Yvens was living with a small group of street boys in a gang-controlled part of Haiti called Cite Soleil. He was selected by a gang leader to be placed in an orphanage in 2017.

When the orphanage closed, Yvens was not able to be placed back with his biological mother and father due to their addiction issues. He was close with another boy in the orphanage and Haiti Mama arranged to have Yvens move in with them as his foster family. He has been with this “bonus" family for 5 years now and is happy and settled with his bonus mother, brother, and sisters.

The area where he is currently living with his foster family is still gang controlled and we have secured funding to move him and his foster family closer to the rest of the Haiti Mama family, in our new rural location.

We plan to help his family become stable and more financially independent within 6 months of their arrival later this summer. We need your help ensuring that he and his foster family have all that they need while we settle them into their new community and get them working again.

Yvens is currently 17 years old and will be going into the 8th grade this fall.