Faking kidnappings and a raid?

I believe that as Christians we often want to give each other the benefit of the doubt. So even when a situation recounted by a fellow Christian seems far-fetched and very unlikely we do not hold that person to accountability. We want to assume the best of one other, sometimes to our detriment.

This happened to the Voice of the Orphan staff while working with Heather Elyse. And when I first began questioning the account of the "raid" I found that staff and adoptive families simply couldn't conceive of a fellow Christian being so deceptive and emotionally manipulative.

I will call this situation the Summer of 2013 Fake Kidnapping and Rescue Raid. It was shocking to those of us who participated in communication about this at the time and continues to be a complicated situation to follow. Below are communications that should help you follow along.

In brief, Heather Elyse created a situation to plant extreme fear in the minds of the adopting mothers on the VOTO staff. 

1. She told us that many children had been taken by their birth parents who had been "raiding" the creche in groups to remove their children.
2. She blamed this on a couple who had enough concerns to remove their child from the GHRM during the adoption process. (I have since learned other parents were told of "raids" happening to the creche by bio parents but were given little information except to blame adopting parents like Kim who had simply begun to ask questions of her daughter's relinquishment.)
3. She told the staff that she needed money that adoptive parents had recently sent to Haiti for their adoption to "rescue" the children back in a giant raid on a fellow missionary.   
4. Instead of getting the legal authorities involved, Heather planned a "rescue" that involved hired police and a "middle of the night raid".

While I do believe there were some birth parents who did take their kids from the creche (because they do/did NOT want their children to be adopted... but that's another post for another day) I do know the following DRAMATIC TALE of their "rescue" via a "raid of hired police" did not happen based on physical evidence and several eye witness testimonies proving otherwise.
Below is the account that Heather gave to the staff, along with some very emotional emails and texts that played on their emotions. After reading a very convincing plea for help, you will hear the evidence to prove this “kidnapping” and “raid” never occurred. And for those of you who have heard of various "raid" stories this would be "raid" #3: 

1. First was the "raid" she accused adoptive parents and the Livesay family of conducting when they went to the creche with a judge and other legal entities to remove a child out of fear for his safety.
2. The second "raid" was the bio parent raid where the bio parents were supposedly removing their children from the creche.
3. The third "raid" is the one that she says SHE conducted on another mission to "rescue" her kidnapped children back.

Shocked? Confused? Keep reading....
 
Imagine that you are a parent who is being told your child is missing, kidnapped and hidden. Imagine the emotional trauma you would endure, and then ask yourself how someone who is supposed to be your boss or friend would have the ability to make this up and play on your emotions as you wait for your child to be found and brought back to safety when (s)he was NEVER MISSING in the first place! It’s quite concerning and disturbing, to say the least. That is what what happened to the staff who were working under Heather Elyse.


-----Original Message-----
From: Heather Elyse <heather@givinghopehaiti.org>
Cc: Tim Rowe <trowelaw@aol.com>; Michelle See <michelle@givinghopehaiti.org>; S.H.(email hidden)
Sent: Tue, Jun 25, 2013 7:32 pm
Subject: Re: does the *** family

Then since they are still up---- and we just gave into the most ridiculous demands by removing pictures of a child that WE cared for and RESCUED for two years....---I would like to request that they take them down immediately TIM...... (she was referring to taking down pictures of the adoptive family's son from FB who had been removed from GHRM before this.)

....I am starting to wonder when we are going to FIGHT BACK.... this is ridiculous... I am sitting in misery IN HAITI trying to clean up a MESS that they created. I am not wanting to play "turn the cheek" with them anymore. I am not seeking revenge----but I am ASKING THAT WE START DEFENDING OURSELVES and OUR CHILDREN AND ADOPTIONS. (The only mess it was creating was finally allowing people to start asking questions and began exposing some of the lies and inconsistencies.)

FAMILIES have been DESTROYED.

S.H.- I don't think my plan is going to work---- it's going to cost us way too much---money that we do not have. (She was specifically mentioning the need for money to S.H. because her child was supposedly kidnapped and she was willing to pay whatever it would cost to rescue him back.)

I hope we are all prepared to DEAL with ANGRY PARENTS this week.

CHILDREN ARE STOLEN.....

WE OWE THOUSANDS AND I MEAN THOUSANDS BACK TO THESE PARENTS.....

I am ready to fight back. I am tired of sitting down allowing this nonsense to keep happening to us.

Heather <heather@givinghopehaiti.org>

to: "trowelaw@aol.com" <trowelaw@aol.com>
cc: "mwilkins@bkrlaw.com" <mwilkins@bkrlaw.com> 
date: Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 8:12 AM
 
I hear you clearly Tim and I agree but...

