OUR STORY
The Life of Coley Gorham
Coleman (Coley) Gorham was born in 1918 and grew up in Portland, Maine. Times were difficult in those days, particularly, for his own family. He recalls a time when he was a young boy, his father had donated a bag of flour for a charity auction, and when the bidding was low he won it back. Even though his family had little, his father nonetheless donated the flour, essentially doubling the donation.
This made an impact on young Coley, and the spirit of giving ignited a flame deep within.
He lost his father at the age of 13 and had to step into that role to help his mother with the chores around the house. They had a small apartment attached to the house where Coley was the caretaker. He learned plumbing, electrical, and construction during his teenage years. For several years he also delivered newspapers before school each morning and was always eager to work hard to help his family to survive. As a young adult, Coley wanted to go to college and although his mother couldn’t help financially, she encouraged him to pursue his dreams. He eventually put himself through college.
Coley served in World War II as a Lt. Commander in the Navy. After his wartime service, he worked as a Psychology Counselor in Massachusetts and later as an English teacher for many years. His wife, Anna, was also an English teacher. After retirement, at the age of 65, Coley decided to continue working and launched his own construction company, which was very successful. He spent the next 15 years building homes in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and his home state of Maine.
Having no children of their own, and deeply committed to their faith and a desire to pay if forward, Coley and Anna decided that they wanted to put their hard-earned money to good use. After reading a very moving story about Haiti, Coley, at the ripe age of 80, flew there on his own, to assess what he could do to make a difference. He visited orphanages, schools, churches, medical clinics and even the slums of Cite Soleil. He vividly remembers being on a school ground where several children of various ages peered at him from behind a chain linked fence, their fingers clutching it, separated from the school, and Coley realized what they were thinking, “I wish I could go to that school.” It was then he said to himself, “I cannot turn my back on these people.”
His experience in Haiti generated a fire within his soul, and so he rolled up his shirt sleeves and went to work!
Coley worked on many projects in Haiti, but the first was at the St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Port Au Prince. With assistance from the Manager and a local carpenter, he designed and built a secure, air-conditioned computer lab with ten computers. He then traveled to Jacmel to complete another orphanage project that had been under construction for four years. He purchased the adjacent lot for the purpose of developing an athletic and recreational area for the children. Following the earthquake of 2010, Coley led a major repair effort to over 108 homes and other structures that were affected by the devastation. All homes received new concrete floors to replace the earthen floors, along with new roofs.
Coley moved on to Petite Riviere de Nippes, locally known as Ti Riviere. A pastor of a local church asked Coley if he would build a church on the outskirts of Ti Riviere, in a town called Charlier. Eventually the St. Charles Church was designed and constructed with Coley’s support. This beautiful church sits on a promontory overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Once the church was built, he later added a sacristy, septic system, and a concrete stairway leading up to the front door from the main road.
Coley greatly desired to build homes for the poor, so he purchased a large parcel of land for his next project. Thirty-three homes were designed and built with high-quality materials in order to withstand hurricanes and earthquakes. Water purification kits were also provided for each home. In 2014 deserving families were given the deeds to their new homes. To this day, Gorham Village continues to be a safe community for the people who live there.
Throughout 2009 and 2010, the construction of the St. Patrick Youth Center in Ti Riviere was also underway. As former educators, the Gorhams wanted to build a special school where teens and young adults could have access to computers and learn English by utilizing the Rosetta Stone Program. The school was uniquely designed, with a solar system for energy, and an innovative water cistern system for the kitchen and lavatories. That school has since been passed to another charitable organization that will continue its mission.
Coley’s grand vision was to create new educational opportunities for the youth of Haiti as a catalyst for positive change in their country. When he was 100 years old, after more than 20 years of mission work, Coley realized that his time in Haiti was coming to an end, so he released his vision to God and entrusted that it might continue in our hands!
Every life has value and meaning, and we desire to help as many young Haitians as we can to pursue their higher education and ultimately make a positive impact on their lives and in their country!
It is with great respect, honor and appreciation that we are able to fully embrace the vision set forth by Coley Gorham, and we are committing to do our very best to carry his torch into the future.
“Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity”
Horace Mann
