Zavi ’25, collaborates with a local farmers market to spread awareness of “the Haitian refugee influx and the critical shortage of affordable housing.”
Right next door to Deerfield is the small city of Greenfield. The quaint town square and empty city streets by 8 PM might deceive you into thinking that there isn’t much going on here, but you’ll find the seeds of a prosperous and diverse future if you know where to look.
In mid-2023, in combination with the Haitian refugee influx and the “critical shortage of affordable housing,” according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, many migrants, primarily Haitians, were placed in emergency housing in Greenfield. Many came without much knowledge of English; some had walked from Brazil, forced to leave refuge there to find somewhere new, evading danger and keeping the family together along the way; all were unfamiliar to and apparently alone in central Massachusetts. Since then, the small Haitian community of Greenfield (including my family) and generous Greenfield citizens such as Pamela Adams, Wendy Goodman, and Amy McMahan have been able to help the new families settle in and find opportunities. However, the efforts of a few can only go so far. When would the migrants be able to find their own place and make Greenfield their home?
Living in hotels on the outskirts of town, the migrants are literally outside of the Greenfield community. Deliberate efforts have been made to raise awareness and connect the Haitian and Greenfield communities. For example, the Chinese-American restaurant owner Amy McMahan sold Haitian food at her restaurant, Mesa Verde, giving Haitians the opportunity to work, and sharing Haitian culture. Building off this project, I’m collaborating with Amy McMahan and Mesa Verde to set up a Greenfield Farmers Market stall to sell Haitian food made by Haitians. The goal is to bridge the Haitian and Greenfield communities by providing space for the migrants and other Greenfield residents to interact, and by sharing Haitian culture through food. Hopefully through this opportunity, the migrants will be able to find a home in Greenfield.