I'm just a little weary ...

Sorry for my tone - but I have just had enough of this garbage from the enemy.

Maybe it's because I am sitting in Haiti with over 20 kids gone. My children and I had to move here for the summer just to defend our crèche and work and make sure no more kids get stolen. That's 20 adoptions ruined. That's 20 adoptions that need to be reimbursed. That's 20 times 12,000. Thats 20 adoptions that I hope the US staff is ready to explain to parents why their kids are missing. That's 20 adoptions that I am having to empty out my bank account just to go see if I can hire enough people to go raid where they are being held. I hate this corruption. I am trying to hold things together here but it's a mess here. I was summoned to go to a meeting at IBESR today. A.C. called just to find out it was a hoax and a lie. Wesmin said it was probably an ambush. I definitely don't feel safe here. Wesmin's reputation is ruined. He wants to quit. He has tried to quit on us like 10 times. We just had another MLJ family back out. We just had an agency drop us. They put a hold on our creche license and are not moving any adoptions through or accepting any new ones. They just conducted a huge investigation on the crèche. Our staff is weary. The community is starting awful rumors about us... Especially against our Haitian staff. Feeling a little overwhelmed that they have the nerve to ask for pictures to come down on my personal page. We rescued that boy. We had a bond with J.C. He lived with us for almost two years. Since birth until the day he was stolen from my personal apartment that they raided and trespassed. I just feel like we should in return request something like their story that is clearly about us down. That picture they posted of the huge binder is ridiculous and implies so much. (Heather is referring to the binder of evidence that another adoptive family took to mediation with some of the staff after removing their son and being denied their adoption paperwork.)

I am only feeling this way because these lives whom We raised are probably experiencing a lot of trauma today.

.... Trying to count it all joy as I face persecution... But it's getting difficult when I see the amount of damage they have caused.

... And my heart simply grieves for the following.
(Names of children who she claims were kidnapped, removed to protect their family and identity)

L. D.
S. D.
A. T.
B. D.
J. D.
J. H.
B. C.
K. H.
J. G.
M. G.
D. W.
J. C.
A.
H.
A.
E.
S. H.
D.
C. B.
S. V
M. V

Sent from my iPhone

Heather
-----------------

After these emails, the staff communication included:

1. "White people" had gone to the bio parents and picked up all the "missing" kids in white vans so in essence, "kidnapped" them. 
2. She said at that time she did not know the location where these kids were taken, but was sending one of her sons "out as bait" to gather information and find the location. Later she said she found out the location and it belonged a missionary who "didn't like her" and was friends with yet another adoptive parent who "was out to get her" and this was all part of a conspiracy against her.
3. The only adoptive parents that I know of who were informed their child was missing/kidnapped were the 2 parents on staff but some parents were told that "raids" were going on and kids were being taken.
4. One staff member was only told a couple days before the " rescue raid", while the other was led to believe for 2 weeks or more that her son was kidnapped. 
5. She told the staff she needed money to pay a private police force to go and "rescue" all these kids to which there was a lot of hesitation but Heather made it appear as if it was a last chance effort to save them.  One of the moms whose son was missing was ready to remortgage her house in an effort to save her son.

While Heather worked in Haiti on her "rescue raid" plan, several of the US staff spent countless hours over several days working on a communication plan to share with the adoptive parents as well as an "after the rescue" plan as we were all very concerned with the emotional impact it would have on the children and their adoptive parents knowing what they'd been through.

On the evening of June 26th, around 11pm, the staff had a conference call in which I participated. Heather was in Haiti texting her assistant everything that was happening during the "rescue raid". She claimed they went in 2 busses because there were so many kids to rescue. She sent names of children as they were "rescued", however, not all of them were rescued (I'm assuming these are the kids that were possibly actually taken by their bio parents).

During this time Heather gave accounts to her assistant and said things like, "The police have gone in, they're bringing out kids that aren't mine. I have A, B...oh my gosh, they're bringing sick kids onto the bus and I have to send them back, these aren't our kids! I heard shots. One of the girls has blood on her. Maybe it's not hers (leading us to believe one of the police was shot in the "rescue") ....." VERY emotional and dramatic, especially for the 2 prospective adoptive mothers who were led to believe their children had actually been kidnapped and were in the middle of all that chaos.

At the very end of the raid one of the staff member’s little boy had not been rescued. Heather said that they had to leave and did not even check to be sure her own son, the one used for bait, was safe. As they were pulling away she said, "My son C.E. just came out running out of the mission with B.C. (the missing child) in his arms". It was a very climatic ending with both moms rejoicing that Heather had risked her life to save their children.

