Leonard Gray, or Gray as he is affectionately known, was a fixture at the Newmarket Farmers’ Market prior to the pandemic.
Kerrie Blaise remembers meeting him there when she was just eight years old, going to the farmers’ market every weekend with her parents.
“People we see in our community on a weekly basis, we have those conversations and at a farmers’ market. There’s always such an abundance of energy and positivity,” she said.
Gray was a migrant worker from Jamaica. He worked at farms in the area and in the Holland Marsh and would attend the Newmarket Farmers’ Market with them.
Blaise, who is now in her 30s, said she developed a friendship with Gray and, as she got older, she would go to the market sometimes just to talk with him.
“I know I wasn’t the only one who would do that,” she said. “Because he was at the farm for four decades, I know he developed many, many friendships.”
After years of weekly conversations at the market, Blaise has kept in touch with Gray via WhatsApp.
After the fall of 2019, Gray returned to Jamaica when the farming season ended, and then, with the start of the pandemic, he was hesitant to come back to Canada with rising COVID-19 cases among migrant workers. He then developed a health condition that made him unable to travel.
“It’s a double-edged sword because if he had been able to travel back to Canada and get a job as he had in years past and work on a farm, he would have been able to access health-care services here in Canada,” Blaise said.
His condition has left him in constant abdominal and back pain, but he has been unable to get a diagnosis due to the cost of the care he needs in Jamaica and a lack of access to the health-care system. He is also unable to work because of his condition.
“I knew he was struggling to access health-care services. I thought there must be something I can do,” Blaise said.
She started a fundraiser in hopes people who know Grey and even those who don’t would feel for him and want to help. The goal is to raise $15,000. So far, $1,715 has been raised through online donations.
Blaise said that money has already helped Gray, who was able to get an immediate doctor’s appointment at a private clinic, where he was able to get painkillers.
It is a relief, Blaise said, but she wants to raise even more so Gray can get a full diagnostic assessment and then cover whatever treatment is required. The funds will also help pay workers for Gray’s small farm in Jamaica so he can make money there.
“Gray was a very skilled farmer and worked tirelessly growing organic food for us, while providing for his family back home,” she said on her fundraising page. “Gray needs us — his Canadian connections, friends and family.”
Blaise has remained in touch with Gray throughout the fundraiser, and when she told him about the donations coming in from people they didn’t even know, she said, “he simply broke down in tears. He is so grateful and so thankful. He had no words to express what this means to him, his health and his family.”
On top of raising money for Gray, Blaise also wants to raise awareness for migrant workers who may be in a similar position without health benefits.
“It’s really opened my eyes to the fact that Gray’s story is just one of many stories like this,” she said.
Workers like Gray spend the majority of the year working in Canada to provide food for people here while being away from their families, but once they leave, there is no support in place, Blaise said.
The Migrant Rights Network is a cross-Canada movement calling for rights and status for all migrants. It also calls for access to health care.
“Migrants often do not access health care until it is absolutely necessary due to the costs. By the time they do, their health conditions are much more complicated, and the burden on the health-care system is much higher. Regularization will protect overall public health,” the organization said in a recent update.
“It is about the lack of health care and how someone can live in a country for over 30 years, but once they become old or ill, they’re no longer of value,” Blaise said.
She hopes, even though she is far away, she can help her friend, Gray.
