Canisius College

Refugee assistance sites:

Catholic Charities: Immigration and Refugee Assistance Program
394 Franklin Street
Suite 200
Buffalo, NY 14202
Contact: Becky Mischler, Volunteer Coordinator
716-842-0270
b.mischler@ccwny.org
Days: Monday through Friday
Times: 8:45-4:45
Service opportunities: Assisting adult teachers with ESL in small classes of adults, tutoring, babysitting, immigration assistance work, helping people prepare for employment searches, teaching simple computer programs to staff, and basic adult computer classes.

Hope Refugee Services
318 Breckenridge St.
Buffalo, NY 14213
Contact: Anna Ireland
Phone: 881-0539
Service opportunities: accompanying people to appointments and to ESL classes.  Working on the development for life skills of all sorts with refugees who are resettled but haven’t had the opportunity to become familiar enough with American customs and ways of living.
Hope Refugee Services After School Program
Our Lady of Loretto Church
172 Fifteenth St.
Buffalo, NY 14213
Contact:  Katie MacClain-Meeder
Phone:  881-0539 or 857-540-6659
Days and times:  Tuesday and Thursday from 3:00-6:15

International Institute of Buffalo
864 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14209
Contact: Nick Pruyn
716-883-1900 ext. 302
Email:Adminvolunteer@iibuff.org
http://www.iibuff.org/
Days: Monday through Friday
Times: 8:30-5:00
Service opportunities:

1. Archival Volunteer: Assist executive director in developing archive system, establishing administrative filing system and in developing agency wide recor maintenance system.
2. International Visitor Assistant:  help edit, update, and prepare back files for database.
3. Interpreting and Translation Assistant: assist the Coordinators of Interpreting and Translation Services in receiving service requests, assigning service requests to interpreters and translators, interacting with customers in person, by phone or email.
4. Refugee Arrival assistant:  assist in the moving/pick-up of donations, set-up of apartments and help ensure other basic living needs for arriving refugees.
5. Donation Drive assistance:  identify areas of need for newly arrived refugees/immigrants, organize/solicit other organizers of on-campus or community donation drives to raise needed supplies for newly arrived refugee clients.
6. Community cultural research:  research local social outlets/networks for various cultural/ethnic groups; develop linkages between our refugee/trafficking clients and local community support
7. Babel Cultural Night:  research local community resources, organize/assist in the production of “cultural nights” that correspond with cultural backgrounds of the authors participating in the Babel Literary Series.  Cultural nights are to occur the month before the author reads.