LIMA, OH (WLIO) - The Lima community is helping Haitian immigrants figure out their next steps to integrate into the area.
Community and faith leaders invited immigrants and the public to the Haitian Friends Lima Lunch and Learn on Sunday. This is the third meeting in the series, but the first one they've held so far this year. Organizers say the immigrants are not looking for handouts. They're seeking advice on the things they need to do themselves to settle down and get their life started in the Lima area, like how to find and maintain stable housing.
"Part of it is the rights and responsibilities of being a good tenant. How to find housing and just kind of how to communicate, how to sign leases, and some of the legal things that are involved in signing a lease contract," said Matt Etzkorn of the St. Rose-St. John Social Action Committee.
Officials remind the public that the Haitian immigrants are coming to communities all across Ohio to escape severe political unrest, and the majority of them are coming here the correct way.
"About 20% of them are college educated, and over 90% of them are documented properly. We have employment agencies that are reaching out because we have jobs that need to be filled. We also have people that have lived here for a while that are encouraging family members, and there are a host of other reasons," explained Carla Thompson, the community resource navigator with Mercy Health St. Rita's.
More meetings will be held in the future on different subjects that the migrants need help navigating.
