GREENFIELD, MA (FRANKLIN COUNTY NOW) — On Monday the Greenfield Community Relations Committee discussed the status of the city’s approximately 45 Haitian immigrant families and their current needs.
The mayor-appointed liaison to the immigrants, Wendy Goodman, shared that the contracted shelter manager, ServiceNet, had banned her from the Days Inn shelter in April, causing a disruption in the connection to community resources Goodman was providing as a speaker of Haitian Creole.
Greenfield Public Health nurse Megan Tudryn joined the meeting via Zoom and shared that while some things may be improving for the immigrants, others are not. She was recently contacted about a family in need of a car seat to be able to leave the hospital after giving birth, demonstrating the needs the immigrants have that are not being met without the help of community resources and people like Goodman.
Discussion on the shelter will continue in upcoming City Council meetings where more information can be gathered about the work ServiceNet is doing and the contract they hold as manager of the shelter.