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Emmaus House: Bringing Life, Hope and Change to Haiti's Orphans

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In America we have statistics to tell us when something isn't working -- eating habits, our spending, health decisions.

Statistics clearly show our foster care system remains in crisis. We know that when kids age out of the system at 18, 20 percent become homeless, half will be unemployed and less than 3 percent will earn a college degree. 

Countries like Haiti don't have the benefit of statistics and research, yet anyone living there can tell you, those too old for orphanages rarely have a chance. They often end up on the streets -- committing crime, forced into prostitution, or dead.

A Better Option: Emmaus House

Hunter and Jillian Kittrell saw this all too often working in a local orphanage. When they were told by the Social Services director to basically throw out all 18 year olds, they chose another option.

"We decided to start this new program and when we started it we really wanted to have a place that the youth would be able to learn and finish their education, grow to something bigger and better, learn the skills that they needed to live independently," said Hunter.

Their solution: Emmaus House, where they teach independent living and help young adults learn to further their educations or pursue a career.

"We do what's called an independent transition inventory when they enter the house and then we update that once a year and that's pretty much them outlining their short term goals and their long-term goals for their future and then once they accomplish their long-term goals that's when we look to moving them out of the house and into the Haitian society," said Jillian.

Learning How to Do Life

Life at Emmaus House is much different than life in an orphanage. Many of the teens don't understand how a family functions. They've not been taught basic life skills or given responsibilities. 

"At the orphanage you have many people to do chores for you, to wash your clothes or even make you study," explained Getro Compere, one of the youth at Emmaus House.

"We wanted them to have these chores, jobs around the house. And really, we've taught the children to cook their own food, clean their own clothes, and so this model of living in a home, it's not exactly like every home in Haiti because it's a big house with lots of people living here but it's a much closer model than what they had at the institutionalized orphanage," said Hunter.

In order to better resemble home life, a Haitian couple also lives at Emmaus House. House parents Jonathan and his wife, Vivian, not only set an example of a successful Haitian marriage, they act as mentors.

"We help them to be strong and to learn what can make them successful in life, help them in their studies, and we feel that they are growing, they're growing in the work they're doing," said Jonathan.

Emmaus' Work Program

Regardless of their education, each young adult is encouraged to participate in the Emmaus Works Program.

"We wanted to create a program where they can learn to make their own money, to buy their own things, and to learn to budget and manage money because we found that that's a skill that they don't learn in school. And not growing up in a home, they didn't watch their parents learn how to do that and so if they're just kind of thrown out into the world right now once they got money into their hands they would probably spend it," said Jillian.

"So we created this program to where they would have an opportunity to make money for themselves. Fifty percent of the sale that they make off their t-shirt, jewelry or purses goes into long term savings and 50 percent goes into their pocket and they uses that to tithe, to buy their own clothes, their own travel money if they want to go downtown and visit friends."

Transforming Haitian Youth into Christian Leaders

Emmaus House takes these raw, undisciplined and entitled youth from the orphanages and turns them into productive citizens who can impact not only the future of this country but of the church.

"We need to empower them so they can be useful as young Christians, so they can become leaders. A city without light is a city with no hope. So being able to [be] active and walk in the young life is being able to prepare them as a Christian leaders so when they're ready for the outside life they can be useful everywhere they go, they can be a light and they can be the leaders that Haiti needs," said Gerome Annee, Emmaus House Haitian administrator.

Annee helps with education plans and crucial leadership skills.

"You see that the country needs people to stay here to be active, to be helping each other and to use education as the key to empower the whole country," Annee said.

Since Emmaus House opened in 2013, several young adults have made it to universities or professional schools. 

Hunter and Jillian say their true view of success is seeing those in their care transform from likely lost causes to potential leaders.

"Just seeing where they came from and where they are now is huge for us, just their personalities, their character, their commitment to their faith and the church. They have hope now and that just changes a person," Jillian said.

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About The Author

Caitlin Burke Headshot
Caitlin
Burke

Caitlin Burke serves as National Security Correspondent and a general assignment reporter for CBN News. She has also hosted the CBN News original podcast, The Daily Rundown. Some of Caitlin’s recent stories have focused on the national security threat posed by China, America’s military strength, and vulnerabilities in the U.S. power grid. She joined CBN News in July 2010, and over the course of her career, she has had the opportunity to cover stories both domestically and abroad. Caitlin began her news career working as a production assistant in Richmond, Virginia, for the NBC affiliate WWBT