Three Family Homes

The first home was St. Joseph Family Home established in 1985 by Michael Geilenfeld in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  This home also serves as a Guest House for visitors to Haiti.  It has become a network of resources for all who stay there.  It also helps to support the Family (16 boys live there) and has provided an Art School, a Computer School, and it will soon house a Woodworking Technical School. Bill Nathan is the Director and Walnes Cangas is the Assistant Director.   They are the second generation of leaders that have been developed under Michael‘s ministry.

The second Home that the Lord gave St. Joseph Family Homes is “Wings of Hope.”  Wings is located in the mountains, about a 45- minute drive from Port-au-Prince.  The home has 38 to 40 special needs children.  The Cotting School for the developmentally impaired in Lexington, MA  is in a sister-school relationship with Wings.

Cotting School sends several groups to Wings, several times a year, to teach and to train the staff and to assess the needs of the children at Wings.  Several of the Wings staff also travel to Cotting School during the summer months for longer training.

The third member of the Family of St. Joseph’s Homes is in Jacmel, Haiti. It is about a 3-hour drive up the mountains and down the mountain to the southern coastline.  There are 442 turns (round trip).  Trinity House is home to about twenty boys.  They are presently living in part of the elementary school until funds can be raised for a separate building.  They are all blessed to have food, a bed to sleep in, and an education.

As a result of establishing the third home, St. Joseph’s has opened a school for about 60 children from the nearby town of Jacmel.  These are from the poorest of the poor, usually single parent families.  Trinity School is the fourth member of the St. Joseph’s Family.

Cabrini will be ministering mainly at this facility during the years to come.  A building fund has been established to build the “Cabrini Community Outreach Center.”  This Outreach Center will bring many missionaries to work together as the “Body of Christ.” Once this infrastructure is built, St. Joseph’s will be better able to minister to the poor.  They will be able to bring in the resources to open the doors to Jacmel to conversions and the restoration of families.  Strong families are the key to peace and justice in the world.