WREX.com – Rockford’s News LeaderRockford group brings Hope for Haitians

Rockford group brings Hope for Haitians

By Samantha Ptashkin

ROCKFORD (WREX) - There's now a little bit of a Rockford in a city all the way on the north coast of Haiti. That's after a Rockford man formed "Hope for Haitians." The group's not only giving people hope, but new homes.

After traveling to Haiti 10 years ago and seeing its widespread poverty, Tom Lorden and his wife brought a bunch of Rockford people together to form Hope for Haitians. In March the group saw the completion of the Rockford Friendship Village in Haiti. "Haiti is just in a real critical condition. It's just a lot of chaos, people milling around, no retail stores, so it's very different from what we see here," Lorden said.

A very different place, but Lorden realized Haiti is also a place not too far away. Just an hour plane ride away from Miami, 80% of the people there don't have a job.  An international charity called Food For The Poor contacted Lorden asking if Hope for Haitians would help build a village for families in a city called Cap Haitian. "We were moving families from a salt water swamp, literally filled with garbage," Lorden.

So the group turned a vision into reality for 350 people. They now have 10 acres of land with a community center, 100 small homes and water wells, all made possible by $400,000 in donations from people here in Rockford. "Before they took us to the village they took us to the swamp where the people came from. Then they took us to the village and we saw the tremendously happy people that now had a home, a place to live and the hope and dignity," Lorden said.

Lorden said Hope for Haitians plans on building another village in Cap Haitian. If you'd like to get involved, you can call Tom Lorden at 815-315-0678.