12165: Haitians find helping haven (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Haitians find helping haven

By Kelly Brewington
Florida Correspondent
Posted May 26 2002

ORLANDO · D'Haiti Ryffelle, a dishwasher at a Thai restaurant in south
Orlando, needed advice at a discount.

The 35-year-old Haitian immigrant was broke after scraping together $500 to
apply for permanent residency.

Then he heard about a two-room office in a shopping center on West Colonial
Drive, where he received free advice about immigration concerns.

There, he also found resources for finding a better job and basic computer
and English courses.

"I couldn't believe it when I learned this would be free," Ryffelle said
through an interpreter. "It's so difficult to figure things out on my own."

The sparse office is being hailed as the first solid attempt to establish a
community center to serve the estimated 30,000 Haitians in Central Florida.

Joseph Barthelemy, 33, a computer science specialist, and four friends hope
their center will establish solid roots.

"There are so many needs," he said. "There are so many new Haitians here who
don't know the system, don't know the language; they don't know how to get
around day to day. Many people are working three jobs at hotels because they
don't know where to go to better themselves."

As with many immigrant communities, a loose network of established Haitian
professionals has helped guide newcomers struggling to find a job, searching
for health care or trying to navigate such basics as opening a checking
account.

South Florida has one of the largest Haitian populations in the country, but
Central Florida's Haitian community is also growing, with migration from
South Florida, other states and directly from Haiti.

Exact figures are hard to come by, but a 2000 U.S. Census survey estimated
about 30,000 people of Haitian ancestry live in Orange, Seminole, Lake and
Osceola counties.

Signs of Haitian newcomers are everywhere, from French and Creole
interpreters in courts and schools, businesses, bands and soccer teams made
up of Haitians and AM radio packed with Haitian programming.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office recently named Deputy Elise Camille as
its liaison to the Haitian community.

Camille, 31, launched a cable television show in Creole catering to Haitians
that will air next month.

Camille, the only Haitian deputy at the Sheriff's Office, has been one of
the community's strongest advocates. The office receives 911 calls in which
people ask to speak to Camille directly.

The calls aren't always emergencies. People want to know how to apply for a
green card, how to avoid being evicted from their apartments, what to do if
their licenses are suspended or how to apply for loans with bad credit.

"It's things we take for granted," said Camille, who arrived in Orlando a
decade ago from Haiti knowing no English. "There is so much they don't
understand. And as a result, people are being taken advantage of."

Jacquelin Daquin has the same kind of reputation among the Haitian
community. His desk at Haitian Quality Services is cluttered with a
computer, stacks of paper and three phones, which ring constantly.

Daquin, who charges clients for immigration help, tax preparation and bail
bonds, is generally thought of as a man with all the answers.

Some call from work when they need to communicate with their boss, but have
no one else to translate.

"This is why we need a center," said Daquin, 44. "Some people are lucky
enough to reach me, and I'm willing to help. But people need to know there
is a place they can go when they need help."

Kelly Brewington writes for the Orlando Sentinel, a Tribune Co. newspaper.



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