News of the U.N's vote — which authorized a one-year deployment of a Kenya-led force to help quell violent gangs — dominated conversations on radio and television programs in Haiti.
Wensley Johnson, a 40-year-old Haitian and construction worker said "it's like God hear Haiti's prayers, and he's sending help."
Johnson had to flee his home this year after gangs pillaged his community that was built by people who survived a devastating earthquake that hit the nation in 2010.
Worried about the never-ending gang violence, the 40-year-old sent his son and stepdaughter to live with his mother in the countryside, but continued to care for them.
Meanwhile, construction has been halted at several sites because gangs have seized control of those areas, and Johnson has been unable to find work.
Johnson said "stability would be key for everybody to get back to their normal activities," adding that he’s relieved that a foreign armed force will be deployed.
"Our forces don't have the manpower to fight the gangs with the guns that they have," he said.
The departure of armed soldiers and police from Haiti in 2017 after nearly two decades on the streets helped criminals seize control of much of the Caribbean nation.
Haiti's National Police launched several operations against gangs, but the department doesn't have enough resources or staff, with only some 10,000 active officers for a country of more than 11 million people.
The Kenya-led mission would be the first time in almost 20 years that a force would be deployed to Haiti. A 2004 U.N. mission ended in 2017.
Jamaica, the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda pledged personnel that will work with their Kenyan counterparts to formulate the international force.
The non-U.N. mission would be reviewed after nine months and be funded by voluntary contributions, with the U.S. pledging up to $200 million.
Kenya’s foreign minister has said the force could be deployed in early January.
"They should be here sooner than January," said Peter John, a 49-year-old carpenter who heard the news on a small black-and-white radio perched in his shop, where he makes beds, tables and cabinets.
He worries that gang violence will only keep escalating.
"One morning you hear about guys taking over an area, killing and raping kids, leaving everybody without a home, and that’s scary," John said.
"A force that’s coming into the country would be able to fight back," he added.
The 49-year-old carpenter said Haitians will temporarily take care of gangs the only way they know how: though a violent uprising known as "bwa kale," which has killed an estimated 350 people since it began in April.
"The population will put an end to their lives. They have people suffering too much," he said in reference to the gangs.
More than 2,400 people have been reported killed from January through mid-August this year, with more than 950 kidnapped and another 902 wounded, according to U.N. statistics. Violence against women and children in particular has risen.
Among those kidnapped and tortured are friends of Jannette Boucher, a 37-year-old store owner who sells women's and children's clothing.
She herself escaped a gang attack earlier this year while driving alone. Gangs shot at her car, breaking a window as she pressed the gas and fled.
"Oh, yeah, I’m excited," she said of the upcoming deployment. "It's time that Haiti gets some real support."
FILE - Riot policemen walk back during clashes with protesters in the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya on July 19, 2023. Weeks ago, the U.S. warned Kenyan police officers against violent abuses. Now 1,000 of those police officers will head to Haiti to take on gang warfare.
More than 200,000 Haitians have lost their homes to gangs who set fire to communities and rape and kill residents in a bid to wrestle territory from rival gangs.
Previous foreign interventions in Haiti have left many wary and angry.
A U.N. stabilization mission launched in 2004 was marred by a sexual abuse scandal and the introduction of cholera, which killed nearly 10,000 people.
"They leave bad memories in Haiti," Jean-Pierre Elie, a 60-year-old private teacher, said of previous interventions.
He said he supports the upcoming force because "it's unbearable to live in Haiti," but worries the past might be repeated.
"The soldiers are sometimes out of control," Ellie said.
"It's like they don't have anyone to report to. They do whatever they want," he added.
Critics of the new mission warn of past abuses by Kenya’s police force, but supporters say the U.N. resolution contains strong language to prevent abuse, and calls for correct wastewater management.