At the time I felt in my gut this wasn’t true but since Heather was so good at convincing people to believe so many of her outlandish lies (just see the emails above) who would think to question the legitimacy of them? I knew that without concrete evidence there would be no way to prove my “gut instinct” or discernment, so I didn't say anything about my feelings. I still don’t understand her motive and can only assume it was either/both an attempt to get money for the “rescue”, or to create psychological trauma with her staff to keep them loyal to her and for her to continue to be “their hero”.

When I first started trying to gather evidence, there were things that just didn’t make sense:

• There originally was another list of “missing kids”. But when Heather arrived to Haiti the list changed and grew and she said the missionaries didn’t know the kids names and had the wrong kids listed as missing. I believe that some of the kids were in fact taken by their bio parents (which is very concerning in itself: Why are so many bio parents continuously attempting to or succeeding at taking their kids back? This is NOT something that most orphanages or crèches in Haiti deal with when their kids are all legitimate orphans.)

• If the kids were legitimately GHRM children, why wasn’t she using IBESR (the Haitian adoption authority) to have them get her kids back since that would be legal and free? Also, why would they choose to have a very traumatic rescue over using authorities that would simply walk in and demand the kids back. In that more logical event Heather would have taken her kids back peacefully without traumatizing them even more.

• Heather told the staff that a birth mother of a child at the creche had been the one to organize all the birth parents taking their kids back. I found this to be an incredible feat considering the fact that these parents were spread out that area and it was difficult enough for the staff to find and work with them for the adoptions, much less a very poor mother who was sick and could not afford to raise her own child. At the time she said all the kids were from the same area, however, that doesn't match up with background information known to some of the adopting parents.

• While Heather was telling the staff that (Amanda - story coming soon) was responsible for the bio parents taking their kids and that K.M and V.C. were responsible for taking the kids from the bio parents, she (Heather) was telling other adoptive moms that the raid happened because of Kimberly (who has already shared her story here). So she not only lied about the event but then lied about other adopting parents and missionaries to slander their name and reputation.

• I also found it amazing that some of the missing kids didn’t have living birth parents (or at least that's what some of the adopting parents were told). So how did they end up “missing” in all the birth parent “raids”, if there was no one to get them?

With all these questions in my head I began trying to find out about this person being blamed and I wanted to figure out if the details and description of the Mission location matched up with what we were told.

• I found out that the person who supposedly organized picking up the kids in white vans from their bio parents and hiding them (and ran a very small mission in Port au Prince) wasn’t even in the country at the time.

• I went to Haiti and went to the mission to see it myself and saw that the alley leading up to it was very narrow (see photo below). So narrow that the van had to back down just to be able to get out. There would be no room for two busses or vans anywhere near the mission and it would be impossible for it to go unnoticed by neighbors or the other ministry located right next door. 

• The actual mission was TINY. There was no place for more than a couple kids, much less over 20! No one living in that area ever saw a group of children being kept there nor did they ever see busses or a police force on their road or entering the mission.

• This mission gets medical visas but does not house or take care of multiple “sick” kids so there would never be any “sick” kids to bring out mixed in with Heather’s kids during the rescue.

• Heather stated their guards fired the shots as if there were guards and a security wall, however, there is no wall and no need for security because it's really nothing more than an office and very small apartment.

• This ministry is located in PAP, not anywhere near the GHRM but the timeline Heather gave was inconsistent for the time it would take to get there or the idea of sending out her son as "bait". 

•  I suggested immediately after the raid that we send some staff and counselors to help the kids debrief and talk about their experience.  I wanted to hear it from the kids to see if it really happened but was told the Nannies would be dealing with that.  What?!  We have kids who were abandoned or dropped at a creche who were then taken back by their bio parents who were then taken by strangers in white vans and then held in a new location away from everything they knew then woken up in the middle of the night with men with guns and they nannies are going to "counsel" with them?! 

• And, since I’m sure a rebuttal from Heather would include the idea that there was a “safe house” closer to the crèche where the kids were kept, I wanted to note that in addition to the fact they don’t house sick kids (and that was very much a detail that was mentioned multiple times by Heather) that even IF they did, it would be even more illogical to move the sick kids (that are so sick they require very difficult-to-get medical visas to the US) away from a mission they had in Port Au Prince, to a secret location that wouldn’t be set up to meet medical needs.

However, even with all this “evidence” I did not feel I would be able to convince the staff it was a lie, since Heather is so good at covering up the things she does. I had already "gotten in trouble" several times for trying to verify information we were told and was told that "I didn't need to verify, I needed to trust her (Heather) completely", that I "wasn't loyal or a good friend" and that I was "wrong for ever questioning her integrity".  I have continued to provide evidence to the VOTO lawyer on various situations and events like this and he has continued to only accept Heather's versions of everything without asking for any other information.

