When a major earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, Mackenson Noel found himself and others in a humanitarian crisis.
The earthquake damaged buildings and left hundreds of thousands of people dead and others without food and water.
Noel helped The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with emergency response. Those three months turned into 13 years as he later served as the emergency response manager, an employment services manager, the welfare, self-reliance manager and Latter-day Saint Charities director for the Church in Haiti.
It was in these positions that Noel pursued his passion for helping others.
Ten years later, another earthquake hit Haiti. Noel and his team rescued people and provided water to people in the affected areas.
Things took a turn for the worst when vital budget information, that he managed, got leaked. Noel faced death threats, unwanted phone calls and unexpected events.
At one point, Noel was kidnapped and held captive for 11 hours. A pastor came by and encouraged the men to release him. He was set free.
Years later, he got a call from the police notifying him not to return home because of danger. Wanting to protect his wife and children, he ignored that advice. As he approached his neighborhood, armed vehicles approached him.
Noel took an alternate route home to protect his family. They fled to safety.
Faced with uncertainty, Noel had to flee the country for his and his family’s safety.
Noel came to the United States. He was jobless and homeless for a year while waiting for his work papers.
Once cleared to work, his family was reunited and they moved to Eastern Idaho where he enrolled at BYU-Idaho and later graduated.
“I graduated last December in marriage and family studies with an emphasis in child development,” Noel said.
He is grateful for this new country he calls home.
“I want to give back to the United States because one day I was lost, I was wandering and the United States, as a complete stranger, told me, ‘Welcome,’” Noel said.
Later, he began working at local schools with children with disabilities. Now he works at Aspen Developmental Services as a school-aged services and school contracts behavioral intervention supervisor.
In February of 2025, he started Immortal Family Services, a local nonprofit that helps individuals and families.
According to their website, Immortal Services provide help to individuals, families, students and the community to move forward in resilience and purpose.
They offer consultation services, helping people find jobs and becoming more self-reliant.
While many organizations have many volunteers and fundraising opportunities with donors, Immortal Family’s is different. There are just three volunteers.
Noel, his wife and his friend.
They don’t have any donors, but plan to a host a large fundraising event later next year.
The nonprofit is launching Immortal Rides, a program that helps people in the community commute to essential places like hospitals and doctors visit, or the grocery store.
“We help people when we can where we can,” Noel said.
Aside from his full-time job, he dedicates his spare time to help others with his organization.
“We dedicate Friday afternoon, to have the afternoon of Friday free for those nonprofit activities,” Noel said.
The organization is looking to expand with more volunteers so the invitation to learn about them is open. For more information, go to immortalservices.online.