They Are Alive & Well.

I have gotten word from 2 generous souls who have been serving Petit Goave, Haiti --- that Isaac's biological family is alive and well. I received this news earlier in the week, but could not bring myself to fully believe it until Thursday eve --- when Dr. Steve Edmondson sent me photographs he had taken of our family (post earthquake). These pictures had me overjoyed, as our loved ones look so very healthy ... and actually managed some smiles. It was absolutely wonderful to see ... BUT it is also very bittersweet. As Dr. Steve wrote in his e-mail, "Your family is very fortunate, Jodi. Petit Goave was pretty messed up by the earthquake. Many people died there." I am incredibly thankful that our family is well, but also incredibly sad for Haiti and for the millions of lives that have been upended by this disaster.

Another amazing man, and his lovely wife, helped us to locate our Haitian family as well. They live right here in Winterport, Maine. This man, Sheldon, spoke to Isaac's biofamily, and told us that their home is in ruins. He came home from Haiti yesterday and wishes to speak to us after he settles in. I am very much looking forward to what he has to say. We are hoping to learn of their needs, and any other needs we can help to meet in their village ... as Halis is still planning his trip there for February.

Now that we have 100% confirmation that the Metellus family is alive and well, we have removed their information and pictures from this site in an effort to try to keep Isaac's adoption story as private as possible. Thank goodness we took a chance and put their info out into the world as that is how we were able to locate them.

Thank you all ... for your love, prayers, thoughts ... and for your continued support of Haiti.

xoxo
Jodi

Fundraiser for Haiti : The Press Release : Feel Free to Share

January 27, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Studio 36
128 Hammond Street
Bangor, Maine 04401
Contact: Jodi Renshaw (207)385-3940
jrenshaw@hotmail.com

Silent Auction Fundraiser has Local Ties to Haitian Victims

Saturday, February 6th, 2010, Bangor, Maine – Studio 36 announces a Silent Auction Fundraiser to help support the victims of the devastating Haitian earthquake. The public is invited to gather at 128 Hammond Street in downtown Bangor to view a wide array of interesting and artistic items donated by local artisans and businesses. The Silent Auction includes photography, paintings, hand sewn items and handcrafted Native American jewelry, sculpture and basketry. You will also have a chance to bid on a digital camera donated by Bangor Photo, gift certificates from local businesses, and a variety of celebrity signed items highlighted by a signed copy of a Stephen King novel. Bidding will start at 4:00 and close at 8:00pm and 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Haitian Roots, Hearts with Haiti and Yele, which are all Haitian run organizations.

For event coordinator Jodi Renshaw, the events in Haiti have hit very close to home. Her son Issac was born in Haiti. Jodi and her Husband Halis adopted Issac in 2006 at which time they made a vow to help support Issac’s birth family and to maintain a relationship with them in every way they could. Jodi owns and operates Studio 36 and recognized the opportunity to leverage her business and connections to the local art community to help raise much needed relief funds for the Haitian victims. Bring your loose change to the auction as Issac, who is four years old, has started his own fundraising effort by collection coins. So far he has raise about $200 and has a goal to reach $1,000.

During the Silent Auction Fundraiser the Ipanema Bar & Grill on 10 Broad Street in Downtown Bangor will host an authentic Haitian Dinner. Proceeds from the dinner will be added to the funds raised by the Silent Auction. Diners are encouraged to take their evening meal at Ipanema Bar & Grill which is within walking distance of Studio 36 and the Silent Auction.

For more information on this event please contact Jodi Renshaw at 207-385-3940 or jrenshaw@hotmail.com.

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Attached Photos:


Leaky Faucet: An example of some of the artwork that has been submitted to the silent auction. Photograph by JLR Photography.


Isaac: Isaac Renshaw-Sirimoglu of Bangor, was born in Haiti and is holding a coin drive to support Haitian relief efforts.


Isaac and Daddy: Isaac Renshaw-Sirimoglu and his Dad, Halis Sirimoglu of Bangor. Isaac was born in Haiti and is holding a coin drive to support Haitian earthquake relief efforts. Halis will be flying to Haiti in February in order to assist loved ones in the rebuilding of their homes.

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This press release was written and donated by Jason Brown ... a friend to us and to the people of Haiti. Thank you Jason. xo

Love,

Jodi

The Invitation.

These are the invitations we are passing out in the Bangor area for our benefit auction at Studio 36. Please join us!

Love,

Jodi

Ashly Dort.

Back in August, we held a fundraiser on this blog to help send as many Haitian children to school as possible. See here for details. Together, we (blog readers & Facebook friends) raised enough funds for one child to attend school - little Miss Ashly Dort. Isn't she absolutely adorable!?

Thank you to all who helped this little girl to attend school ... and to ease some of her Mama's burden.

