St. Joseph's Home for Boys

BACKGROUND OF THE ST. JOSEPH’S FAMILY ST. JOSEPH’S St. Joseph’s Home for Boys is a haven within the grueling chaos of Port- au-Prince.  Its founder, Michael Geilenfeld, was formerly a Missionary of Charity Brother, an order founded by Mother Teresa.  His work was with abandoned children in Vietnam, Cambodia, Calcutta, Los Angeles, Haiti and El Salvador.  After 11 years of service, Michael felt called to provide a place for street boys that would be more like a family instead of the night shelter system he had followed with the Missionary of Charity Brothers. In January of 1985, Michael left the MC Brothers and returned to Haiti with $1,000 and began a new ministry with five boys and a prayer.  This new family paid for six months rent on a four-room house.  After paying the rent, they were left with just $400 on which to live. Their prayers were answered when several journalists showed up that first day to tell this “new life” story to the world.  Financial support soon began to flow, visitors began to come and Michael’s work grew into the astounding success it is today.  St. Joseph’s Home for Boys currently houses 20 former street children and provides them with an education, a nurturing family and an abundance of love.  Through educational programs and regular worship at St. Joseph’s, the children learn life skills and also have the opportunity to participate in dance and art classes.  Since its creation twenty years ago, more than 300 street children have been a part of this family. WINGS OF HOPE As the children of St. Joseph’s have grown into adulthood, they are filled with gratitude and often have a strong desire to give back.  In December of 1994, their strong sense of family and service led Michael and the boys to take on a large challenge – to care for 14 severely mentally and physically challenged children. The children, abandoned by their families because of their handicaps, were previously being cared for by a group of missionaries from France.  That group wanted to leave Haiti, but had found no one to take care of the children.  Michael and the children at St. Joseph’s heard about this dilemma and decided they would take in one of the children.   When Michael and some of the boys visited the home, what they saw shocked them.  The children spent their entire day in bed with minimal care and no compassion.  They heard the woman who ran the house refer to the children as nothing more than “living pieces of furniture.”   This heartless comment cemented in them the desire to give these disabled children the same sense of family they enjoyed.  Because St. Joseph’s Home for Boys exists purely on donations and earned guesthouse revenues, taking on the responsibility for so many severely handicapped children was an enormous financial and emotional challenge.  But the boys were committed to the idea.  After much prayer and discussion the family took a leap of faith and took over the responsibility for all the handicapped children and Wings of Hope was born.         Wings of Hope is now home to 34 mentally and physically handicapped children and young adults.  Nine young men from St. Joseph’s also live at the house and help to care for the children and run the home.  The director of Wings of Hope is Luckner “Maya” Fond-Rose, a graduate of the St. Joseph’s program.  Unlike the children of St. Joseph’s, the children of Wings of Hope will never “graduate” from the program and will be cared for by the family for the rest of their lives. In November of 2001, the new Wings of Hope building was dedicated.   It is a beautiful facility that includes two boys’ dormitories, a girls’ dormitory, a large kitchen and dining room, a physical therapy center, guest facilities, an art boutique and a meditation garden. TRINITY HOUSE With St. Joseph’s Home for Boys and Wings of Hope firmly in place, the St. Joseph’s family expanded again in 2000 with the creation of Trinity House in Jacmel.  Friends of the St. Joseph’s family who lived in Jacmel saw the positive impact that St. Joseph’s Home for Boys had on the children it had taken off the streets and saw the need for that same kind of love, opportunity and family for the street boys of Jacmel.  They invited Michael and the children to start a home there.  Phase I of the construction of Trinity House is complete and includes a dormitory housing 14 boys, a kitchen, guest house and soccer field.  When Phase II Construction is completed Trinity House will include a bakery, trade school, dance studio and auditorium.