From Haiti to a Home at CRB: Meet Leytitia '26

Leytitia’s calm confidence belies her teenage years. She speaks with the poise of someone who has faced hardship—and risen above it. Though born in the U.S., she spent fifteen years in Haiti, in a neighborhood near Port-au-Prince that once felt like family. Her mother worked hard to send her to a good private school, and “everyone knew everyone,” she says.

That changed when violence and political unrest took hold. Power would cut out for days or weeks, and streets became dangerous. When protesters’ barricades trapped families without food for three months, her family had to rely on neighbors for help. “We couldn’t go anywhere,” she remembers. Through multiple moves, her grandmother’s compassion left a mark. “She always tries to understand people,” Leytitia says. “In my family, we always think about others and help them—even when we have troubles.” That lesson still defines her.

A family friend recommended Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School as a safe, supportive place where students work to help pay tuition. Upon returning to Brooklyn, Leytitia enrolled as a junior. Her days begin early, before sunrise on the 6:10 a.m. bus from Canarsie, but at CRB Leytitia found classmates eager to learn where she came from—and a community that helped her see where she’s going.

Her work-study placements at Paul, Weiss law firm and American Express helped her grow in confidence. She earned first honors with a 3.7 GPA, and through Cristo Rey Brooklyn’s Gerstner Scholars Program, she spent two weeks at the University of Michigan exploring medicine—learning CPR, surgical techniques, and dissection. The experience took her interest in medicine and transformed it into the start of an actionable career plan. “It made me love the medical field even more,” she says.

Now a senior applying to Boston College and Lafayette College, she hopes to study biology and become an anesthesiologist—following in the footsteps of her grandmother, a pediatrician who inspired her to serve others.

“My life here feels calm and full of joy,” she says. “At Cristo Rey, I’ve met so many people who inspire me to do my best. When you’re down, you can always go to them.”

Stories like Leytitia’s are possible because of Cristo Rey Brooklyn—and the donors who believe in what’s possible when a young person is given the chance to thrive.