Haitian migrants

For Olanda Fontin, things are starting to look up. The 31-year-old recently obtained a work permit and is starting a new job as a homemaker — she is on her way to securing a better life for herself and her family.

Boston’s Haitian leaders at the forefront of the migrant crisis are overwhelmed and the state’s safety nets are stretched. The established Haitian community must step up to help expedite the integration of Haitian migrants into the local community.

On a hot day in July, a woman took her own life in a hotel room in Taunton. She was one of an estimated 500 Haitian migrants receiving emergency shelter in that hotel. We cannot say for certain what prompted her to take her life — perhaps it was the culmination of the trauma she endured during her migration journey through South and Central America, or perhaps it was the unexpected challenges she experienced upon her arrival to Boston.