Ex-Yakima resident offers aid to Haiti orphans

by Jane Gargas
Yakima Herald-Republic

A Yakima native is bringing a little bit of Haiti home to America.

Former Yakima resident Scott Gordon is helping shepherd 70 orphans from Haiti to the United States for adoption after an earthquake ravaged the country two weeks ago.

Gordon has been in the island nation since last Thursday, trying to expedite the adoption process for the children. He's part of a group of five people working closely with several Haitian orphanages.

If all goes as planned, Gordon will arrive back in the states early Friday with a plane full of children destined for new homes in various cities around the country. All 70 children have been matched with families who want to adopt them.

And one of those homes will be Gordon's in Bellingham, Wash., where he lives with his wife Michelle and five children. They have committed to adopting two of the Haitian orphans.

But it hasn't been easy.

The red tape associated with bringing children out of Haiti has been formidable, said Gordon's parents Marilyn and Jerry Gordon of Yakima.

Plane flights have been canceled, the U.S. Embassy was closed temporarily and there was difficulty processing all the required paperwork for adoption, the Gordons said.

The uplifting news, however, is that none of the children at the Port-au-Prince orphanage, Hope for the Little Angels of Haiti, was seriously injured, even though one of the buildings collapsed.

"It's a miraculous thing," Marilyn Gordon said.

"Our son is sleeping on the street with the kids. They have food and water and the kids are surviving fairly well," she said.

Scott Gordon has received aid from his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in trying to help get the orphans out of Haiti and into homes.

A 1984 graduate of Eisenhower High School, Gordon has traveled to Haiti four times over the last several years as he and his wife have attempted to complete the adoption process for two girls, 18-month-old Avrie and 5-year-old Destina.

The earthquake precipitated his current visit as he realized the urgency of the situation, Michelle Gordon said during a telephone call Tuesday from Bellingham.

"It's definitely exciting -- we've been working on this for two and a half years," she said.

"Their plane is scheduled to leave Thursday night (from Haiti), so we're keeping our fingers crossed."