It is essential to acknowledge the outstanding work that the IIB team has done and continues to do, spanning over a century. However, IIB is about more than merely providing services. As the "Ellis Island of Western New York," IIB has always been the crossroads of Buffalo's diverse cultures, hosting celebrations, classes, dances, presentations, meetings, and other events to celebrate the many groups that comprise our community. We will continue to bear witness to the historic, cultural, and economic contributions of foreign-born individuals to our community.    

Over the past month, we have been hosting official events at Canalside to celebrate the bicentennial of the Erie Canal. This is appropriate since immigrants helped build the canal and travelled it, settling in the region or using it as the embarkation point to travel west in search of their American Dream. These events continue through the end of the summer.  

On August 14, we will bring back a new version of our popular Buffalo Without Borders celebration. We would love to see you there to learn about different cultures and nationalities through international food, fun, and dance.

There will be many more cultural and educational events to come so you can have a little fun, learn about other cultures, and support IIB's mission while you are at it. Click here to sign up for our newsletter or to volunteer for our upcoming events.

However, make no mistake, the refugee admissions process, which was a large part of our work, has still been shut down for six months. We are still in the tumult of dealing with the anarchy and chaos created by the Trump administration's policies regarding other aspects of the lives of immigrants and refugees -- including ICE raids, which pick up and detain people who are here with a demonstrable legal status. We have the challenge of dealing with these things every single day.

While this is part of our work, it does not prevent us from continuing with the other parts of our mission to make Western New York a better place for, and because of, immigrants and refugees.

Our Employment Services team trains them to excel in the American workforce and establishes connections with regional employers to facilitate job opportunities. Our New American Intergration helps them adjust to living in America. Our Interpreting & Translation team helps businesses, schools, governments, and other organizations overcome language access issues, closing the communication gap. Our Education team not only provides vital training on health literacy, but it also offers training to bridge gaps in cultural understanding for the organizations that serve them. It also helps our community understand the world beyond our borders.   

Roughly 10 percent of Buffalonians and seven percent of Erie County residents are foreign-born. Regardless of when they got here, the International Institute of Buffalo is here to serve.

Jennifer Rizzo-Choi, 
Executive Director

We have been doing our part to recognize and celebrate the contributions of foreign-born people to the economy and culture of the region. The Erie Canal is celebrating its bicentennial, so join us for events at Canalside in Downtown Buffalo!

According to research from the Gallup organization, when asked if immigration is generally a good thing or a bad thing for the country, a record-high 79% of U.S. adults call it a good thing; a record-low 17% see it as a bad thing.

Non-partisan research and data show that immigrants and refugees are good for America and good for Western New York. Go to our website to find out more!  

Stay cool and safe during the summer with flyers in the following languages: Arabic, Bengali, Burmese, Dari, English, Karen, Pashto, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, and Ukrainian.

IIB could not do what we do without the people who make our organization great. Every month, we honor some of them because they help make WNY a better place for, and because of, immigrants and refugees! Here it is, in case you missed it.

This month, 29 volunteers and interns have worked 427 hours on our behalf. Volunteers recently joined us for the IIB events created to commemorate the Erie Canal Bicentennial events! They assisted staff with children participating in our family art project – creating a quilt made of felt squares, representing different cultural backgrounds. The quilt will be displayed at Canalside after the official events.

If you want to volunteer at IIB, just let us know.

The Employment Services team was pleased to provide services to 11 clients who successfully graduated from Job Club this month. The program builds job readiness and confidence by offering a series of classes where our clients learn the skills to search for work in America successfully. The classes are on preparing a resume, filling out an application, and learning how to interview. They also learn the specifics of being productive once they get hired, such as interacting with management and fellow employees, reading a pay stub, and understanding benefits programs.

In addition to our support, representatives from M&T Bank assisted clients with opening new bank accounts and provided a financial literacy session tailored to their needs.

We are also happy to welcome walk-in job seekers who are eligible and interested in our programs. To further spread awareness of our services, the Employment team partnered with the Buffalo Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) to deliver a presentation to their students and enroll those who qualify into our programs.

We’re also excited to announce a new collaboration with Parachute Credit Counseling. Together, we will offer a financial workshop covering topics such as smart spending, building strong credit, and more.

Get more information on how our Employment Services team helps build the local economy and trains people to be exceptional employees.

Two groups of international professionals came to Buffalo this month through the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP). These visitors are sharing best practices on the following topics with local resources:

A group from Tajikistan is exploring the topic of Combating Trafficking in Persons and Violence Against Women. These four visitors and their interpreters are attending a court session, volunteering with Friends of Night People, and being welcomed for dinner by two local families.

Through the beginning of August, eight visitors from the country of Georgia are studying Foreign Policy, Economic Security, and China. Along with their interpreters, they are meeting with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of NY, taking in Niagara Falls from the Maid of the Mist, and holding a closing session with Syejeong Kim, Program Officer, from the U.S State Department’s Office of International Visitors.

Earlier this month, we welcomed Partnership for the Public Good’s Regine Ndanga to present a mental health and well-being session for IIB’s Job Club participants. These sessions provide resources to local refugee clients to navigate the American health system and encourage everyday wellness.

Learn more about how our International Exchanges and Education team contributes to greater knowledge and understanding in our community.   

Our Interpreting & Translation team fielded over 1,500 requests for language access for more than 330 unique customers. The top requested languages were Arabic, Bengali, Dari, Spanish, and Swahili.

The team continued to maintain strong partnerships with local government agencies, including the Erie County Department of Health’s Office of Health Equity and the Department of Environment & Planning.

They also supported the richly diverse student population of Buffalo and the surrounding area during their state assessments in math and science, as well as with state exams for BOCES schools and the Buffalo Board of Education. One-third of all of June’s appointments were for school exams. We also had great success supporting the pilot program for virtual interpreting for New York State exams.

Email [email protected] to request interpreting services or to set up a consultation with our team. Get a quote for your vital documents by emailing [email protected].

We are always looking for talented local interpreters and translators. Currently, linguists in the following languages are at the top of our list: Amharic, Karen, Kinyarwanda, Pashto, Russian, Somali, Tamil, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. If you are multilingual and interested in joining our team of linguists, click to apply.

So far in the calendar year, our NAI team has officially served over 400 clients in our Integration Program. We are helping clients, including providing referrals for different programs, assisting with Department of Social Services benefit recertifications, and supporting secondary migrants who are moving to Buffalo from other states. 

NAI has partnered with Wheels for Workers to bring bikes to our clients to help with transportation needs. Wheels for Workers graciously provided 25 bikes, helmets, and locks this month to help our clients and their children navigate Buffalo with more ease. 

Last month, we mentioned that we helped a family of seven from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They were new to the area, having just arrived from Texas to be closer to family here, but needed a lot of support. They heard through the community that IIB could help. Our Integration case managers placed them in English classes, enrolled the five children in school for the fall, and helped them get acclimated to their new home in Buffalo.

Apart from the regular services IIB provides, we were able to help the family further when we realized their new apartment was unfurnished, and the children had yet to get beds. Thanks to our relationship with the organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace, we got five new beds for the family, as well as our donations to get them situated. They are now working with IIB's Employment Services team, looking for jobs, and are settling into their new community. 

Click here to learn more about how immigrants and refugees contribute to our community.

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If you are interested, please take a look at our careers page.