Notre Dame D'Haiti Catholic Church

Notre Dame D'Haiti holds a special place in the formation of the Little Haiti neighborhood and the subsequent steady settling of Haitian immigrants to that particular area, known as Lemon City at the time.

This church was established as a Haitian Catholic Mission archdiocese who wished to serve the growing Haitian population by offering humanitarian and spiritual services to those in need. Here Fr. Gerald Jean-Juste, Fr. Gerald Darbouste and other priests worked hard to create new roads for for legal status within the community. The religious site took on new meanings and set new trends in the role of the Haitian catholic church in Miami. Of the priests, Fr. Jean-Juste was most outspoken and would frequently confront the archdiocese on the resources being allotted to the Haitian community in comparison to other immigrant populations. Due to his politics, the church soon ostracized him, but he used his influence to create the Haitian Refugee Center which used the church as a homebase for recruitment and dissemination of information. This created a trend which blurred the lines between secular humanitarian work and religious based aide that still continues today with the church. 

Today, Fr. Reginald Jean-Mary heads the church and uses the same charismatic style to push for activism both inside and outside of the Catholic church. He attends community meetings and is active in encouraging the youth to understand the homeland while creating new connections here. 

Creole: Notre Dame D'Ayiti kenbe yon plas espesyal nan fòmasyon an nan katye a Little Ayiti epi ki fèt aprè fiks rezoud nan imigran ayisyen sa yo ki zòn an patikilye, yo konnen kòm Lemon City nan moman an. Premye kòmanse kòm yon Misyon Katolik ayisyen, Acheveche a te vle fè sèvi ap grandi popilasyon ayisyen an pa ofri sèvis imanitè ak espirityèl nan moun ki nan bezwen. Isit la Fr. Gerald Jean-Juste, Fr. Gerald Darbouste ak lòt prèt travay di yo kreye wout nouvo pou pou estati legal nan kominote a. Sou sit la relijye te pran sou siyifikasyon nouvo ak mete nouvo tandans nan wòl la nan legliz ayisyen an Katolik nan Miami. Nan prèt yo, Fr. Jean-Juste te pi gwo ènmi e yo ta souvan konfwonte Acheveche a sou resous yo ke yo te attribué nan kominote ayisyen an nan konparezon a popilasyon imigran ak lòt. Akòz politik l 'yo, legliz la byento ostrasize l', men li te itilize enfliyans li yo kreye ayisyen Refijye Sant la ki itilize legliz la kòm yon HomeBASE pou rekritman ak sikile enfòmasyon. Sa a te kreye yon tandans ki trouble liy ki genyen ant travay pwofàn imanitè ak relijye asistan baze sou ki toujou ap kontinye jodi a ak legliz la.

Stepick, Alex. "The refugees nobody wants: Haitians in Miami." Miami now(1992): 57-82.