Maissa Cedar Boulos

Maissa Boulos
Brooklyn, NY
May 18th, 1979 – August 26th, 2024
Maissa Cedar Boulos, of Brooklyn, New York, died unexpectedly on August 26, 2024, at the age of 45, following a recent heart attack. She is survived by her husband, David Haglund, and their two children, Pearl, 7, and Oscar, 6, as well as by her mother, Suzanne Boulos; her sister, Shireen Riley; Shireen's children, Liam and Maya; and her stepsister, Rachel Reiser. Maissa is also survived by her in-laws, Karen and Karl Haglund; their children Anna, Erik, Thomas, and Evan; and several nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her father, Ziad Boulos, and her stepfather, Stewart Reiser.
Maissa was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her parents, who immigrated from Lebanon, settled in Belmont, Massachusetts, when Maissa was 5. She attended Belmont High School and Harvard College before going to law school at New York University.
Maissa became a lawyer to help those of us who are most vulnerable to injustice, including new immigrants and the incarcerated. During and after law school, she worked at several nonprofits and public-interest law firms, including the A.C.L.U. and the Center for Public Representation. After a decade as a lawyer, Maissa switched careers, becoming a social worker and working more directly with people in need. For eight years, she worked at Community Access, eventually leading a supportive housing program that provided affordable apartments and social services to people who have experienced mental health concerns and housing instability. Maissa advocated for the rights and wellbeing of her tenants, mentored a team of frontline workers, and fostered a caring community.
The work was hard, but Maissa loved it. Even at the height of the pandemic, she went into Manhattan nearly every day, taking the subway to the East Village, and helping tenants get the services and the assistance that they needed. She came home knowing that, because she was there, someone was able to secure their benefits, or to receive medical care, and to have someone looking out for them.
At home, Maissa played with Pearl and Oscar, read to them, and sang them lullabies. She took them to the library and to Prospect Park, to the Brooklyn Children's Museum and to Coney Island. Maissa loved New York, and especially the neighborhood in Brooklyn where she became a mom. There she formed deep friendships with other parents and introduced Pearl and Oscar to life in a big city.
A memorial service for Maissa will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 21, at the Story Chapel in Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn Street Cambridge, MA, 02138. Her burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Maissa's name to the Urban Justice Center's Mental Health Project, where Maissa worked as an intern during law school, and which provides direct legal and social work services to people in need in New York: https://mhp.urbanjustice.org.