At a church rectory in Boston, Haitian migrants place their hopes on hard work and helping hands
BOSTON — 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 home country, ravaged by poverty and gang violence, had become so dire that a risky crossing to and then across the southern border of the United States offered a kind of hope that he said he could never find by staying put .
Admettre discovered Boston via the Internet and set his sights on Massachusetts, and the journey took the family through several countries, including the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Mexico.
“We are going through a very tragic moment in our country. We have no security. We cannot certainly meet all our needs in Haiti,” Admettre said through a translator on Friday. “Leaving Haiti was the best solution to survive.”
De admettres – Ernseau, 43; his wife, Jimene, 36: and their children Elionai, 6, and Gabyana, 2 months – finally arrived at Boston International Airport just as winter temperatures were beginning to warm.
Ernseau Admettre said he was fortunate to be discovered by volunteers working to fill gaps in the shelter system when his family was evicted from the airport. He viewed those volunteers as angels sent by God.
“I don't have any family living in the United States,” he said. “We didn't expect to get this reception or experience because we don't have family ties here.”
The family is now one of eight who have found shelter in a parsonage building at Bethel AME Church in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. According to Geralde Gabeau, executive director of the Immigrant Family Services Institute in Boston, which helps provide services, the families include a total of 28 families — including 13 children ranging from infants to 15-year-olds.
Admettre said he has received a work permit and hopes to raise money so his family can move out of the shelter and into an apartment. He said he studied business administration and computer science, and is also a tailor.
Gabeau said the migrants are determined to work hard to find their way in the country. She said their primary focus is getting permission to operate. The organization hopes to be able to engage employers in January to help the parsonage residents find a path to a job and a more permanent home.
For the time being, they live and cook together, and take English and computer classes.
“They live as a community,” Gabeau said, pointing to large pots of vegetables and meat and Haitian rice on the stove.
Demand for shelter has increased as the state struggles to find new places for migrants to stay after the state-mandated limit of 7,500 families in the emergency homeless shelter system was reached last month.
As of Thursday, more than 350 families were on the state's waiting list hoping to find a spot in the system. The state planned to open a former courthouse in Cambridge on Friday as an overflow site to house some of them.
The space can accommodate up to 70 families with cots and limited amenities and will only be used in the evenings and overnight, said 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 contact us with day programs and resources they can provide to families in need,” Rice said in a statement.