Here is the info we received once this blog (the collective of all who helped) signed on to sponsor her:

"Ashly is 7 years old. Her DOB is 2 April 2002. She is one of five children. Her mother, Aude, is unmarried and works selling goods on the roadside. She earns between $500-$600/year. Ode struggles every day to keep her family fed, clothed, and sheltered. Some days she loses the battle. For her, providing an education for Ashly was just not a possibility—that is until you stepped in and decided to sponsor her through Haitian Roots. Aude is now full of hope and Ashly is extremely happy to be attending school. Thank you!!! "

However, though I am hopeful that Ashly is alive and well after Haiti's recent earthquakes ... I honestly do not know her fate. Nor does Haitian Roots at this point --- though I absolutely know that they are working feverishly to find all the children that are sponsored by their organization.

Here is yet another way in which the tragedy in Haiti hits home. So many of you helped to sponsor this sweet little girl ... now I also ask you to pray for her and her family ... along with prayers for all the children of Haiti.

And please - help us to help Haitian Roots to continue their amazing work in Haiti. Please consider contributing an item to our upcoming silent auction ... to be held from 4pm - 8pm on Sat, February 6th at Studio 36 in downtown Bangor. We have collected some amazing artwork, local gift certificates, fun items, etc. for the event. And the The Ipanema Bar & Grill will be serving a Haitian dinner at the same time as our event ... with all proceeds from both events to benefit various Haitian relief organizations (Haitian Roots, Hearts with Haiti & Yele).

And perhaps more importantly - please attend! And tell all your friends to attend! Not only will you be able to bid on some gorgeous artwork and handiwork from various local artists (as well as signed books, cameras, services, etc) ... but you can also enjoy a wonderful Haitian meal ... and support fundraising that will go straight to Haiti (100%). That will be a Saturday well spent!

We hope to see you there. This - as I have stated before - is personal. We are ONE. Just look at little Miss Ashly. She went to school because of some of YOU. Now please help her people to rebuild those schools, among so many other things that need to be done.

Love,

Jodi

An Apology.

Hindsight and good friends can be amazing teachers.

I need to make an apology here, and hope that I do it justice. I received an e-mail from a woman the other day that struck a very tender nerve in me. She was questioning my adoption story ... and to my mind was seriously overstepping her bounds. Her questioning suggested that Halis and I are not Isaac's "real" family ... among other things. When I "googled" her name, I found that she writes some very anti-adoption blog posts and poetry. So, I lashed out at her - in what I thought was a well-reasoned and fairly respectful response. However, good friends ... and my own aversion to conflict ... has me rethinking the delivery of my response.

I posted my response, and her name, on this blog. Not for long ... as I thought better of it very quickly ... but for long enough. It was a classless move that stemmed from a "Mother-Bear" reaction. I will not make excuses for it, but I will share what was my intent.

As many blog readers know, I have recently put some very sensitive information regarding our son's adoption out into the Universe in the hopes of finding his Haitian biofamily in the aftermath of their terrible earthquake. It was a gut-wrenching decision for me, because I believe that adoption stories should only be shared by the children involved - at their own will & in their own time. I made the decision to share some of his story - here on this blog & by speaking to a Bangor Daily News reporter in hopes that it would help us to find his biofamily. And it all did bear fruit ... as through sharing our story, we have found two leads in Petit-Goave who believe they know our family and believe them to be alright. (This is VERY exciting news to be sure and would not have happened were it not for this blog & for the newspaper article). So, I do not regret my decision to do so. But I honestly did not expect the backlash of negative and ignorant comments and questions I would receive by making our story public (however, please note that the positive help and comments have far outweighed the negative). Most people completely understood the sensitivity of our story ... but some seemingly did not. My response to the aforementioned woman was a gut reaction to protecting our family from further questioning ... that is why I made it public.

I apologize for posting my response here. I apologize for sharing her name. And I apologize for turning anyone off with my anger. To know me is to know that I am not at all quick to anger. But in this incredibly sensitive time for our family, I spoke out in anger before I thought deeply on how to respond to the questioner. When I first clicked the "Publish Post" button, I truly thought I was acting reasonably. I now know I was acting in anger & fear. And anything done in fear and anger is not good. Period.

It appears that several people do have some questions about our story now that it has been made public ... as there are many parts of it that they don't understand ... yet would like to. So, in a future post, I will take the time to address those questions that are respectful and within the boundaries that I have set for our family.

Many of you sent me e-mails in encouragement of my response to that woman. And I don't negate your feelings on the subject at all. The content and intention of the e-mail is not what I am apologizing for. I think it is very important to protect adoption, share info on it, and enlighten some folks regarding their false ideas of adoption, etc. But I could have done it better. And I cetainly should not have called her out publicly. I would be mortified if the roles were reversed.

I ask anyone who read that post to please forgive me for it. I also seek forgiveness from the woman involved. Perhaps a better dialogue on the subject would help her to understand the beauty of adoption. I would be open for such a dialogue.

Also - once our Haitian family is found, I will be deleting all of Isaac's adoption info from this blog - as was always my intention.

NOW - Let us ALL PLEASE move on to doing EVERYTHING we can to HELP THE HAITIAN PEOPLE IN THEIR GREATEST TIME OF NEED.

So much GOOD is happening ... and I would like to focus on that from here on ...

We have some new & exciting contributions to our charity fundraiser for our favorite Haitian charities. I look forward to posting about them asap. Meanwhile, thank you for all your support, love and understanding.

In Peace,
Jodi