TL;DR
In gang-strained Port-au-Prince, author Mitch Albom’s orphanage offers rare safety, schooling, and stability to some of Haiti’s most vulnerable children.
Why This Matters
Haiti’s capital has been gripped by escalating gang violence, kidnappings, and political turmoil, leaving many families displaced and basic services disrupted. Children are among the most exposed. When parents are killed, separated, or unable to provide food and schooling, youngsters face a higher risk of recruitment by armed groups, trafficking, or life on the streets. In that context, any functioning child-care institution can be a lifeline.
The orphanage run by bestselling author Mitch Albom and his wife, Janine, in Port-au-Prince is one such place. Described by CBS News as “a small oasis inside a gang-controlled city,” it offers shelter, education, and routine to children who might otherwise have nowhere safe to go. While it cannot solve Haiti’s broader crisis, it underscores how private and faith-based groups often step into gaps left by a weakened state.
The story also highlights a pattern seen in other conflict-affected countries: local staff, supported by international donors, working quietly to keep schools and homes open despite daily danger. For readers, it is a window into how personal initiatives intersect with global crises, and how targeted support can still change lives even when national politics feel gridlocked.
Key Facts & Quotes
In a segment aired by CBS News on March 15, 2026, reporters visited the Alboms’ orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. The home takes in some of the city’s most at-risk children and is run by Mitch Albom, the Detroit-based author best known for “Tuesdays with Morrie,” and his wife, Janine. CBS described it as “a small oasis inside a gang-controlled city,” a rare pocket of calm in a neighborhood overshadowed by armed groups.
Bestselling author Mitch Albom is on a mission at his Haiti orphanage: “If it’s a drop in the bucket, that’ll be our drop.” Anderson Cooper reports, Sunday on 60 Minutes. https://t.co/mEN4CWeXMW pic.twitter.com/K0mCrrt43U
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 14, 2026
The facility is part of Have Faith Haiti Mission & Orphanage, a Christian-based home that Albom became involved with after Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, according to the mission’s official statements. The orphanage provides housing, meals, schooling, and religious instruction for dozens of children from infancy through late teens. Staff and volunteers, many of them Haitian, keep the compound running with round-the-clock care, tutoring, and security checks.
International organizations have warned that conditions around them are worsening. The United Nations and humanitarian groups reported in 2023 and 2024 that gangs controlled large swaths of Port-au-Prince, forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes and making road travel dangerous. Against that backdrop, the CBS piece focused on the daily challenges the home faces-getting food and fuel, keeping children in class, and planning for their futures in a country where many schools and clinics have closed.
What It Means for You
For readers outside Haiti, the latest update from Port-au-Prince is a reminder that global news is not only about presidents and parliaments. It is also about how ordinary children live, study, and grow up amid chaos. Stories like this one show how individual efforts, backed by donations and attention from abroad, can help keep a few doors open even when entire neighborhoods feel unsafe.
If you follow Mitch Albom’s work, the orphanage adds another dimension to his public life, connecting his books about faith and loss to long-term, on-the-ground engagement. For anyone considering international giving, it underlines the importance of vetting organizations, understanding local leadership, and recognizing that sustained support often matters more than one-time gifts.
Looking ahead, the safety of such homes will depend on Haiti’s wider security and political path. Readers may wish to track future reports from aid agencies and Haitian journalists for signs of improved stability or new risks that could shape what comes next for these children.
When you hear about small efforts like this in troubled places, what helps you decide whether and how to get involved from afar?
Sources:
- CBS News video report, “Mitch Albom’s Haiti orphanage, a small oasis for children inside a gang-controlled city,” March 15, 2026.
- Have Faith Haiti Mission & Orphanage official statements (accessed 2024).
- United Nations and humanitarian situation reports on Haiti, 2023-2024.
