CRIS Staff Spotlight | Sophia Pierrelus DuGue
CRIS Family Stability and Support Specialist Sophia Pierrelus DuGue explains that she was raised around three core elements: “church, home, and school.”
Growing up in Haiti, Sophia’s parents instilled in her the values of discipline, respect, and education, all of which play an important part in who she is today and the work she does with CRIS and in the community.
“...That made me who I am today. It’s the culture that I grew up in–how to respect elders, you respect yourself, respect other people. Especially being able to care for other people.”
She reflects, “As an immigrant… I understand the change of leaving a country, a culture, to come to a new country, learn the language, and be able to adapt to the new culture that you are exposed to.”
Sophia moved to the United States from Haiti when her father served as a Haitian diplomat in New York City. She and her family eventually became permanent residents. She went on to earn degrees in physical therapy, as well as organizational leadership and management. After graduation, she became a physical therapist and also a manager at a rehabilitation department in Ohio.
“I’ve always been serving people in different capacities,” Sophia shares.
In 2023, Sophia got a call from CRIS requesting help with rehousing the more than 800 Haitian asylum seekers who were found to be living in dangerous conditions in a condemned apartment complex on Columbus’ east side. Sophia, without hesitation, said yes.
“I was on the ground with the City of Columbus, helping them interpret, with law enforcement, and from there, CRIS asked me if I would be interested in a position. I accepted it. I was helping with the community with [what] they needed as a resource specialist,” Sophia recalls.
In that role, Sophia also helped many clients navigate the healthcare system, going with people to hospitals and doctors’ appointments. The following year, she received news of a family emergency, and she knew she had to step back from her work with CRIS at that time.
Through this period of transition for her, though, Sophia continued serving her community. She continued to provide Haitians with housing and legal help, specifically in Springfield and Lima, Ohio.
Helping fellow Haitian immigrants is one way that Sophia helps the people of her homeland while being away from home.
“I value my people and my country. And seeing that they came in here lost, not knowing what to do, where to go, and not knowing the law of the land, not knowing the language, not knowing what to expect after going through so much trauma themselves. And being one of the people that can actually be there for them, listening to them, and guiding them. I think not only I help myself, but I help them transition from a bad place to another, and trying to feel like, ‘Okay, finally, I feel like I belong, I find a new home, and I belong,’” Sophia said.
Sophia finds belonging through her work just as much as her clients do.
“I keep myself busy doing something positive… seeing the smiles on people’s faces and being able to solve issues and be the voice for them actually fills me up in a way that I cannot understand. It’s priceless, and that actually keeps me going,” Sophia says.
“You just have to have a heart for people. Put yourself in their shoes and do the best that you can do, not for rewards, not for likes, not for followers… not for anything else. Just because that's the right thing to do, to help someone…”
Just last month we warmly welcomed Sophia back to the CRIS team to provide critical support to Central Ohio’s Haitian community as many face uncertain futures due to continued policy shifts.