The end of the year allows us to meditate on how we are doing in life and to attempt to recommit ourselves to being better. Part of that means that we try to do difficult things, undertaking the responsibility to go beyond ourselves or our families, to make America “more perfect,” as our Founding Fathers wrote so long ago.

Please understand, I am not deluded enough to think that I can change the world. However, since immigrants and refugees have found 2025 challenging, I think it is time that I underscore things we can all do to make 2026 better for them and, in turn, us all:

1. Contact politicians in the legislative or the executive branch. You should let them know your opinions on the issues of the day.

2. Seek out like-minded people and build community with them, so you don’t have to face challenges alone, and you can celebrate victories together.

3. Share unbiased, non-partisan research, rather than opinions, worldviews, and myths passed off as facts. To get a good start, I invite you to review the Know the Value and Dispelling the Myths resources on our website.

4. Contribute by volunteering your time or donating money to causes you believe in. Regardless of whether IIB is included in that plan, you are fueling the change you want to see in the world.

My suggestions aren’t a panacea. The future will likely be more difficult for foreign-born people and those who care about them before they get better. However, these simple suggestions may be enough to help you cope with the challenges that lie ahead.

Let me close by thanking you for your thoughts, prayers, donations, financial contributions, moral support, and kind words. During these unprecedented times, it is nice to know that many more times than not, the City of Good Neighbors lives up to its reputation.

Jennifer Rizzo-Choi, 
Executive Director

Curious how American foreign policy decisions play out in real life?

Want to learn more about how things that happen outside of our borders
impact us here in Western New York?

Is being an ambassador for the United States accurately portrayed
on the television show, The Diplomat? 

Free parking | Light refreshments
Tickets: $20

We appreciate the continuing generosity of people who help fund our programs and make WNY the welcoming community it is. Thanks to those who made their voices heard on Giving Tuesday by donating. We were humbled that you found us worthy. If you missed the chance to donate, then there is always a chance before the end of the year.

“Oh, the weather outside is frightful…” are not just the lyrics for a Christmas tune. In Western New York, it describes any given day for the foreseeable future.

We posted severe wind and winter weather alerts in multiple languages for the week of December 29.

Since the region is in “winter weather mode,” please consider downloading and distributing preparedness information in 13 languages to help us all get through the winter season more safely.

Post this information on your bulletin boards everywhere, including at your work, school, library, and places of worship.

Thanks to all who came down to share holiday cheer while shopping for artisanal products and handmade crafts with an international flair! Click here for more details!

There will be many more IIB cultural, educational, and historical events coming your way in 2026! To find out when they are, follow us on social media or refer to our events page.

Facts and data are essential to make informed decisions about issues of the day. If you want to educate yourself about refugee resettlement and the value of having foreign-born people live in America, head to our Know the Value or Dispelling the Myths pages on our website. Another resource for vital data is The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a data-gathering, research, and distribution organization founded in 1989 at Syracuse University.

IIB can achieve its mission thanks to the people on our team, the organizations that work with us, our clients, and other stakeholders. We honor some of them monthly. Here is who we recently featured.

We have had incredible success with this year’s Gifts for Good Neighbors drive! Over 50 sponsors signed up to purchase gifts for New American families including Maria Testa from Unitarian Universalist Church (pictured left) and, on the right, members of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.

If one of your resolutions for 2026 is to give back to the community and help people who really need it, consider volunteering with the International Institute of Buffalo. We are always looking for neighbors willing to give the gift of time and good works. You can help people learn English and become part of the community, provide professional expertise, assist with administrative projects, work behind the scenes for our special events, and welcome international visitors, among other things. So, if you are interested in volunteering at IIB, please let us know.

The Employment Team will host its first job fair in 2026, taking place at our building on Wednesday, January 14 from 1 to 3 PM. This event will connect job seekers with local employers and employment resources.

Our Job Club will resume the week of January 12. Job Club is a job readiness program open to all levels, designed to help participants prepare for the U.S. workforce while learning about workplace rights and responsibilities.

We are also excited to announce that the Professional Pathways program has been renewed for 2026. This program is specifically designed to support skilled clients as they work toward re-entering their professional careers.

Employment Services remains available to clients at all experience levels. In addition, we host an Application Day every Wednesday, during which our team members and volunteers assist clients with resume preparation and job applications.

Walk-in clients are welcome if they may be eligible for services. Interested individuals are encouraged to visit our website, come to our office, or
call (716) 883-1900 ext. 379 or 341 to learn more about eligibility and enrollment.

This month, the NAI team was hard at work coordinating our Adopt a Family for the Holidays program to bring some much-needed cheer to those we serve. Alongside this, our winter-preparedness efforts are in full swing. The team has been supporting clients through the winter months with high energy use by assisting with weatherproofing their homes, facilitating communication with landlords, and helping households apply for HEAP benefits.

We are also grateful to continue our partnership with FeedMore WNY, hosting their mobile food truck on-site every Thursday. Through The Farm Market, clients can access high-quality, fresh produce at affordable prices, promoting nutritious food options and strengthening food security for the families we serve.

In addition to our regular integration work, we are excited to share that we welcomed and resettled our first new arrival since January this month!

We are still seeking donated winter-weathering supplies, such as door sweeps and window-insulation kits, to ensure all households can stay safe and warm this season. Please get in touch with the donations team to help out.

Learn more about how our New American Integration team helps support our newest neighbors.

In December, we have been planning for the upcoming excitement!

We are planning two sessions in January for University at Buffalo students on how to best work with local foreign-born populations. We are also working on a summer refugee children’s activity program and applying for grants to expand our community health literacy programs.

While we didn’t welcome international professional visitor groups this month, we sincerely thank every local volunteer who made visitor programs possible this year. In 2025, we welcomed 121 global leaders from 34 countries to Western New York. A total of 76 local resources hosted visitors for meetings, workshops, and site visits, and 17 regional families welcomed international guests into their homes. Please reach out to us if you would like to join our circle of volunteers in 2026!

We’re in full swing, preparing for Model UN 2026 on Tuesday, March 17, at the University at Buffalo! Schools have been signing up their students to represent countries around the world; currently, 29 schools are representing 52 countries, and the list is filling up quickly. Please get in touch with [email protected] if your students are interested in joining this lively, life-changing competition.

Save the date: Community World Trivia 2026, on Thursday, April 30! If you are interested in sponsoring or participating, please get in touch with [email protected].

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

The Interpreting & Translation team continues to support comprehensive language access in WNY and beyond with onsite and remote interpretation and high-quality document translation.

Earlier this month conducted a training for linguists who want to be better legal interpreters.

Recently, the Interpreting & Translation team received 906 requests to provide interpreting services and completed 65 separate translation projects. The most requested languages were Arabic, Bengali, Burmese, Dari, Pashto, Rohingya, Somali, Spanish, and Swahili.

Are you multilingual and interested in joining our team of linguists? We are recruiting for the following languages: Interpreters of Afar, Karen, Kinyarwanda, Pashto, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Tigrinya, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. We are also looking for a Pashto translator. Click to apply.

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