Of the many grim images broadcast in the aftermath of the massive earthquake that devastated Haiti four weeks ago, Robert and Sarah Gammons-Reese found one particularly disturbing: the sight of their adoption attorney's collapsed law office in downtown Port-au-Prince.

Somewhere beneath the rubble lay the recently completed paperwork for their son Isaac, a 4-year-old orphan who the couple had been waiting to adopt for more than three years and bring to Ferndale, Wash.

But after finally nearing the end of a protracted adoption process, the two found themselves on the brink of despair.

"At that moment, we thought we were done," Sarah said. With no way of knowing whether Isaac was alive and his newly minted passport and visa destroyed in the wreckage, the situation seemed hopeless.

That is, until they called their local Congressman, Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.). In what quickly became a whirlwind chain of events, Larsen's offices worked around the clock with a number of federal agencies and the U.S. Embassy in Haiti to help Robert and Sarah locate Isaac and bring him home.

The Gammons-Reeses are not alone; at least a handful of Congressmen from districts all over the country have proved instrumental in helping scores of families reunite with Haitian orphans who were already in the adoption process. Sarah said her family's experience served as a reminder that "you have to use the people you elect — that's why they're there."

Some tales are more harrowing than others, but taken together they paint a portrait of how Members work on behalf of their constituents during times of extreme tragedy.

After learning that Isaac was alive, Robert flew to Haiti hoping to complete the adoption process and bring his son home to safety.

He eventually arranged transport to Florida through a tiny four-seat missionary mail plane. But, because of an ominous weather forecast and the plane's need to refuel in the Bahamas, Robert was only left with a one-hour window to obtain the Department of Homeland Security's permission to leave Haiti with Isaac and send the approval to the airline, Agape Air — otherwise the plane would leave without them.

That's where Larsen's office came in.

"It was like jazz — a lot of improvisation," Larsen said in an interview.

Larsen's office immediately contacted the DHS, assembled the proper documents, received approval and then sent a personal letter from Larsen to Agape Air confirming verbal clearance from the DHS. A Larsen staffer then continued an all-night dialogue with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Sarasota, Fla., to ensure Isaac and Robert arrived safely.

On the ground, Robert completed the last of Isaac's paperwork, making Isaac the first beneficiary of the "humanitarian parole" policy recently announced by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The policy allows orphaned Haitian children to enter the country for "urgent humanitarian reasons or other emergencies."

In a different case, Larsen's Everett, Wash., office served as the only conduit between Brett Schlenbaker — another adoptive father who flew to Haiti seeking the last two signatures necessary to bring his daughter and son, Djennika and Djouvensky, home — and the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince.

Because of Port-au-Prince's defunct communications infrastructure, Schlenbaker would have made a blind six-mile trek to the nation's capital were it not for his satellite phone and a Larsen staffer. The staffer, located in the Pacific time zone, stayed up all night relaying details between Schlenbaker and the embassy until he arrived and was able to obtain the remaining signatures.

Larsen said his offices have assisted a total of four families in their efforts to reunite with seven Haitian orphans, all of whom were already in the adoption process prior to the earthquake.