As I continued to “dig” what I found confirmed everything I believed about this “rescue raid” and gave me the evidence I needed to prove it was all a LIE.

• During the week of the “raid”, when the kids had supposedly been kidnapped for a week or more already, there were short term and long term missionaries at GHRM.  Several of those at GHRM that week were not informed that the staff had been told of 20 missing children who had been "kidnapped" from their bio parents.  They also didn’t realize that many of the kids they were taking pictures of while they were there were kids that were supposedly “kidnapped” during that time. Those photos and testimonies provided digital time stamps and evidence that proved they were at GHRM and NOT kidnapped and in hiding somewhere. Which means this "rescue raid" was ALL MADE UP.... A LIE.... NOT THE TRUTH!

I don’t think I would have pursued seeking the truth on this, except for the fact that I listened to the anguish in the voices of my two friends who truly believed their children were gone, kidnapped, and had to be rescued by force by police with guns.  It made me sick to my stomach to know that someone was purposely hurting them in the most damaging way…. through their kids. Who does that? Who tells their closest friends their kids are missing for weeks when they aren’t? Who makes up dramatic and traumatic details to a raid that isn’t even happening in an effort to emotionally torture someone? I thought I knew that person, but I don’t know the Heather Elyse that is capable of that and if nothing else that has been said about her, and if all the other evidence mounting against her is not true (which I believe most of it is), then I would still have nothing to do with her after this one event because someone who is capable of manipulating a situation and people like this and then, even with all the evidence, try to dispute it, is not someone I want to ever deal with again or watch anyone else have to deal with.

FEAR is a LIAR

When working with an adoption program you should be working towards mutual trust and respect.

We have received a deluge of messages from families that felt entirely alone in their concerns related to Giving Hope Rescue Mission. Many are still scared to approach Tim Rowe or Heather Elyse, fearful of the impact on their children in Haiti.

This is our message to you. FEAR is not from God. FEAR is a liar. It tells you that you cannot get through this. That you aren't strong enough. Your voice won't count. Fear tells you that this is not your battle, that all you wanted was to adopt a child. Fear says that your child will be hurt if you stand up and speak out.

Are you waking up at 3am scared? We did. But we don't anymore.
Are you having anxiety attacks? Right there with you. But not anymore.
Are you deleting your facebook account? Been there done that. But not anymore.

Are you supposed to live like this? We don't think so.
And we don't think that such a large group of intelligent faithful Christian families should be made to feel this intimidated. (Of course, we understand though that you feel your child is at stake.)

We want to propose something to the adoption community that should be obvious. It should be simple. And yet it actually has to be said and affirmed over and over.

You should NEVER feel fearful of your agency or your adoption facilitator. 
This is not a normal state of being. This is not normal in adoptions. And if you are fearful and being chastised to "respect the leader", "wait well" or practice "first time obedience" then in our opinion you have found yourself in a bad situation.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I feel like if I talk to other adoptive families my agency or facilitator will get mad?
• Am I nervous to ask questions?
• Have I heard that my adoption worker is talking behind my back?
• Does my caseworker always have to check with someone else before answering basic questions about our adoption?
• Am I getting completely mixed messages?
• Has my facilitator threatened that she will know if I complain to anyone in the organization about her behavior?
• Am I prevented from having a relationship, even previously existing, with missionaries working for the organization?
• Have I seen things that don't sit well with me at the creche?
• Are my blog posts or facebook posts read and censored by the agency? Am I constantly reading and rereading what I post?
• Have I stopped or scaled back posting to my family blog out of fear?
• Am I fearful of who I am friends with on facebook?
• Has the agency told me that others are complaining about me and to trust nobody?
• Am I fearful of going to Haiti without permission from the agency?
• Do I wonder about the honesty and integrity of the agency?
• Do I know where my child is living? Am I scared for his/her health and emotional well being?
• Am I scared that my adoption could be cancelled at any time?
• Am I scared of being sued?
• Have I been threatened?
• Does my agency make me feel like a bad Christian? Like I don't have faith if I ask about inconsistencies?
• Do I have to flatter my facilitator online?
• Do I suspect my facilitator of using other staff email accounts to contact me (as the other staff person?)
• Have I or others I know been kicked off of online forums or facebook groups with no explanation by the facilitator?

Is EVERYTHING dependent upon one strong personality?

Ok, so you answered yes to the questions above you don't have to live like that. We are here for you. Contact us.

Part III of Shasta's Story

This past spring of 2013 I still couldn't figure out what was really going on and I felt like I was in a fog of mounting confusion and despair.  

