26215: Hermantin(News)Miramar is home to wealthiest Haitian community in S. Florida (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

By Alva James-Johnson
Staff Writer

September 9, 2005

Miramar is home to wealthiest Haitian community in S. Florida


Pradel Vilme wanted to raise his children in a quiet suburban neighborhood with 
all the trimmings of middle-class American life.

So in 2001, the real estate agent moved his family from Miami to western 
Miramar and from a three-bedroom to a five-bedroom house.

"You have to upgrade yourself," said the 54-year-old Haitian-American, who has 
lived in South Florida since 1985. "In America, people transplant from place to 
place until they're retired. They're always looking for something better."

Now, thanks to Vilme and others like him, Miramar is home to the wealthiest 
Haitian community in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, according to a study 
released last week by the Brookings Institution, a public policy think tank in 
Washington, D.C.

The study, based on the 2000 Census, was initiated by Sant La Haitian 
Neighborhood Center in Miami as a supplement to another Brookings report called 
"Growing the Middle Class: Connecting All of Miami-Dade Residents to Economic 
Opportunity."

Among cities with large Haitian populations in the two-county area, the study 
found that Haitians in Miramar had the highest median household income, with 
$43,138. North Miami Beach had the second-highest, with $30,068. Lauderdale 
Lakes was third, with $30,059, and Haitians in Miami had the lowest median 
household income, with $20,000.

Gepsie Metellus, executive director of Sant La, said many are attracted to 
Miramar's newer homes, schools and suburban environment.

"People want to have an excellent quality of life, and wherever they can afford 
it, they will go," she said.

The report highlighted the Haitian community's struggle to rise. It found that 
Haitians in Miami-Dade had the lowest median household incomes, the 
lowest-paying jobs and the highest rate of adults without a high school 
education among all ethnic groups.

Yet it documented the progress many Haitians have made since the 1970s, as many 
of them acquired wealth and moved from Little Haiti and other Miami 
neighborhoods to Broward. The study found that Haitians in Broward, numbering 
62,342, had a median household income of $31,041. In Miami-Dade, with a Haitian 
population of 95,669, the figure was $27,284.

In the report, researchers said getting an accurate count of the Haitian 
population was impossible because the census undercounted minority and 
immigrant groups. Still, they said, the statistics reveal important trends.

"Miami-Dade struggles with the fact that it's a huge entry point for 
immigrants, but when these new immigrants and their families move up and become 
middle class, they leave," said Rebecca Sohmer, a research analyst with the 
metropolitan policy program at Brookings. "Miami-Dade's loss is Broward 
County's gain."

Alex Stepick, director of the Immigration and Ethnicity Institute at Florida 
International University, said the migration of Haitians and people from the 
English-speaking Caribbean to western Broward began 15 years ago. In addition 
to those moving from Miami, many Caribbean-Americans are migrating from New 
York and elsewhere in the Northeast.

"In the year 2000, the state of Florida had more Haitians and English-speaking 
West Indians than the state of New York," he said, "and much of that was 
because of the rapid growth in western Broward, which tends to be middle 
class."

It's what sociologists call chain migration, he said. "Somebody gets there, 
then people they know follow them, and the chain exponentially grows."

Miramar Mayor Lori C. Moseley said she has noticed the growth of the Haitian 
middle class in her city.

"Miramar is an incredible, culturally diverse community where everyone is 
welcome and everyone feels welcomed here," she said. "We have a population 
that's a little bit of this and little bit of that, and we try to celebrate 
it."

Now Vilme, his wife, and three children, ages 10, 16, and 17, call it home.

Vilme said he fled Haiti in 1985 to escape the Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier 
regime. Vilme settled in Miami and earned a bachelor's degree in business 
administration from Florida International University. After starting his own 
real estate and mortgage company, he decided it was time to move.

Now he has a program on Haitian radio station WJCC, AM-1700, in which he 
educates other Haitians about how to adjust to their new environment.

He encourages them to participate in their neighborhood associations so they 
can help make the rules.

"We're at the early stages of Haitians moving into these communities," he said. 
"It's an adjustment because every culture is different."

Alva James-Johnson can be reached at ajjohson@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4523.




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South Florida Statistics

Haitian Median Household Incomes and Populations in Cities With Large Haitian 
Populations:

CityIncomePop.Miramar$43,138 4,359North Miami Beach $30,068 7,864Lauderdale 
Lakes $30,059 4,732Golden Glades $27,500 10,284Pompano Beach $26,458 
4,718Lauderhill$26,449 5,034North Miami $26,045 18,656Pinewood$23,901 4,315Fort 
Lauderdale $23,691 10,869Miami $20,000 18,309SOURCE: The Haitian Community in 
Miami-Dade: A Growing the Middle Class Supplement, based on the 2000 Census. 
Study available at www.brookings.edu/metro
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel