May 22 Memorial Mass to remember earthquake victims

May 12, 2010 by Reporter Staff

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, May 22 at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Dorchester for victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. The Mass, which will be celebrated by Fr. William Joy of St. Angela’s parish in Mattapan, will be followed by a symbolic burial at New Cavalry Cemetery in Mattapan.
“We have a small coffin that we will ask people to fill with the names of those whom they lost in the earthquake,” said memorial organizer Collette Ostine.
The Mass will begin at 10 a.m. St. Matthew Church is located at 33 Stanton Street in Dorchester.

St. Fleur to work for Menino administration

April 23, 2010 by Reporter Staff

State Rep. Marie St. Fleur, who earlier this year announced that she will not seek re-election this fall, will be joining the administration of Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, according to a press release from Menino's office today. Her title in Menino's office will be Chief of Advocacy and Strategic Investment, which oversees Menino's lobbying efforts through his Intergovernmental Relations Offices. St. Fleur will begin her new duties in June, according to Menino's office. Read more

April edition now available

April 12, 2010 by Anonymous

BHR April 2010 editionThe April 2010 edition of the Boston Haitian Reporter, featuring the latest news and commentary from Haiti and the US, is now available at newsstands throughout Greater Boston. Read more

Friday town hall meeting in Roxbury to focus on Diaspora's role in Haiti

March 23, 2010 by Reporter Staff

A town hall meeting entitled "Haitians Building Haiti:Towards Transparent and Accountable Development" will be held on Friday, March 26 at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College. The event will feature members of the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network and civil society representatives from Haiti. It begins at 5:30 p.m.
Scheduled speakers include Mayor Thomas M. Menino, keynote speaker Jean Lionel Pressoir of FONDESTHA, Haiti, and
Professor Marc Prou,Chair Africana Studies, UMASS, Boston, along with State Representatives Marie St. Fleur and Linda Dorcena Forry. Read more

Read the March edition online

March 11, 2010 by Reporter Staff

BHR 3-10The March edition of the Boston Haitian Reporter, in circulation since last Friday in print form, is now available for online readers as a PDF.

Brown University sponsors Friday "teach-in" on Haiti

February 17, 2010 by Reporter Staff

“Framing Haiti: A Brown University Teach-In” will be held Friday, Feb. 19, from noon to 3 p.m. in the Sidney Frank Hall for Life Sciences, 185 Meeting St. All events are free and open to the public. Brown University is in Providence, Rhode Island. Sponsored by the Brown University Haitian Relief Committee, the event will address Haiti’s rich legacy of art and literature, its history and culture, as well as January’s catastrophic earthquake and the medical crises it engendered. Read more

Rich Innocent: Back in Boston

February 12, 2010 by Bill Forry

Rich Innocent in Haiti
Many readers have inquired after the BHR's own Richardson Innocent, who provided some of our early reports from Delmas — where he survived the earthquake on Jan. 12. Rich spent the next three-and-a-half weeks helping out friends and neighbors all over the PaP area. On Wednesday, he came home to Boston to regroup. Rich hitched a flight to Florida's Fort Rogers courtesy of Missionary Flight International and then made his way back to Boston via Miami.
Richardson is pictured in this photo (above) as he assisted in a search and rescue operation in Delmas. Innocent says he intends to return to Haiti in the near future. Read more

Mass regulators weigh relief plan for families with ties to Haiti

February 11, 2010 by State House News Service

Family members of Haiti earthquake victims who are enrolled in state-subsidized health care plans would get a reprieve from premiums this year, under plans outlined by state health care regulators Thursday. The move, according to Connector Authority Executive Director Jon Kingsdale, is aimed at relieving financial pressure on Massachusetts residents sending money to their loved ones. The plan will be built into the Connector’s regulations and appears poised to move forward without a vote by the agency’s 11-member board. Of Commonwealth Care’s 150,000 enrollees, 79,000 pay premiums. Connector officials say they can determine which enrollees have relatives affected by the earthquake through an existing hardship process. The plan was suggested by board member Celia Wcislo, a labor leader with 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Kingsdale said. When the change will be implemented and whether it will apply retroactively to the date of the earthquake, Jan. 12, are questions that are still being reviewed, Kingsdale said.

February edition of Boston Haitian Reporter now in circulation

February 11, 2010 by Reporter Staff

BHR February 2010(Friday, Feb. 12) —The February edition of the Boston Haitian Reporter is now circulation throughout the Greater Boston area. The edition features in-depth coverage of the aftermath of the Jan. Read more

Menino: Feb. 11 forum to focus on earthquake-related ‘scams’

February 9, 2010 by Bill Forry

The city of Boston has organized a community forum for Thursday to address what Mayor Tom Menino calls “potential scams and fraudulent activity” that are targeting Haitians in the aftermath of the Jan. 12 earthquake. The meeting will be held on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 4:30 p.m. at the Haitian Multi-Service Center on Columbia Road in Dorchester.
In a weekly column released by Menino’s office today (Feb. 9), the mayor praises the city for rallying to the needs of the Boston Haitian community, but added, “[T]he work must continue as there are now questions about the often complicated immigration process and unfortunately, some are preying upon such a tragic situation by offering services they cannot provide.”
According to Menino, the forum will include Denis Riordan, Director of the Boston Office of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Emmanuelle Dupiton, Consul of the Consulate of Haiti. Read more

Boston doc urges construction of medical facilities in Haiti

February 4, 2010 by Bill Forry

Updated Feb. 9, 2010— Read this op-ed in today's Boston Globe by Dr. Laurence Ronan and Dr. Lisa I. Iezzoni about the urgent need for long-term care facilities in Haiti.- Ed.

After two weeks spent treating Haitian earthquake victims aboard a U.S. Navy-owned hospital ship, Dr. Laurence Ronan returned to Boston last Friday. A physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Ronan is the director of the Thomas S. Durant, MD, Fellowship in Refugee Medicine program, and is a member of a disaster response team that deploys to catastrophes all over the world. What the Savin Hill resident saw in Haiti last month has topped them all.

This week, as he prepares to return to the Caribbean in a matter of days to help coordinate long-term medical care for thousands of victims, Ronan talked to the Reporter about the scenes he witnessed and the great need for the world to keep its gaze focused on an island nation that has lost some 200,000 people — and counting— to this devastation. Read more

Governor Patrick creates "catastrophic leave" program for state workers

February 1, 2010 by State House News Service

Gov. Deval Patrick on Thursday signed an executive order permitting executive branch employees to donate earned vacation and personal leave time to colleagues with relatives in Haiti. The move, supported by Haitian state lawmakers Linda Forry and Marie St. Fleur, as well as the Haitian consul general to Boston, follows a commitment by the Patrick administration to have ready any available personnel, equipment and supplies for assist rescue efforts in Haiti, should the U.S. government request them. Read more