The Heather I knew as my friend had become short and distant and continuously told me different things about my adoption file and became angry accusing me of being selfish when I tried to ask for clarification on where I was in the process. I started to fear her and fear for my adoption. I asked if there was anything I could do to help my adoption continue to move and was asked by Heather to send $2,000 to Wesmin (her creche director.)  $1,000 to fix a birth certificate and another $1,000 to "motivate him" to take care of it.

Kim contacted me in May/June of 2013 (read her story here) and I had access to compare what she was experiencing with how the staff were discussing her internally due to what Heather was telling us about her. She was portrayed as "crazy" for having asked for basic social history on her daughter and for a clear update on her adoption progress. I had a lot of empathy for Kim but I towed the line as VOTO staff and kept making excuses for why she wasn’t getting the answers she was seeking. I began to see the pattern - Heather painting clients as "crazy" for what I considered normal behavior and normal questioning.

I really didn't understand or like what was going on. I knew Kim personally and she had always been a very wise and loving person. I also saw the confusion being created as Heather would tell her one thing on the phone or in email but then say something completely different to the staff about the situation.

In June things came to a head and I couldn't deny what I was seeing any longer.
It began with Heather, Tim Rowe and Michelle See attending Christian mediation with one of their formerly contracted adoptive families. (This was a family that had left the program and Heather/Tim refused to return their adoption documents to them so that they could bring their son home.) 

Throughout mediation Heather was texting us, as staff, making running commentary about what was being said. When I called Amanda (the adoptive mother involved in mediation) to ask her a question she told me that everyone had signed a confidentiality agreement at the beginning of mediation and that nobody could speak about it - including to staff, friends or family. She would not give me any information at all.

I realized then that Heather had broken a contract just minutes after signing it and it was just one of many ways she was capable of deceiving people. 

Shortly after Heather went to mediation with this family (after months of saying the family was refusing mediation) a very dramatic "crisis" occurred and Heather requested the VOTO staff allow her to use adoption money families had recently sent down to hire a private police force to "rescue kidnapped kids".  The money she requested was extra money ($3k per child beyond the contracted amount) that she had asked adoptive families to send to get into IBESR (the Haitian adoption authority). She did not get the families into IBESR and she did not ask for approval from families to appropriate the money for this mission nor did she alert the families that their children were "missing" or had been "stolen."

In brief - Heather claimed the family she had just gone to mediation with had convinced the biological mother of their child to convince other biological parents to "steal" back their kids (about 20 children) from the Giving Hope Rescue Mission creche. The story we were told goes on to accuse a local missionary/ministry of going to pick up those 20 kids in white vans to hide them in a secret location.

After receiving permission to use the money to "rescue" these kids, a very covert operation that only Heather was present for, took place in Haiti. Supposedly she hired vans and police and "rescued" back the missing children. We as staff were receiving text messages that shots were fired, there was blood, not all children were accounted for, etc etc. It was late at night and very dramatic because it included children of 2 of the staff members.

It did not sit well with me. The misappropriation of funds, not telling families, and the high level of drama. I took time to try to verify the story.

I discovered that none of the accused adoptive families knew anything about this. And the missionary supposedly involved was not even in the country at the time, nor did she have a physical location for all of these children to have been located. (She runs a very small ministry which was not even located where Heather claimed the events were taking place.) Additionally there is digitally time stamped photographic evidence that some of the children supposedly "stolen" were actually living at Giving Hope Rescue Mission creche during this incident.

Closely on the heels of this I watched as Heather began to slander another adoptive parent (her story coming soon) describing her as crazy to the staff and withholding the location of her adopted children while allowing her to continue paying monthly sponsorship. (The children had returned home with birthparent but the adoptive family, who had been in process for 18 months, was not notified.)

I have watched as children have died of mysterious causes. I have heard Heather's stories to the staff and the stories she has told adoptive parents and others about other "deaths" that we aren't sure even happened. I have searched for truth in Haiti. Nothing adds up or can be verified. (see Deaths tab)

After endless months of drama created by Heather, after listening to her slander one family after another, after watching adoptions fall apart and knowing my own complicity in changing my homestudy, being lied to and misled myself and watching other families suffer with little to no care or concern from her, I just couldn't continue to be a part of anything related to Giving Hope Rescue Mission or Voice of the Orphan.  

I had stayed on staff in an effort to get my kids' adoption documents because I had seen what happens when a parent makes Heather mad - she does not release adoption documents. (In my opinion she would rather have revenge/control than see a child go home with a loving family and told me herself she, Heather, "will pay whatever she has to to win.")  I don’t have the resources to fight or recreate everything or start my adoption over so I had to wait.  

