Opening doors for immigrants: UMass Dining’s Pam Adams finds work for Haitian community
BY ANTHONY CAMMALLERI
DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17TH, 2024
AMHERST — On the 10th floor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Campus Center, Samuel Noel, a welder by trade, works as a dishwasher — his first job in the United States.
Noel, a Haitian immigrant who moved to Greenfield’s Days Inn shelter on Colrain Road with his family last year after a six-year stay in Chile, is one of the about 48 Haitian immigrants for whom Pamela Adams, director of bakery operations and executive pastry chef for UMass Dining, has found employment at the university.
“I’ve adapted very well in my life here, and also here in my job. I really like my job because everybody works well together, everybody respects each other. There’s nobody who thinks that they’re in charge or puts pressure on somebody,” Noel said in Haitian Creole, translated by Adams.
“Even though I’m a pot washer, all the cooks, they include me and show me how to do other things. … They’re opening my knowledge. For example, they brought me over and showed me how to do platters. They are there helping me to learn to grow in doing multiple things in the kitchen.”
In 2017, Noel left his home in Haiti to move to Chile, where he found work as a gardener. He said he left with his wife and two sons in an effort to move somewhere where he and his family could live safely. He met and befriended Adams at the Days Inn in the months that followed his arrival in Franklin County.
Last month, Adams received a Commonwealth Heroine award from the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women for her role in feeding and finding employment for dozens of refugees and immigrants in Greenfield. Adams, who grew up in Haiti as the daughter of missionaries, visited the immigrants regularly, providing home-cooked Haitian meals and acts of service in any way she could help.
“I left Haiti because of the insecurity, you know. There was always some sort of a manifestation and just a general insecurity of a country. I didn’t feel safe,” Noel said. “As far as Greenfield goes, I find that it’s a very peaceful town. I would love to stay here because I’ve been told that there’s other areas that aren’t necessarily as safe and as tranquil as it is in Greenfield.”
Realizing the difficulty of adjusting one’s diet to the cuisine of a new culture, Adams partnered with her friend, Stone Soup Cafe Executive Director and Chef Kirsten Levitt, to prepare Haitian meals each Sunday. The scale of Adams’ operation grew as volunteers from Blessed Trinity Parish and Mesa Verde owner Amy McMahan joined the effort.
Adams said she has found work for dozens of Haitian immigrants and refugees, such as Noel’s teenage son, who now works at Lamore Lumber in South Deerfield.
“Wherever I’m going, anytime I see a ‘For Hire’ sign, I’ll always stop in there and see if they’d be willing to hire somebody,” Adams said.
Noel is currently living in the United States under I-94 immigration status, also known as an “Arrival/Departure card” to prove legal status. He said he has not yet been issued a visa, but hopes to continue living in Greenfield if he can find a home.
“As far as Greenfield goes, I love the town and I would love to stay there. The decision is going to be on housing. If I can get housing, then I absolutely want to stay because I like Greenfield a lot,” Noel said.
Adams said she has been in contact with state legislators and local landlords in an effort to find secure housing for those who are currently staying at the Days Inn, but efforts so far have not been successful. She said she will continue to help Greenfield’s Haitian community in any way that she can.
“It’s an honor to be able to help my people. It gives me a lot of joy,” she said. “It feeds my soul, honestly. My goal is to help them try and get established as best as possible.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected] or 413-930-4429.
