12679: Haitian community mourns activist (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Sun-Sentinel

Haitian community mourns activist

By Madeline Baró Diaz
Miami Bureau
Posted August 11 2002

MIAMI · Friends and co-workers of Vayola Hercules don't want her to be
remembered as a victim.

Hercules, 31, was killed last Thursday in an apparent murder-attempted
suicide involving her estranged boyfriend Emmanuel Etienne.

Miami-Dade police say Etienne was responsible for shooting and killing
Hercules at her Northwest Miami-Dade home and then wounding himself.

Those who knew Hercules say the single mom was a caring person who helped
people achieve their dreams of home ownership through her work with the
Little Haiti Housing Association.

"A couple of years ago when our agency went through a very hard time she was
one of the key people that helped pull it through," said Brenda Trigg,
director of community programs at the nonprofit organization whose goal is
to provide affordable housing to residents of the Little Haiti area of Miami
and help them out of poverty.

Hercules, director of resource development at the housing association, was
responsible for writing grants, acted as a liaison with banks and almost
single-handedly put together the annual fund-raising gala, Trigg said.

On her own time, Hercules volunteered in the Haitian community.

Gepsie Metellus, executive director of the Haitian Neighborhood Center,
remembers an energetic, hardworking and dedicated woman.

"She would dance doing her work," said Metellus, who recalled Hercules
dancing at the opening of the Intel Computer Clubhouse, a joint effort by
the housing association and Intel Corp.

Hercules represented the next generation of "nonprofit activists that were
just dedicated to improving the community and just wanting to build a better
Haitian community," Metellus said. "I prefer she be remembered for the
builder that she was."

Hercules had previously worked in the affordable housing industry in New
York and moved to South Florida a few years ago, Trigg said. The housing
association plans to set up a trust fund for Hercules' 5-year-old daughter.
Plans should be finalized by the end of this week.

"We're like a family," Trigg said. "We work in very close quarters. It's
going to be very hard on both the personal side and the professional side."

Madeline Baró Diaz can be reached at mbaro@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5007.






_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com