The Haitian Orphanage Medical Support (HOMS) project provides consistent medical care and supplies to orphans in seventeen Haitian orphanages. The programs’ primary purpose is to provide basic medical care and to monitor the orphanage to ensure it is providing a sufficient level of care for all 750 children.

The HOMS team consists of a nurse and two team members who faithfully visit each Haitian-run orphanage every three months on rotation. The team is directed by Debi Lammert, APRN-CNS, and her assistant, Haiti-native Esaie Jean Louis, oversees daily operations.

“Most [orphanages in Haiti],” Debi says, “are medium to small orphanages run by people who felt called to do this but have very little financial or material support.

“The goal of the [HOMS] project,” she continues, “is to work directly with the orphanage directors…and help them provide preventative and basic healthcare as well as dealing with medical issues that come up.”

In addition to providing basic medical care for maladies such as vitamin deficiency, skin infections, malaria, and other ailments common in the impoverished nation, a secondary but important purpose of HOMS is to collect health data on the children living in the orphanages to ensure they are growing and thriving. Debi and her team take weight and height measurements and are able to give feedback to both the orphanage and to Haitian child welfare authorities on the quality of care the children are receiving.

Join us in helping Haitian orphans thrive!