I have been heartbroken at the extra time my kids have had to endure waiting for me to return for them while Heather and Wesmin do nothing with my file simply because I had questioned them for not helping families that were promised help and for trying to verify things that we had been told as staff.  I was told "I needed to trust her in everything and be loyal".

In July I was finally able to get scanned copies of my adoption paperwork and was able to resign from Voice of the Orphan.  What should have taken less than an hour took 3 months.  That’s 3 extra months my kids have to spend without their family.

Any time I expressed sadness or disappointment for my children, who have already spent 9 years and 4 years in an orphanage, I was not met with sympathy or empathy but was met with hostility and reminded of how “hellish my adoption has been for her” (Heather) and “all she had done for me”.  There was no recognition of the hundreds of hours I put into service as a volunteer for Voice of the Orphan or all of the ways I tried to protect the organization by supporting it online.

Shortly after I sent in my resignation letter and asked for the originals of my adoption paperwork I received an email from Tim Rowe, President of Voice of the Orphan.

In my resignation I mentioned my concerns specifically about some of the cases that I knew we as a staff had been lied to about and how we had treated parents inappropriately. Yet in his response to me he said that he did not feel that VOTO had done anything to purposely hurt anyone. Tim did not take accountability or suggest that changes would be made.  

I do believe the handful of U.S. staff involved have been deceived and are not necessarily involved in the deception themselves. They have followed Heather's directions and have not had the connections in Haiti to verify or disprove her accounts.  I have also seen and heard firsthand accounts how Heather told adoptive parents one thing while also stating she is not connected to VOTO in any way and that she doesn't know why the staff are doing or saying what they are, however, I know for a fact she is the one on the conference calls, group texts or email telling the staff exactly what to do.

Tim Rowe, on the other hand, has received many complaints from families and has my account of what took place. And instead of validating any of my concerns he instead accused me of joining "a group" that was making false accusations against Giving Hope Rescue Mission...calling them traffickers and moneygrabbers. 

I have suggested to him that VOTO, Giving Hope Rescue Mission and their financial arm Room for Grace open themselves up to an external audit of the organizations and interviews with all adoptive families regarding the payments they have made. There is specific proof that Heather has received funds directly to her home via adoptive families. And as a staff we have always been concerned about the lack of financial transparency.

There have also been many times that parents have been asked to pay thousands of dollars above contracted adoption fees to fix documents that either should have been included in the adoption or should cost under $100.  

Tim Rowe has ceased to respond to me.

On Sept. 1st I flew to Haiti.

I made one last request to Heather to release my originals and surprisingly my folders were dropped off at my kids' orphanage.  I was excited for a moment but as I sat down to go through them I noticed that one of the adoption decrees was a copy and 2 of the most important documents needed for immigration approval (by the US Embassy) were not there.

I knew to check for those documents because as Voice of the Orphan staff we were told by Heather to remove those documents from Amanda and Jeremy's file (the family that went to mediation but never received their adoption documents) so in the event that they got their dossier back they would not be able to get approval from the US embassy to take their son home to the US.  (Amanda and Jeremy still do not have their child home.)

When I informed Heather of the missing documents she responded telling me I was being a bully and insisted that everything was there. I even sent a photo of the original and the copy side by side but she continued to tell me how hateful I was being. Heather's messages/attempts to explain the situation were contradictory and completely confusing and meant to cast doubt in the US staff.

Anyone can see the difference between a copy (NOT acceptable for US immigration of an adopted child and the original which MUST be turned in in order to adopt a child from Haiti.)

I am thankful at this time for the documents I did retrieve from Heather because it really is more than most of the other parents who have chosen to speak out have received. But the continued lies and manipulation by Heather to make me appear stupid and “out of control” to the staff simply for requesting my documents is frustrating.

I can’t pretend that I’m not hurt or that I didn’t fight against the truth when it was first being exposed to me.  I was devastated because I truly believed Heather was my friend and believed she was the amazing person she made herself out to be online and in face-to-face interactions.  Even when I saw evidence I disputed it for a long time including watching what Heather wanted to do to Amanda and Jeremy to prevent their son from coming home.  For months I watched what she has done to Kimberly and her family by "canceling" her adoption and then saying her child went home with the biological family simply for asking questions. And I watched other situations with families and I tried to blame it on poor business management skills or miscommunication.

 Unfortunately, at some point I came to the conclusion that everything I had witnessed was purposeful intent to harm.

I don’t come forward lightly.  I understand the retaliation that comes with speaking the truth. I recognize that there are people in Haiti who could still try to do damage to my adoption. And I understand the fear that others will feel.  

