July 2011Article naming Tim Rowe and Heather Elyse as cofounders of Giving Hope RescueMission (click to read)
"After months of planning, Rowe and his friends traveled to Haiti early this year to establish the Giving Hope Rescue Mission in Montrouis, Haiti, about a 45-mile drive north of capitol Port-au-Prince."
“We literally have – every day – parents coming by, wanting to drop off their kids,” Rowe said. “We try to take all babies if we can, and our goal is to get them adopted.” (Tim Rowe)
"And then Tim and Heather and I started our mission in Haiti.” (Michelle See)
B. Articles of incorporation
A. July 2011Article naming Tim Rowe and Heather Elyse as cofounders of Giving Hope RescueMission (click to read)
"After months of planning, Rowe and his friends traveled to Haiti early this year to establish the Giving Hope Rescue Mission in Montrouis, Haiti, about a 45-mile drive north of capitol Port-au-Prince."
“We literally have – every day – parents coming by, wanting to drop off their kids,” Rowe said. “We try to take all babies if we can, and our goal is to get them adopted.” (Tim Rowe)
"And then Tim and Heather and I started our mission in Haiti.” (Michelle See)
B. Articles of incorporation
C. Tim Rowe states on his public blog that Giving Hope Rescue Mission is Voice of the Orphan's creche. In our opinion this means that Tim should have a significant level of control over what takes place at Giving Hope and throughout adoptions from Giving Hope.
D. Heather Elyse's Linked In profile demonstrates that as
of April 4, 2013 she was still in the following roles
a. Founder of Giving Hope Rescue Mission
b. Vice President of Voice of the Orphan
c. President of Room for Grace (sponsorship program for GHRM)
a. Founder of Giving Hope Rescue Mission
b. Vice President of Voice of the Orphan
c. President of Room for Grace (sponsorship program for GHRM)
.................
Voice of the Orphan was NOT a licensed adoption agency while issuing adoption contracts in 2011, 2012 and the first half of 2013. They were representing themselves to prospective adoptive parents as a licensed agency via Vice President Heather Elyse.
A. Written statements made by Heather Elyse to a prospective adoptive parent concerning Voice of the Orphan in February 2012 (shared with the consent of the adoptive parent):
"We are Hague compliant and in process. It takes a while to be Hague and all our families are covered due to the fact we are in process (we just have a few more papers to sign and we will be accredidated) (sic).... am not a fan of groups like New LIFE LINK...I don't recommend families adopting independently and don't agree with their charges. They bash organizations for charging monthly fees yet charge parents 11,000 to 13,000..."
Another written statement by Heather Elyse. In response to being asked if VOTO was a licensed and Hague accredited agency in February 2012 (note that she says "we" in reference to VOTO):
"...you
would be 100 percent safe. the fact we are
in process and have paid over 30,000 to get in process we are safe. I have a
sister agency that is hague approved that has agreed to cover for us in case
something does go wrong... but I don't foresee it happening. Again we are licensed just waiting to be Hague Accredited .... we are considered
compliant right now and in process."
B. Statement made by Heather Elyse on VOTO Adoptive Families facebook group on January 9, 2013 (of which Tim Rowe and Michelle See were members):
“VOTO is still only licensed and only Hague compliant! VOTO will not receive their official Hague certification until the end of this year”
C. Written statements from Heather Elyse to adoptive parent on
February 27, 2013 (used with permission from adoptive parent):
“We are the cheapest
licensed adoption agency in the US.”
“You just broke the rules
from your licensed contracted adoption agency.”
D. Description of Voice of the Orphan from Heather Elyse's
professional facebook page on March 9, 2013 (screenshot available):
Voice of the Orphan Adoption Agency
www.voicefororphan.com
"A licensed agency in Indianapolis, Indiana. We are changing the face of adoptions..."
E. From Indiana bureau of licensing, March 2013
Voice of the Orphan Adoption Agency
www.voicefororphan.com
"A licensed agency in Indianapolis, Indiana. We are changing the face of adoptions..."
E. From Indiana bureau of licensing, March 2013
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Mar 8
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Ms. Doe-
Per our recent conversation; Voice of the
Orphan is not currently licensed in the State of Indiana. They are in the
process of obtaining an adoption agency license but; as of today, the State of
Indiana has not issued a license to this entity.
Beverly Gatling, MSW
Placement Support and
Compliance
Residential Licensing Unit Manager
Indiana Department of Child Services
Room E306, MS47
302 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN. 46204
Why does it matter whether or not Voice of the Orphan was licensed prior to June, 2013?
It matters to families who feel that they signed an adoption contract under false pretenses. A licensed agency is held to a certain level of standards and accountability. A licensed agency offers assurance that staff have experience in adoption. A licensed agency is on the road to getting Hague accreditation.
Maybe not everyone cares about working with a licensed agency.
But either way, it is the right of a prospective adoptive parent to know exactly whom they are working with and whether or not the agency is licensed so that they can make an informed decision. For most of us it has been a tremendous shock to find out that Tim Rowe was issuing adoption contracts using just his law license as a personal injury lawyer.
