Current:Home > StocksAt a church rectory in Boston, Haitian migrants place their hopes on hard work and helping hands-LoTradeCoin
At a church rectory in Boston, Haitian migrants place their hopes on hard work and helping hands
View Date:2025-01-14 12:42:06
BOSTON (AP) — When Ernseau Admettre decided to leave Haiti and head north with his young family in tow, very little was guaranteed.
But the situation in his homeland, beset by poverty and gang violence, had grown so dire that a risky passage to and then across the United States’ southern border offered a kind of hope he said he could never find by staying put.
Admettre discovered Boston through the internet and set his sights on Massachusetts, and the trip took the family through several countries including the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Mexico.
“We’re going through a very tragic moment in our country. We have no safety. We cannot definitely have all our needs met in Haiti,” Admettre said through a translator Friday. “Leaving Haiti was the best solution to survive.”
The Admettres — Ernseau, 43; his wife, Jimene, 36: and their children Elionai, 6, and Gabyana, 2 months — eventually arrived at the Boston International Airport right as winter temperatures were settling in.
Ernseau Admettre said he was lucky to be discovered by volunteers working to fill gaps in the shelter system as his family was being kicked out of the airport. He viewed those volunteers as angels sent by God.
“I don’t have any family who lives in the United States,” he said. “We didn’t expect to receive this welcome or experience because we have no family ties here.”
The family is now one of eight that have have found shelter at a rectory building at the Bethel AME Church in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. The families — which include 13 children ranging from infants to a 15-year-old — total 28 individuals, according to Geralde Gabeau, executive director of the Immigrant Family Services Institute in Boston, which is helping provide services.
Admettre said he has received a work authorization and hopes to start bringing in money so his family can move out of the shelter and into an apartment. He said he has studied business administration and computer sciences, and is also a tailor.
Gabeau said the migrants are determined to work hard to find their way in the country. She said they are focused first on getting authorized to work. The organization hopes to bring in employers in January to help those living in the rectory find a way to a job and a more permanent home.
For now they live and cook together, and take English and computer classes.
“They live as a community,” Gabeau said, pointing to big pots of vegetables and meat and Haitian rice on the kitchen stove.
Demand for shelter has increased as the state struggles to find newly arriving migrants places to stay after hitting a state-imposed limit of 7,500 families in its emergency homeless shelter system last month.
As of Thursday there were more than 350 families on the state waitlist hoping to find a spot in the system. The state planned to open a former courthouse in Cambridge on Friday as an overnight overflow site to accommodate some of them.
The space can fit up to 70 families with cots and limited amenities and will only be used in the evening and overnight hours, according to Scott Rice, director general of Massachusetts Emergency Assistance. The site is only open to families who have been assessed at a state intake site and determined to be eligible for emergency assistance.
Rice said the facility will give eligible families a warm, safe place to sleep until a shelter unit becomes available.
“We encourage community organizations to reach out to us with any daytime programs and resources they are able to provide to families in need,” Rice said in a statement.
veryGood! (69)
Related
- Man accused of killing American tourist in Budapest, putting her body in suitcase: Police
- Meet the cast of 'The Summit': 16 contestants climbing New Zealand mountains for $1 million
- 1 person shot during scuffle at pro-Israel rally in Boston suburb, authorities say
- Police killing of an unarmed Nebraska man prompts officers to reconsider no-knock warrants
- Dogecoin soars after Trump's Elon Musk announcement: What to know about the cryptocurrency
- A scenic California mountain town walloped by a blizzard is now threatened by wildfire
- 1 person shot during scuffle at pro-Israel rally in Boston suburb, authorities say
- 'I am going to die': Colorado teen shot in face while looking for homecoming photo spot
- Black, red or dead: How Omaha became a hub for black squirrel scholarship
- Senate committee to vote to hold Steward Health Care CEO in contempt
Ranking
- Suspect arrested after deadly Tuskegee University homecoming shooting
- 2024 Emmy Awards predictions: Our picks for who will (and who should) win
- The Glossier Hot Cocoa Balm Dotcom Sold Every 5 Seconds Last Winter: Get Yours Before It Sells Out
- Illia “Golem” Yefimchyk, World's “Most Monstrous” Bodybuilder, Dead at 36 After Heart Attack
- NFL MVP rankings: Does Steelers QB Russell Wilson deserve any consideration?
- Jennie Garth Shares Why IVF Led to Breakup With Husband Dave Abrams
- The Glossier Hot Cocoa Balm Dotcom Sold Every 5 Seconds Last Winter: Get Yours Before It Sells Out
- An Alaska Airlines plane aborts takeoff to avoid hitting a Southwest Airlines aircraft
Recommendation
-
Hurricane forecasters on alert: November storm could head for Florida
-
De'Von Achane injury updates: Latest on Dolphins RB's status for Thursday's game vs. Bills
-
'The Roommate' review: Mia Farrow is sensational in a decent Broadway comedy
-
What is Friday the 13th and why is it considered unlucky? Here's why some are superstitious
-
Man accused of killing American tourist in Budapest, putting her body in suitcase: Police
-
Takeaways from AP’s story about a Ferguson protester who became a prominent racial-justice activist
-
Influencer Suellen Carey Divorces Herself After Becoming Exhausted During One-Year Marriage
-
An Alaska Airlines plane aborts takeoff to avoid hitting a Southwest Airlines aircraft