Ohioans flock to Springfield's Haitian restaurants: 'They're family' | Ohio

TThe line stretches halfway down the middle of Rose Goute Creole restaurant on South Limestone Street in Springfield, Ohio, after former President Donald Trump falsely accused immigrants in Springfield of eating cats and dogs during a televised debate on Sept. 10.

In the back of the restaurant, kitchen staff hurriedly takes orders and loads plates of herring cakes, rice and beans, and grilled chicken thighs onto serving trays. Outside, cars with Georgia, Wisconsin, and Indiana license plates line the parking lot—diners who have stopped on a nearby highway to show their support for the Haitian community.

It is a somewhat chaotic scene as Dady Fanfan, a 41-year-old from Plaisance in northern Haiti, stands in the doorway, greets the guests as they enter and then sneaks off to clear the neighboring tables.

“One day I came to the restaurant to buy something and saw that there were a lot of people there,” says Fanfan, who doesn't know the restaurant owners personally but is spending his free time this week helping his fellow countrymen. “I only stayed for a short time to help them, and the next day I came because they are family.”

As Trump and JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate and Ohio Senator, continue to spread false information about Haitians in Springfield, ordinary people from the city and elsewhere are taking it upon themselves to reclaim the narrative about immigrants in the Ohio city.

And the massive support in the fight against Trump's damaging comments is not limited to volunteer work.

Numerous community health centers and aid organizations that have been helping Haitians in Springfield for years are reporting an increase in donations and contributions in tandem with the excitement of the past ten days.

“In the last three days, we've received about seven times the amount of cash donations we normally receive, specifically because of this polarization,” said Casey Rollins, executive director of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Springfield. She says the money is then converted to gift cards that those in need can redeem at a local international grocery store.

Unlike his party colleagues, Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine has spoken out strongly in support of the Haitian community, calling on Trump and Vance to stop their “very hurtful” comments and pledging to provide $2.5 million over two years to support health organizations in Springfield.

“I'm just trying to make it easier for them to get through the firestorm they're in,” says Sammy, who pulled up to the Haitian Community Help and Support Center parking lot on her Yamaha motorcycle 176 miles from Cleveland last Saturday without knowing a single person in town. Seeing the threats and hatred against Springfield's Haitians online, and having served in the Army herself, she wanted to help protect people she saw as innocent victims.

“I believe America is at its best when one community stands up for, protects and stands in solidarity with another,” she says.

Sammy, who wishes to remain anonymous because she is a trans woman currently going through a name change process, says she has seen supporters dropping off fresh garden vegetables, doing gardening around the center, and dropping off furniture and office supplies.

“It was one of the most American experiences of my life,” she says.

“It's humiliating.”

As Sammy speaks, 79-year-old JoAnn Welland from the neighboring town of Enon passes in front of the center and asks where she can donate.

“The people who come here (from Haiti) have sacrificed so much to come here, and Springfield is a beautiful city in my opinion,” she says. Welland says she was motivated to get in her car and drive to the Haitian community center to donate after hearing lies on television about Haitians eating pets.

“Then I heard there was a bomb threat against the town hall and the elementary school. This hate speech is wrong. It's ugly and negative and hateful. This is my way of standing up for the truth,” says Welland.

But as Welland speaks, across town, three supermarkets are being evacuated and closed because of bomb threats. Dozens of such threats have roiled the city since Trump named Springfield as the only way out during last week's debate. At a Springfield elementary school, about 200 children missed classes Tuesday because of safety concerns and bomb threats that have mostly turned out to be hoaxes.

Earlier this week, CultureFest, a fall festival popular with locals, was cancelled to avoid “potential risks” to visitors. A debate with local politicians running for election was also cancelled.

Springfield's Republican mayor, Rob Rue, has asked both presidential candidates not to come to town, saying it would put an extreme strain on the city's already scarce resources. Despite this, Trump said at a rally in New York on Wednesday that he would travel to Springfield in the coming weeks.

At the Rose Goute Creole restaurant, customers are streaming in nonstop, orders piling up as hungry Haitian workers in T-shirts bearing their employers' pictures rush to the counter to take their orders before scurrying back out the door.

And Fanfan is not alone. Amanda Payen hands out free bottles of water and asks guests if they will be served. Her husband Jacob, who is from Port-au-Prince but lived in Florida for decades before coming to Springfield, thanks guests for coming as they leave.

None of them are employees of the restaurant, but as Haitians they want to help.

“I’ll come back tomorrow,” says Fanfan, “and if I see that they need help, I’ll stay.”