Empowering Families, Embracing Potential
Footprints of the Son was founded to walk alongside Haitian families raising children with disabilities in Northeast Haiti. We believe that true family preservation starts with support, dignity, and hope.
Every child deserves to be seen for their potential – not their limitations.
From the beginning, we’ve met families where they are – offering food assistance, educational access, and unwavering encouragement. In 2013, we opened the first classroom of Footprints of the Son Inclusion School after parents shared their dream for their children to attend school. Since then, we’ve grown year after year, earning respect and trust throughout the Terrier Rouge community.
Our Heart - Our Mission
Living day to day in Haiti is a struggle already, so having a special needs child is often seen as having an added burden. It can put a lot of strain on the family dynamic as well. Very few individuals are educated on special needs, and therefore the children are often neglected, seen as a “curse,” and even directed to voodoo doctors for treatment.
This is certainly not always the case though, and after many years, we have seen families love and embrace their children with special needs. If they express the desire to give their children away, it is often because they have been told they can’t do it or they think an orphanage environment has more to offer their son or daughter.
We see HOPE in their homes, we see LOVE in their families, and we see everlasting FAITH in the Lord! Footprints of the Son does not want to take this away, we don’t want to separate these precious relationships, and we don’t want these loving families to give up! They CAN do it! Do they need HELP? YES!!! Do they need a BREAK? YES!!! Do they need COMMUNITY? YES!!! That is what Footprints of the Son is here for.
Our Values
- Compassion
- Respect
- Commitment
- Generosity
- Authenticity
Our Programs
The foundation of all our programs is based off of WHO’s Community-Based Rehabilitation Model (CBR.)
“Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) guidelines provide practical suggestions to program managers on how to develop or strengthen community-based programs to be inclusive of people with disabilities and their families. Community-based rehabilitation is implemented through the combined efforts of disabled people, their families and communities, and representatives of the appropriate health, education, vocational and social sectors.” (www.who.int)
Outreach Program
- Assess the needs of the child/family through an initial survey and home visits
- Assist with medical care, specialized nutrition, and education inclusion when needed
- Foster a community that encompasses compassion and acceptance for special needs children and their families
Respite Care Program
- Offers the most impoverished and physically exhausted families a “break” so they are capable and willing to care for their children the majority of the time
- Enables the child to receive more adequate nutrition and care due to their extreme conditions, circumstances, and challenges
- Allows for a structured, fun, and stimulating environment for some of the most fragile and severe children
Give Back Program
- Creates community/family for support and encouragement
- Allows for everyone to come together for the “least of these”
- Offers purpose to many that have felt defeated, hopeless, unwanted, etc.
The Hands and Hearts Behind the Mission
Led by faith, driven by love.
Every step of this work is guided by people who care deeply – who listen first, show up fully, and lead with empathy. With a shared commitment to honoring families and creating lasting impact, we work closely within the community to build trust, offer support, and nurture meaningful change where it matters most.
Heather Meyer Gabaud (Executive Director and Co-Founder)
Heather Meyer-Gabaud was born and raised in Florida, USA. She graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with areas of concentration in Education and the Arts and a minor in Health Science. Heather was very active in dance in her childhood and adulthood where she focused heavily on ballet and modern dance. She taught dance for over 7 years, and had the opportunity of teaching a dance class designed for children with disabilities!
Heather first started going on short-term mission trips to Haiti in 2007. She would go down and teach dance to the children living in the orphanage for several years before moving down to be a full time missionary. Heather moved down to Haiti right after the devastating earthquake in 2010, and she became primary caregiver to a very special boy. Jean had cerebral palsy and was completely dependent on Heather meeting his every need. Heather’s heart grew immensely for Jean, and she knew that her life calling had been defined. Jean passed away 18 months after Heather met him, but he left a lasting impression on her heart, and she knew she had to keep fighting for all the children like Jean.
Heather served as a full time missionary in Ouanaminthe, Haiti for over two years before moving to Northwest Haiti to co-direct a facility for children with disabilities in March of 2012. Her heart and passion for the disability community just kept growing with each passing day. Heather specifically enjoyed equipping Haitian families with the skills and resources they needed to keep their children with disabilities. This would later become the driving force behind Footprints of the Son.
In January of 2013, Heather moved to Terrier Rouge, Haiti to start Footprints of the Son with her husband, Dasmin and their two sons, Christ-tcherry (Dasmin’s birth son) and Peterson (Heather and Dasmin’s foster son.) In September of 2014, they welcomed their daughter, Naomi, into their family and in September of 2019, their son Jude entered their lives. Heather enjoys advocating for the school and outreach families stateside, and loves any opportunity she gets to tell someone new about the organization and the amazing families it reaches. Heather manages and oversees international donor relations and stateside administrative tasks.
Dasmin “Papito” Gabaud (Haitian Director, Co-Founder)
Dasmin Gabaud is a Haitian national who has lived in Haiti his entire life. He attended school in Northeast Haiti for fourteen years passing his exit exams from the last class, Philo. Dasmin started working at twelve years old (two years after his mother died) in order to continue his schooling. He worked alongside of his father who did construction. He has always had to work hard and manage his time well, and has a passion for learning. After Dasmin’s father passed away in 2005, he continued to work, go to school, and help his family.
Dasmin’s life would completely be changed after the birth of his son, Christ-tcherry, in May of 2009. Christ-tcherry’s mother passed away during child birth leaving Dasmin with a 3lb premature baby to raise alone. After spending countless days and nights in various hospitals seeking answers and spending much money, Christ-tcherry was two and a half years old before Dasmin would be told his son was severely disabled with cerebral palsy. Dasmin was a devoted father always, and this news was not going to stop him from being the best dad he could be.
In March of 2012, Dasmin (along with Christ-tcherry) moved to Northwest Haiti where he served as a supervisor at a facility for children with disabilities. After 9 months of experience in the disability community, his compassion and heart for these children and their families grew. He wanted to do more. He wanted to work directly alongside of parents (using his testimony) to share God’s love for the children with special needs in Haiti. Dasmin had a desire to be a missionary in his own country, and he wanted to advocate for Haitian families raising children with disabilities so that they wouldn’t give up. He wanted them to know there was value in their children, and to show them that the best place for these children was in their families.
In January of 2013, Dasmin moved back to Northeast Haiti to start Footprints of the Son in Terrier Rouge with his wife, Heather, and their two sons, Christ-tcherry (his birth son) and Peterson (Heather and Dasmin’s foster son.) In September of 2014, they welcomed their daughter, Naomi, into their family. In 2029, their son Jude joined their beautiful family. Dasmin enjoys offering hope to the outreach families, telling them the truth about their children and their disabilities, and assisting them in any way he can. Dasmin manages all Haitian relations and focuses on outreach development and building projects for the ministry.