My suggestion is that if Heather and Wesmin have any concern for children in their care who risk living a lifetime in an orphanage if they do not release them, they will allow parents to move their children and allow someone else to investigate their relinquishment and adoptability.

If it is about the money, which, in my opinion it is, then they will continue to charge $300 a month per child for care while children and families are “stuck”, they will continue to match adoptive families with children that are later deemed unadoptable after they have already paid for their adoptions and many months of sponsorship and they will continue to find excuses and reasons to charge more money for emergencies and “situations”.  

And Tim Rowe will continue to defend Heather Elyse. 

Go seek the truth yourself.  Pray and ask God for discernment.  Don't allow yourself to be scared for following Heather's directions (to falsify documents for example.) 

Recognize that these children deserve someone to fight for them and for the truth. I don't know if my children, who have waited for a family for so long, will be able to get visas to come home with us. But I am at peace knowing that I can finally speak the truth and that we can now try to do this the right way.

Shasta

Kim's Story: Money does not replace a child

Fear- An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

Truth- The quality or state of being true.  That which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.

Fear keeps people from telling the truth. 

For over a year I have been afraid of losing the opportunity to adopt a child that our family has come to know and love. I have stayed quiet in the face of contradictory and inconsistent information given to me by the staff of Voice of the Orphan and Giving Hope Rescue Mission because of fear – fear of angering the person who “controlled” our adoption pursuit and who controlled the placement and care of our child. 

Through our adoption journey, which began in March of 2012, I have met other adopting families who are also silenced through fear.  

Today I am choosing to step outside of fear and to share our truth. Some of you reading this will be shocked and some will be angry.  Some will identify with my words and some will deny my experience.  This is my truth, my experience and my reality.  I share not to create additional turmoil, but because it is the RIGHT thing to do.  It dishonors the Lord to stand idly by while lies are perpetrated in His Great Name.  God is truth; whereas satan is the father of lies.  You may choose to label me ”crazy” or believe that I don’t “wait well” (one of Heather Elyse's commonly used phrases) but I can no longer allow fear to keep me silent.

My husband and I felt led by God to adopt from Haiti in 2012. (We have previously adopted internationally, so we were not new to the process overall.)  After searching we found Giving Hope Rescue Mission's online presence via Heather Elyse. Giving Hope Rescue Mission and its partner, Voice of the Orphan, appeared to be a wonderful “Christian agency”, with beautiful children living at a creche in Haiti. 

We did not fully understand who the entities were that we would be working with – there was Voice of the Orphan (VOTO), Giving Hope Rescue Mission (GHRM), Room for Grace (an organization collecting our monthly adoption support payments) and after signing on other entities appeared via the same people: Haiti Justice Project and The Landon Project that all seem to be interrelated and designed to raise funds for Heather Elyse's work in Haiti.

At the time we signed our adoption contract Giving Hope Rescue Mission, under the leadership of Heather Elyse, operated as a part of the larger Voice of the Orphan organization.  According to both GHRM and VOTO, VOTO was a licensed adoption agency.  (Voice of the Orphan was not in fact licensed in Indiana or anywhere that we know of as an adoption agency in 2012 – they did receive licensing in June, 2013.)  Although we signed a contract with Tim Rowe, President of Voice of the Orphan, our primary contact was with a woman named Heather Elyse, who we understood at that time was the vice president of Voice of the Orphan and the founder of Giving Hope Rescue Mission. 

We were asked by Heather Elyse to adopt a little girl and a little boy from Haiti in April, 2012. (After being matched, our adoption of the little boy fell through when Heather told us that he was deemed "unadoptable.") 

We met and fell in love with our little girl, R, and sent an initial payment of $12,000 to Voice of the Orphan.  We also began sending $300 per month to care for R (and we sent money for the care of the little boy we were matched with who was later deemed ineligible for adoption) via Room for Grace a pending non-profit that raises funds for Giving Hope Rescue Mission (Heather is/was the President of Room for Grace.)

We did not receive any documentation on either child – no formal match, no lab results, no social history, no birth certificate.  As we have learned more through this adoption experience we recognize that when a family is seeking to adopt a child in Haiti they should expect to receive a number of supporting documents. Between April 2012-July 2013 we did not receive any of those documents.  Despite some concerns about this lack of documentation or information we continued to pursue the adoption of little R. We, in good faith followed our contract and paid our monthly fees.

I kept my increasing anxiety at bay and enjoyed meeting R in person, loving on her and having her fall asleep on my lap cradled against my shoulder.  But by my second visit with R in November of 2012, I could not understand why the basic information on R’s history had still not been shared.  Having adopted previously, we knew that it was important to have as much information about her as possible.   We began to be more vocal with our request. We asked for general information on our daughter.   We asked about her birth parents, the story of her relinquishment, her medical history, and we requested documentation showing what had been accomplished in our adoption process thus far.   

