Ithaca Welcomes Refugees

GLOBAL ROOTS PLAY SCHOOL - IWRs Global Roots Play School was established to allow parents of children aged 18 month to 5 years to attend English as a Second Language ESL classes. This part-time school is a play-based, trauma-informed early childcare environment which primarily serves refugee and immigrant families. It is staffed by a part-time program director and part-time teachers. In 2023, 17 children were enrolled, allowing 27 caregivers to pursue their goals during school hours, most commonly by attending ESL classes. Children develop trusting relationships with adults outside the home, self-confidence, peer relationships, and kindergarten readiness.

IWR established a crisis fund in 2023 to respond to the loss of a father of a family of 6 who had arrived in the US mere weeks earlier. The father was meant to be the familys sole income earner and was the only person fluent in English. We have been using the fund to cover some of the familys basic living expenses utilities, medical expenses for a year and a half and the fund is available to help others in our service population during times of crisis.

RESPONSE PROJECTS - Response Projects are teams of 1-4 IWR volunteers assigned to each family or individual with whom IWR works. Each Response Team works with new arrivals towards self-expressed resettlement goals for a period ranging most commonly from 6 months to 2 years and represents the bulk of IWRs work. In 2023, Response Team volunteers supported 102 people. While volunteers are unpaid, through this program IWR provides newcomers with welcome cash assistance when they first arrive 12,250 in 2023, housing aid 16,059.05 in 2023, and miscellaneous financial support, most commonly used for driving lessons 5,355.55 in 2023.