Mme Adeline Auguste
Mme. Adeline Auguste, an active member of the St. Gerard Catholic Church Haiti Committee, moved from Detroit from Brooklyn in 1983. Her relocation to Detroit occurred after her husband, Serge, who she met and married in New York, had already moved there because of his employment. Initially, Adeline, who was reluctant to follow her husband to the Motor City, remained behind in New York with her first daughter, Danielle Florence. Quickly, however, she became “less and less happy in New York because I was a single parent. So I thought I would try Detroit.”

After two decades in Detroit and the eventual birth of her second daughter, Catherine Leslie, Adeline feels that “I didn’t do too bad. So far, I don't have any regrets!”

Once in Detroit, Mme. Auguste was determined to become involved with the small Haitian community there and with educating others about Haiti. “My involvement in Detroit over the years has included organizing a Mass of Thanksgiving for the Haitian community and inviting a priest to celebrate mass in French and Creole for our community.

Mme. August is intent that her two US-born daughters grow up with a solid knowledge of Haiti and personal pride of being Haitian.

“In 1992 I made my first presentation on Haiti at St. Gerard Catholic Church. I talked about the culture, the people, and their situation. I continue to give presentations on Haitian culture at various places and am involved in many activities that bring awareness to Haitian culture. I have also taught Haitian Creole to American missionaries traveling to Haiti and helped with their fund-raisers for their mission.”

Mme. August is intent that her two US-born daughters grow up with a solid knowledge of Haiti and personal pride of being Haitian. “Both of my children have great interest in Haitian culture. They both have gone in medical missionary trips to Haiti, and they plan on continuing this annual trip as long as they are able.”

The pride of being Haitian that Mme. Auguste has instilled in her children is evident from the fact that when she asked one of her daughters to pick out an email name for her, the daughter chose “labellcreole.” When asked why her daughter had not spelled the name “labellecreole,” Mme. August laughed and said, “Well, she still has a little way to go with her spelling!”

Julio Bateau

Julio Bateau

Julio Bateau, the Founder of the Espoir Center for Caribbean Arts and Culture, came to Detroit in 1978, following the completion of his studies for a Masters in Structural Engineering at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Previously, Mr. Bateau earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics and Engineering at the State University of New York at Stonybrook. Attracting the structural engineer to Detroit were professional opportunities with the US Army Corps of Engineers and General Motors, where he accomplished successful careers in mechanical engineering.

Shortly after arriving in Detroit, Julio’s homeland hit the news, as images of Haitian refugees arriving in Florida flashed across Detroit’s television screens. He chose a path of activism on this issue and others related to Haiti, approaching the city’s public officials and others with information helping them to increase their understanding and challenging them to speak out on the behalf of Haitians. One prominent Detroit leader who listened to Julio was John Conyers, now the leading spokesman on Haiti issues in the US House of Representatives. Thinking back to this intense period of activism, Bateau smiles, shrugs and says “my only self-defense is that, back then, I had no family.”

Activism on issues of social justice was not all that kept Julio occupied. When he arrived in Detroit he wasted little time connecting with Dr. Guerin Montilus, whose arrival at Wayne State University in Detroit preceded Julio’s by three years. In 1980 the two Haitian strategists were joined by recent Detroit arrivee, Dr. Jean Alcee, and together they forged a partnership that is still strong twenty years later, developing and enacting strategies that would eventually lead to the creation of the Espoir Center and its position of prominence in the community.

About 10 years ago, Bateau added another challenge to his plate when he established several businesses and became involved in restoring a street full of beautiful, but forgotten, 100 year old mansions in the long ignored residential neighborhood on Ferry Street. Currently he is Managing Partner of East Ferry LLC, Nailah LLC, AIDA LLC and East Ferry Residential LLC, all in Detroit. For his restoration work he has received the Pioneer in Preservation Award from Preservation Wayne and has appeared on “Restore America” a popular national television program hosted by home restoration expert Bob Vila.

While Julio Bateau has become a well-known - and busy - personality in Detroit, he maintains not only his involvement with Detroit’s Haitian community, but also his ambitions to make positive contributions ‘back home.’ Emerging from a Friday evening meal at his favorite Indian restaurant in Detroit’s ethnically diverse neighborhood of Hamtramck, his answers his cell phone and begins speaking - in Creole - with a friend and business partner in Miami about a redevelopment project soon to take shape on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. To read more about Julio Bateau and his restoration work, CLICK HERE.