Local refugee agencies fundraising to offset loss of federal dollars
NIAGARA FALLS — In the wake of losing federal funding, local refugee resettlement agencies need more help than ever to perform their work.
The Refugee Partnership of Western New York launched a Crisis Response Fund to raise $1.5 million over the next 30 days, covering program funding shortfalls. It would support 731 refugees that have arrived in the area over the past 90 days.
The partnership is made of five agencies serving refugees and immigrants: Catholic Charities of Buffalo, International Institute of Buffalo, Jericho Road Community Health Center, Jewish Family Services of WNY, and Journey's End Refugee Services. These organizations have previously raised funds to help 350 Afghan refugees who settled in Buffalo while their asylum cases were adjudicated.
'It won't cover everything, it ensures the most critical services are provided to the most vulnerable clients,' said JFS CEO Molly Carr. Of those 731 impacted refugees the five organizations are working with, 75 are in Niagara Falls.
The U.S. Department of State issued a stop-work order on Jan. 24 that froze the distribution of funds to the Reception and Placement program. The refugees who get service from the agencies fall under that program. Agencies are compensated based on how many refugees they work with.
'We were aware changes would come,' said Carr. 'What we couldn't predict was the government not seeing to their obligations already made. It left us with the ethical obligation to care for these folks instead of abandoning them.'
This also comes as these organizations announced layoffs due to the cutoff of federal funding. JFS announced it cut around 10% of its positions, including some at its Niagara Falls office, and Journey's End would eliminate 17% of its workers.
'We cannot suspend hope. Journey's Ed Refugee Services continues to support our new neighbors and empower them to make Western New York home again despite the federal stop work order,' said Journey's End CEO Pamela Bob Keri. 'We know this is an investment in our future — strengthening our local economy. Refugees are an important part of our workforce, small business owners, taxpayers, and job creators.'
'The State Department promised refugee families (and the nonprofits that resettle them) it would pay for clients' basic needs and case management support for three months so that these newly arrived refugees could get their bearings and integrate into our community,' said International Institute of Buffalo Executive Director Jennifer Rizzo-Choi. 'Now, it had defaulted on the funding it owes to us for work already permed and to be performed for the families already here.'
Local refugee service organizations like these work with national agencies to help resettle, some of them possibly taking a litigious approach to get those funds back. Even if that executive order is rescinded in the future, the agencies need to do services now.
Already, M&T Bank, the Western New York Foundation, and the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo have each donated $100,000 and the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York have donated $50,000.
Carr said the $100,000 they received from the Western New York Foundation would be enough to provide food and housing for 100 families for a month. She added refugee resettlement ends up being a cost-positive investment.
'It doesn't take long before they start working, pay their own bills, and contribute to the community by buying property, paying local taxes, and opening businesses,' Carr said.
Donations can be accepted online through www.refugeepartnership.org or by making checks payable to the Jewish Family Services of WNY.
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