Susie Scott-Krabacher on Playboy, HaitiChildren, and Faith

Introduction

As Miss May 1983 in Playboy, Susie Scott-Krabacher first entered the spotlight under her maiden name, Susie Scott, as part of an era-defining issue that paired her centerfold with a Nastassja Kinski cover story. Decades later, she is better known for founding the humanitarian organization HaitiChildren and for her memoir Angels of a Lower Flight: One Woman’s Mission to Save a Country… One Child at a Time, which traces her path from abuse and fame to faith-driven service in one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

In this mail correspondence Q&A, Susie reflects on the impact of her Playboy years, the moment she first walked into a Haitian orphanage, and why she has chosen to live without a salary while raising generations of children to become leaders in their own communities. Her answers are presented here verbatim.

Spotlight on Susie Scott-Krabacher

From Centerfold to Advocate

Born in 1963 and later chosen as Playboy’s Playmate of the Month for May 1983, Susie Scott-Krabacher experienced the highs and lows of sudden visibility at a young age. Her memoir recounts how the glamour of the magazine and Hollywood masked deep pain from an abusive childhood, and how leaving that world created space for a different kind of calling.

Early Wounds and a Promise

As a child, Susie endured abuse and instability, including time in foster care, and has written about promising God that if she survived, she would help other children survive their own circumstances. That promise, made long before the photo shoots and parties, became the thread that eventually pulled her toward Haiti and the work she does today.

HaitiChildren and a Lifetime Commitment

A televised charity appeal in the 1990s led Susie to Haiti for the first time. When she could not find an organization that would take an inexperienced volunteer, she and her husband, attorney Joe Krabacher, launched what would become HaitiChildren. Over the years the foundation has built schools, orphanages, a hospital, and a home for abandoned infants, committing to long-term care for children whom others considered too expensive or too difficult to serve.

Faith, Memoir, and Musical Adaptation

Susie’s Christian faith now sits at the center of her work and self-understanding. In Angels of a Lower Flight, she describes how returning to faith helped her face both her past and the realities of Haitian poverty. Her story later inspired the dramatic musical Unfolded, which reimagines key episodes from her life on stage and underscores how deeply her choices have resonated with audiences far beyond Haiti.

Continuing the Mission

Today, Susie focuses on mentoring the children in HaitiChildren’s care so they can eventually lead the organization themselves with honesty, integrity, and courage. She has repeatedly declined a salary from the foundation, insisting that she will never profit from caring for her kids, and sees her role as preparing a new generation of fearless, faith-filled leaders who can transform their own country from within.