Thanks for Your Contributions!

Over the last year, we’ve been humbled by the generosity of our community. Cash donations, in-kind support of goods, and volunteers who help us in many ways support and sustain our work!

If you want to contribute before the close of 2023, we are here! Remember, any contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. It's not too late to make an end-of-year gift to us. 

If one of your resolutions is to work on your will, please consider our mission of making Western New York a better place for, and because of, immigrants and refugees worthy of a bequest. Please get in touch with our philanthropy director for more details.

IIB Artifacts—Who Doesn’t Love a Ball? 

There are a lot of parties going on this time of year. Have you ever been to a ball? Back in the day, we had a long history of them!  

We are planning events for 2024; please participate in a survey to help us figure out what those events will be. Who knows? Maybe we'll have another ball one day!

The Colors of the Holiday!

IIB staff joyfully celebrate this special time of year in what they wear! We wish you all the best for a safe and enjoyable season.

Visitors from Nepal!

In the last fiscal year, IIB hosted 20 similar visiting delegations from various countries to explore different topics. Recently, the Buffalo News featured the extraordinary work of our International Exchanges and Education Department.

Visitors from Nepal came to Buffalo to learn more about US politics and government, promoting inclusivity and representation, and how to advocate for marginalized communities.

Media Mentions

The Buffalo News did a story about how area employers are hiring refugees! Obviously, we are all for that! After you read the story, if you want to learn more about hiring our clients, please call 716-883-1900 and ask for an employment staff member.

Also, AccuWeather came by to do a story on our efforts to inform our foreign-born neighbors about winter preparation, including the storm prep information in 13 different languages provided free of charge. We were on WKBW discussing the same subject earlier this month.

We’ve had a lot of great feedback from people who learn about us in the media. This recent interview was so comprehensive that we want to bring your attention to it again! I spoke with Jay Moran on WBFO’s What’s Next? If you want to learn more about the issues related to immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in our community, or if you want to learn more about what we do, please listen if you can.

Welcome New Americans!

Every month, IIB takes part in the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services Naturalization Ceremony in Buffalo. This month, we joined in welcoming 49 New Americans from 23 countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Burma, Canada, China, Congo, Egypt, Grenada, Guyana, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Yemen.

Meet Linguist, Amudu Salongo

Amudu is a master of many different languages and dialects, and he puts them to good use as an interpreter. Learn more about him!

The people on our team dedicate themselves to providing excellent interpreting and translation services for many organizations. They are our strength because machines and software programs can’t pick up the nuances of communications as well as people can. 

Learn more about how our linguists help make Western New York a better place for, and because of, immigrants and refugees. 

Promoting Professional Pathways!

A few months ago, we told you that Upwardly Global, a national organization that advocates for hiring immigrants and refugees, came to Buffalo to do a story on our successes at helping our clients take the next step in employment. Here is that video!

How About Providing a Warm Welcome to New Americans?

Even though many forecasters are discussing that El Nino may cause a warmer-than-usual winter, that does not mean it will be warm. Indeed, while many of our New American clients may have a jacket of some kind, often it is not appropriate for the winters for which we are famous-- even if it may be milder. That’s why we bring winter coats for them when we greet them at the airport.

For this reason, we ask you and other generous folks to donate gently used winter coats, hats, and gloves. Please drop them off at our offices at 864 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo anytime during the work week. 

Community Lecture Series

Recently, international scholar Dr. Martin Nekola of the Czech Republic came to IIB to discuss the impacts of the rise of populism in Europe and the War in Ukraine. We had a great turnout, and the audience engaged themselves with Dr. Nekola’s presentation. Life-long learners filled our building, wanting to understand how world events affect us at home. 

We are looking forward to having more community lectures on international topics in the future. 

Please let us know your thoughts about future IIB events!

Survivor Support

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

On Wednesday, January 10th, 2024, the Western District of New York Human Trafficking Task Force (WDNYHTTF) will host a regional human trafficking conference at Jamestown Community College.

The goal of the conference is to educate students, faculty, staff, law enforcement officials, and leaders of nongovernmental organizations on human trafficking, the challenges associated with it, and how to spot if someone is a target of human trafficking.

