The first time Meghann E. LaFountain flew to Haiti on vacation in September 2012, she needed encouragement from a friend and former classmate from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

“I had not been on a plane since third grade, I was nervous to fly and I was going somewhere out of my comfort zone,” said LaFountain, an immigration law attorney with Baram, Tapper & Gans in Bloomfield. “I didn’t know if I could actually do it, but I knew I’d enjoy it.”