On World Refugee Day, June 20, my wife and I, along with dozens of others, went to the Olpalka Gallery at the Sage College in Albany, NY, to see the documentary film Utica: The Last Refuge.
Utica is a Rust Belt city about an hour from Syracuse and an hour and a half from Albany that had seen better days. I remember my family trekking up there when I was growing up because my godparents, the Whitfields, lived there for a time.
So how did Utica, cold, sometimes snowy Utica, become a new home for a refugee family of four from Sudan? “The Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees (MVRCR) is regarded nationally as a model agency for how refugee resettlement is done, for how they guide Utica’s refugees into comfortable jobs and lives.”
However, the process suddenly became more complicated in 2017 by political decisions that would impact the MVRCR budget.
A boon
The film began answering these questions: “Will Utica’s economic turnaround be slowed by a drop in incoming refugees? As refugee resettlement agencies across the country are forced to close their doors, will MVRCR survive? Will the Azein family find a way to support themselves? While much media attention is focused on where refugees first land, on beaches and in camps, Utica: The Last Refuge looks at why the future is so bleak for most refugees: the system is backed up.”
This program has been a success story for the community. “While the population is still only about 62,000 [from a high of over 100,000 in the 1960s], nearly 20% are now refugees and their children. Local politicians, from the Mayor on down, extol the virtues of Utica’s diversity. The refugees, they say, are hardworking and dedicated.”
As for the movie, “The Last Refuge team is a group of issue dedicated vérite filmmakers, many of whom came together as alumni of Hamilton College, which neighbors Utica.”
RISSE
The two showings at Olpaka constituted a fundraiser for RISSE, the Refugee and Immigration Support Services of Emmaus, “a family-based center that supports newcomers in building sustainable lives in the United States,” located in the Pine Hills neighborhood of Albany, not very far from my home.
“RISSE was founded in 2007… The initial goal was to help these refugees find housing, jobs, and resources and to advance their education. An after-school program was established for children; then came English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for adults.
“Volunteers, many of them immigrants… played a key role in the early success of RISSE… An early partnership with The College of Saint Rose and its art education, counseling, literacy, and community service programs provided expertise and volunteers that supported the growth of RISSE services.”
Several other entities offered literature at the reception that took place between the 3 pm and 6 pm showing. One was The USCRI Albany Field Office “Newly arrived refugees receive a comprehensive set of services including housing placement, cultural orientation, school enrollment, coordination of initial health appointments, referrals to ESL classes and employment preparation and placement.”
A short film
Related, I saw mention of the short film Translators. Here, director Rudy Valdez talks about the new film “and the overlooked experiences of child translators within immigrant families. The two-time Emmy Award winning filmmaker talked with AL DÍA ahead of the film’s June premiere at the L.A. Latino International Film Festival and Tribeca.
And here, “Valdez and Virginia Vasquez, a translator for her family featured in the documentary, joined New York Living. PIX 11.”
Watch Translators here.
Our church is heavily involved in refugee work. Our outreach center, the Hub, offers ESL classes, small group time for moms, who have resettled here, to make new connections with each other, food, clothing, furniture, rides to the DMV, help studying for the driving test, etc. etc. It is amazing. We even provided prayer rugs for a group of Muslim men who were often at the Hub when it was prayer time. If you lived nearby, I would invite you and your wife to come tour the facility.