CAZENOVIA — On Tuesday, April 16, Cazenovia Welcomes Refugees will present “Coming From Afar: Personal Stories of Refugee Resettlement” at the First Presbyterian Church of Cazenovia.

The educational program will explore the United States immigration system, the categories of migration, and what it is like to flee one’s country as a refugee and be resettled in the US.

At 6:30 p.m., the doors will open, and an informational video will begin playing on a loop. A live, in-person presentation will begin at 7 p.m. in the church nave, with a reception to follow in the meeting hall.

Attendees will learn about the distinctions between the terms “immigrant,” “refugee,” “asylum seeker,” and “migrant,” and they will have the opportunity to hear directly from two former refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The speakers will share their personal stories and respond to questions from a moderator about the process they went through to get to the US.

Printed information will also be provided.

The event is free and open to the public.

CWR

Launched in 2016, CWR is a collaborative, community-based initiative aimed at working with people who were refugees as they integrate into American life. The group also engages with Cazenovia area residents to help create a welcoming place for New Americans to live, work, go to school, and enjoy recreational opportunities.

The organization includes representation from educational institutions, local government, faith communities, non-profit groups, refugee resettlement organizations, civic organizations, businesses, and private citizens.

To further its mission, CWR helps New American families identify housing options and facilitates relationships with employers, schools, health care providers, etc. Its members also organize educational events to increase awareness of the global refugee crisis, the challenges refugees face as they integrate into American communities, and the many benefits they bring to places like Cazenovia.

CWR is supported by and works in partnership with InterFaith Works (IFW) of Central New York and its Center for New Americans, which has provided resettlement and post-resettlement services to refugee families in the Syracuse area for over 40 years.

CWR celebrated the arrival of its first resettled refugee family — a Kurdish family from northern Iraq — in Cazenovia in August 2018.

A few years ago, CWR teamed up with Cazenovia College and IFW to renovate a two-story college-owned house at 43 Lincklaen St. in the village as part of CWR’s family resettlement project.

A fundraising drive for the project was conducted in 2021, and the house was finished in 2022.

A family of New Americans from Afghanistan moved into the home in July 2022.

“[The] family came to the US under a special immigration visa because they came out of Afghanistan during the exit of the US troops, without prior typical documentation as refugees,” said CWR Steering Committee member Kathy Bice. “They are in compliance with all paperwork required of this visa classification.”

Bice also reported that, unfortunately, due to the closing of Cazenovia College last year, the Afghan family had to be relocated from 43 Lincklaen St. to another home in the village.

“CWR is still hoping that down the road we can negotiate with a new landlord and again take over the house for another refugee family, but that is undecided at this time,” Bice said.

According to CWR, the Iraqi and Afghan families were both initially settled in Syracuse upon arrival in the US; however, after visiting Cazenovia, they decided to relocate to the quieter, more rural community.

Since moving to Cazenovia, two members of the Iraqi family have earned American citizenship. The Afghan family is currently working on their paperwork so that they can become citizens as well.

Coming From Afar

According to Bice, the purpose of the April 16 event is two-fold.

The first aim is to educate the community about some of the different reasons people leave their home countries, cross borders, and seek residence in other countries.

“There are many reasons: for safety, for business, for pleasure, for education, for workplace opportunity, for financial reasons, for healthcare availability, etc.,” said Bice. “. . . The terms ‘immigrant,’ ‘refugee,’ ‘asylum seeker,’ and ‘migrant’ are categories of those who migrate. Technically, they all mean a person has migrated and crossed borders into another country. They are terms often used interchangeably, but they have important legal differences, and we hope to educate the community about those differences and the circumstances that cause those legal differences.”

Bice said the program was also inspired by an informal discussion she had with a few friends about what they would like to see CWR do next.

“They indicated they would like to know more about the resettlement process and gain personal knowledge about the culture refugees bring to their new community,” she said. “That led to [us] approaching IFW to help identify speakers who could tell their personal stories, and [it] motivated us to develop the written material that will be displayed in the video and handed out to attendees.”

The two speakers, who do not reside in Cazenovia, are both employees of IFW.

“What they experienced in that [resettlement] process is deeply personal to them,” said Bice. “Our hope is that hearing their stories will bring a new understanding of what it means [for them] to be resettled into a new culture while still having close ties to their own culture, and how community members can help or hinder the process of their integration into the new community.”

The First Presbyterian Church of Cazenovia is located at 27 Albany St. For more information on the event, contact Bice at 315-655-8870 or [email protected].

For more information on CWR, visit cazwelcomesrefugees.org/index.html or email [email protected].

To learn more about InterFaith Works, visit interfaithworkscny.org.