For over one year, the boys from Abbott House Foster Care program, living in a group home in New Rochelle, shared a special relationship with the men of the Normandy Crew stationed in Iraq. The relationship started when the boys sent the Crew a brief email, letting the Crew know that they were in their thoughts. The Crew continued to email the boys, and the boys continued to send cards, letters, and even care packages during the holidays. One solider in particular, Joe Morabito, made a special request from the Higher Commander to fly an American Flag for 24 hours in honor of the boys from Abbott House. The flag flew over the Forward Observation Base on May 13th for one full day, and on Flag Day, June 14th, Morabito presented the American Flag that his Crew flew in Iraq to the boys at Abbott House in Irvington, New York.
Abbott House was founded in 1963, and cares for young, Protestant, African-American boys. The agency’s headquarters is located at Abbott House in Irvington, New York, and Claude Meyers is the Abbott House Executive Director and CEO. The agency has offices in the Bronx, and Duchess and Sullivan Counties. Abbott House also operates two community-based Dispute Resolution Centers (DRCs) -one in East Elmhurst and one in New Rochelle. Abbott House also has 16 group home programs. Meyers believes that Abbott House’s group home programs have always tried to offer specific services to meet the needs of individual young people. “We have a lot of specialization within the group homes,” she says.
Willie, who is 9 years old, lives at the group home in New Rochelle, and attends Webster Elementary School. His favorite subject in school in math, and he is looking forward to going camping this summer.
Omari, who is also 9 years old, attends Davis Elementary. He is looking forward to going to camp this summer, and enjoys living in the group home, because he has a cousin who also lives with him, and he also has a lot of friends.
After a brief presentation where Abbott House presented a certificate to Morabito and his Crew, the boys helped Morabito replace the American Flag in front of Abbott House with the Flag he brought back from Iraq.
The purpose of flying the flag for the boys in Iraq was simple – that whatever sadness or hardships the boys may be feeling, that the Normandy Crew was right there with them. “I wanted the children to be thought about for 24 hours,” said Morabito. “I wanted them to know that if I could come through this, then you could come through this also,” said Morabito.
Morabito, who is from the Bronx, is unsure if he will have to return to the Middle East. If he does, he will most likely be sent to Afghanistan in August. But he was just so glad he finally got the chance to meet the boys from Abbott House.