We were not given any of the information we asked for but were told that we had exited IBESR (a large first hurdle in the Haitian adoption process) and had a “decree." This meant that R was officially our daughter and carried our last name. This little girl that calls me “mama”, that I have visited 3 times, that our other children pray for as their sister, was officially our daughter this past spring! The joy in our hearts was incomparable.  We were asked to send $3500 for passport processing (a fee higher than had been originally stated), but we were happy to pay the increased fee.  This was supposed to be the end stages of our adoption prior to bringing R home with us.

In April 2013, a full year after first meeting R, I become increasingly concerned as I still had no hard copy documentation of our adoption or her background. I became concerned that there was some issue causing delay on our case that had not been disclosed.  

I made a written request that another legally licensed adoption agency be permitted to complete the final stages of our adoption, a plan that Giving Hope Rescue Mission had told us was an option. When I made the request formally it was denied by Heather Elyse.

And still no papers or answers were provided.  

I was then ignored so my husband and I hired an attorney in the U.S. to make an inquiry with Tim Rowe/Voice of the Orphan regarding our case. Prior to that our communication had been with Heather and we were very confused. We thought that going to Tim would help to clarify the situation.  We truly have not known where to turn because of how enmeshed the organizations are with people in dual roles and yet each organization and the staff seem to push accountability onto the other organization.

As I continued to ask questions, I had other adopting families behind the scenes advising me that Heather Elyse was telling people that our adoption “was canceled” because I had made them mad.  

I became very worried and we asked for the location where R was being cared for and this information was withheld, although IBESR in Haiti requires that children’s whereabouts be accounted for.  It truly baffles me that any entity would “hide” the location of a child from parents who have completed this much of an adoption and have adoption decrees.

We continued to be ignored for many weeks until August 2013 when I received this email from Tim Rowe who is the President of VOTO:

“Although I was having the attorney send a letter to your attorney but (sic) I wanted to write a short response to this email. We are in the process of sending out a refund on your case in the next few days. In my conversations with Giving Hope, it is my understanding that the birth mother has revoked her consent to the adoption and taken custody of R.”

Four days later we received a check from Voice of the Orphan for $15,500 (our initial adoption fee plus passport fee.) On the letter enclosed there were two sentences: 

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Williams: Enclosed you will find a check in the amount of $15,500.00 for the full refund of your adoption. We appreciate you going through Voice of the Orphan. Thank you for your hearts for adoption and we wish you all the best."

Please note, we never asked for a refund, but certainly view the refund as an admission of error on the part of Voice of the Orphan. 

We have no proof that R’s biological mother has reclaimed her, where she is or even if she was ever legally eligible for adoption. We have no proof that our adoption took place. Given that Heather Elyse had previously slandered her other clients to us calling families who questioned her program "crazy" and had threatened to cancel adoptions, it was our opinion that she simply chose to cancel ours rather than provide the information we asked for.

Please go back and reread the sentences that were sent to us - Two sentences.   

Money DOES NOT replace a child.  

We are supportive of a biological family reclaiming a child and parenting their child(ren).  We are not selfish parents who care only for ourselves. But after 16 months in the adoption process we do believe that proof of R's reunification with her biological mother is a reasonable request.  After the inconsistencies in information and the rumors that our adoption was being cancelled for reasons other than R being removed by her biological mother, it is only natural that we want to KNOW R is safe.  

But instead we were offered two generic sentences and no explanation, no sympathy, no compassion.  Had I remained silent would this have happened?  Would our adoption have ever come to pass?  Is R really with her biological mother?  Was our adoption ever going to happen? We are haunted.  I cannot answer any of these things, but I can say without any doubt that no family should be too scared to ask questions during an adoption. No family should be scared that asking questions would lead to the cancellation of their adoption. Truth and transparency are vital.

There are many more details to tell.  And I believe that TRUTH will come out.  This, my friends, is just a small part of the whole story.  There are others who have stories to share and these are coming.  There are others who are finished hiding in fear.  

Please pray for our family as we navigate through this time. God is with us, He is leading us, and I know He loves us! He will make the crooked places straight. He is lighting the way and opening doors that seem closed. Adoption is spiritual and we must be equipped not only in the physical realm, but the spiritual as well. We know that God is also with R wherever she is today.

Telling our story releases me from fear. Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. Proverbs 29:25

If you are struggling in fear for your adoption right now, please know that there are others who will walk with you during this time.

Kim