WDNYHTTF is a multi-disciplinary team that brings law enforcement and social service agencies together to work on human trafficking cases within the seventeen counties comprising the Western parts of Upstate New York. These counties include Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, Wyoming, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, Yates, Steuben, Schuyler, and Chemung.

The Task Force is a collaborative project of the International Institute of Buffalo, the Erie County Sherriff’s Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York. It is jointly funded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office for Victims of Crime.

Click here for more information or to register for the conference.

Click here to learn more about how our Survivor Support team helps survivors of Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking. 

New American Integration

While December is traditionally a slow month for arrivals, this month differed for our New American Integration team. We resettled seven families (totaling 32 people), including a family of eleven!

Our housing coordinator, Jake, did a fantastic job finding suitable housing for our clients, who sometimes arrive with only one week’s notice. He secured an entire upper and lower apartment for that family of 11, so they have two bathrooms and six bedrooms as part of their home. The families come from Afghanistan and Myanmar.

Our Professional Pathways program received a lot of positive attention this month. In addition to the Upwardly Global video mentioned above, the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) of World Education Services featured it in its December newsletter. Both programs are national models focusing on working with skilled professionals and are our partners in these efforts.

The Gifts for Good Neighbors program continues to grow, and we are fortunate to have many individuals, groups, and corporations willing to gather gifts for our families. We added more people to the list. Our families will appreciate the gifts, including microwaves, carpets, televisions, and gift cards to purchase clothes, boots, and children’s toys! 

Click here to learn more about how we help our newest neighbors become part of the community!

International Exchanges and Education

We hosted three international visitor groups through the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP):

Women in Entrepreneurship in U.S. Markets for Gabon: This group of ten entrepreneurial women (pictured above) met with several local resources, and their time in Buffalo included a site visit to Top Seedz and a workshop with City of Light Consulting.

Human and Civil Rights Advocacy and Awareness: We welcomed these ten visitors virtually and met with resources in the Buffalo area for a roundtable and a volunteerism workshop as they explored methods to address human rights awareness issues in the Middle East.

Strengthening Provincial Government for Nepal: This group of seven elected officials met with many local resources, and their time in Buffalo included a workshop with Open Buffalo and attending a public session of the Orchard Park Planning Board. As mentioned above, the Buffalo News recently featured this visit.

The Model UN competition is only three months away! So far, we have 38 local schools, with 719 students representing 66 countries, and we’d love to have you join us. Please contact May Shogan at 716-883-1900 to register your school before the deadline of Thursday, January 4.

We have been doing outreach to schedule some cultural competency trainings for the new year. We are also partnering with local colleges, medical students, public health students, and medical interns to plan for a health fair in January and new health education sessions for refugees and immigrants.

Learn more about how our International Exchanges and Education department helps educate our community of what goes on beyond our borders. 

Interpreting & Translation

Last month, the Interpreting team provided interpreting services on 1,878 instances in 47 different language groups. Buffalo’s top requested languages are Arabic, Bengali, Burmese, Dari, Pashto, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Rohingya, Spanish, and Swahili.

The Interpreting team continues offering onsite interpretation and on-demand phone and audio/video remote services in over 85 languages. These invaluable services provide comprehensive language access to limited English speakers in WNY and beyond. Click here request interpreting services.

The Translation team completed 125 individual projects last month. Most of these projects were translated into Buffalo’s top ten languages for the area’s richly diverse schools, government agencies, tourist attractions, and local employers. Individual projects included personal documents, human resource documents such as employee onboarding materials, legal documents, and genealogy research. Click here to translate your documents.

Our Recruiting and Training program supports these efforts by sourcing talented local interpreters and translators, providing first-rate language access to our community. Are you multilingual and interested in joining our team of linguists? Click to apply.

To view our workshop calendar, check out our Eventbrite page.  

Email Jennifer at Julrich@iibuff.org to learn more about what we do and how we champion language access in Buffalo and beyond.

Head to our website to discover more of what we do.

Come Work with Us!

We are always looking for talented people who are passionate about making Western New York a better place for, and because of, immigrants and refugees. If getting a fulfilling career is on your list of 2024 resolutions, please click here!