About Us

Who We Are and What We Do...

I am Father Marc Boisvert, founder of Theo's Work, Inc. I was ordained a priest in 1984, and served the church for 6 years before joining the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps. I served the Marines, the Coast Guard and the Navy in my seven years as a chaplain. While stationed in Florida I was sent to Guantanamo Bay Naval Station to help care for the Haitians who were being held and processed there. The Haitians were fleeing their impoverished island by the thousands in an attempt to escape from dreadful and desperate conditions. Hundreds upon hundreds of frantic people were launching off the Haitian shores on anything that would float. The U.S. Coast Guard was routinely intercepting Haitian refugees; plucking them from the Atlantic and taking them to the base at Gitmo. Since I am fluent in French and since the Haitians speak Creole, a language rooted in French, I was assigned to provide religious and sacramental comfort for these refugees.


It was through this pastoral work that I learned of the miserable conditions in Haiti. Here's some background: Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere and the third poorest country in the world. Healthcare there is scarce at best. Of every 1,000 babies born, 72 will not live to see their first birthday. The average life expectancy of those that survive the first year is only 53. The malnutrition rate is 56%. Unfortunately, the Haitian government doesn't do much to help its citizens and 45% of the country's wealth is owned by 1% of the population.

As I listened to the Haitians' stories of disease, oppression, poverty and slavery, I was deeply moved by their suffering. For quite some time after that experience, I couldn't stop thinking about those Haitian refugees and wondered what had become of them. In 1997 I took leave from my post as Catholic base chaplain at Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro, CA and made a visit to Haiti to see what life was like there first-hand.


Never had I seen the likes of it: the filth, the poverty, the smells and the heat. Families living in shacks that barely stood up; children playing in open sewers; kids in the street begging for money, food and medicine – their eyes bloodshot and their future unknown. I was shocked. Even after listening to the refugees, I never imagined that it would be this bad. But the thing that impressed me the most about the Haitians was their ability to be joyful in the midst of overwhelming poverty. At that point I knew where I needed to be.


Upon my return home, I started Theo's Work, Inc., a non-profit organization to help the poor of Haiti. After submitting my letter of resignation to the US Navy Chaplain Corps, I started making preparations to move to Haiti. I sold most of my possessions and decided that Jan 1st of 1998 would be the day to start a new chapter in my life. Immediately after Christmas liturgy, I packed my few belongings and headed for Miami.


I arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in the late morning on New Year's Day. The heat of the tropical noon sun was reflected by the tarmac and took my breath away. I ended up staying a few days with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and was asked to help out a fellow Mainer in the town of Camp-Perrin. While there, I was touched by the hundreds of homeless children. There were children who spent their days in the streets because school was too expensive. And there were sick children who had no hope of going to a clinic. It became clear to me that this was my calling – to help alleviate the effects of poverty on these children.

I gathered some young adults together and we discussed the needs of the children. A soup kitchen and a small shelter were started in July of '98 and a school in September. In October we found an abandoned building and transformed it into a home for 15 kids. That house filled up quickly with homeless children and we began to search for a larger home.


The local bishop offered us the abandoned former seminary, a rat-infested structure with a caved-in roof called LaMadonne. The chapel was solid and we moved in. There we grew to about 60 children and a staff of five. In the spring we received help putting a sturdy roof on the building, and then a second floor. We had decent housing for the first time. Children kept coming and soon LaMadonne was out of space.


Meanwhile, back in the states, the non-profit organization Theo's Work, Inc. was busy with various local fundraising activities to help fund our progress in Haiti. My brother-in-law, Jack H. Reynolds, was at the helm. He was working with various local organizations such as The Rotary Club and the Knights of Columbus to raise money.


Back in Haiti, the boys were attending various local schools. This was not necessarily a good thing because of the harsh corporal punishment practiced by teachers. One day a boy returned to the orphanage after school with a blood soaked shirt. He had been whipped with a cowhide switch for not paying attention. It was then that the staff and I decided to open our own school. We could provide a safer environment, a better education and do it for much less money than the schools charged. In September of 2000 we opened the doors to Ekol Espwa. In due time we had two schools, an orphanage and a soup kitchen. There were 125 boys in our care and another 250 children in our schools.

Our dream was to have some place out of the city where the air is fresh and the colors vibrant. That dream came to reality in 2002 when our supporters in the U.S. came up with the funding to purchase 25 acres of fertile land about 20 minutes from the city. We immediately started planting corn, beans and papaya. A dozen teens and two staff people moved there and started shaping and developing what would become the village/farm of Castel-Pere.


Over the past 7 years we have made significant progress. Today, our primary residence is Hope Village or in creole, Vilaj Espwa. Hope Village encompasses over 100 acres of land. At Hope Village we have planted a farm, built dormitories and schools and begun vocational training to teach the children viable trades to secure their future. We have over 550 children living at Hope Village and hundreds more coming to our schools each day from poor neighboring communities.

Thanks to God and to our generous donors, we've come a long way since 1998. But unfortunately, we are still forced to turn away children because of our financial and physical limitations. Our operating expenses, while very modest considering the number of children we provide for, are still quite large in dollars. We are operating on a month-to-month basis, thanks to donations of generous people. But we have minimal security for the future of our children.


At Hope Village much has been accomplished but there is still much more to be done. We need to raise money for a medical and dental clinic so that our children get the proper medical care they deserve. We need to build a vocational training center so we can teach the boys and girls practical skills that some day will enable them to earn a living. The farm is coming along but we need decent tools and a reliable irrigation system so we are not victimized by the capricious weather. There are always projects in the works and this new website will give them the exposure required to come to fruition.


Hope Village provides hundreds of children with shelter, food, clothing, education, basic medical care and a family. But what we really offer the children of southern Haiti is HOPE. Your generosity allows us to make a huge difference in the lives of hundreds of these poor children. In the name of the kids, thank you. In the name of the staff down in Haiti, thank you. In the name of all the volunteers that make up Theo's Work, Inc., FreetheKids.org and Project Hope, thank you. Bondye ap beni nou!!

May God bless you abundantly,

Father Marc

Jack H. Reynolds is the president of Theo’s Work and Fr. Marc’s brother in law. If you would like more specific information about Theo’s Work, Inc., please contact Jack at jack.reynolds@freethekids.org or (336) 272-9376; or Dee Orlowski at our West coast office at dee@freethekids.org.

Board Members: