Boston Medical Center inundated with migrants from Haiti
BOSTON - Families with babies squirming in carriages, Haitian migrants with nowhere else to go. They have inundated the lobby at Boston Medical Center, and now a storefront in the center of Mattapan, where the Immigrant Family Services Institute (IFSI) helps them find shelter.
By noon Monday, 135 people were there seeking services at IFSI. One man, who did not want to be identified, spoke through an interpreter about why he left Haiti.
"It's really impossible for us to live in the country right now," he said. "With all the gang violence, without access to any services, hospital, or work, there's no way for anyone to live in Haiti."
He said Boston is safer, as long as those applying for refugee status have a place to sleep. "New England is cold, and sometimes for them to spend the night on the street is not easy," he told WBZ-TV.
Dr. Geralde Gabeau is the Executive Director of IFSI. "Housing has been a real nightmare. I don't even call it a crisis anymore, a real nightmare, especially for people who are coming here for the first time," she said.
For those who don't know to go to IFSI, the choice is often the streets or the emergency room, where dozens have ended up lately.
Boston Medical Center sent a statement, saying, "The number of families arriving on a nightly basis has risen dramatically in recent weeks, stretching the resources of our emergency department, social work and support teams. We have worked closely with the state and city to connect families to housing resources that night or immediately the next morning, and we continue to advocate with the state and city for both immediate and longer term solutions."
Some migrants have been placed in hotels, but advocates say they need help from the federal government, as well as the state and other communities.
"To come together and bring a comprehensive solution to deal with this crisis," said Pastor Dieufort Fleurissaint, an advocate for Haitians in Massachusetts. "Those families can't stay forever in hotel rooms."