IWR depends on donations to provide refugees with important items when they arrive in our community, such as furniture or computers. Contact Programs Coordinator Leigh Bacher at leighb@ithacawelcomesrefugees.org if you are interested in making a donation.
General Needs
Children’s clothing: You can donate gently used baby and children’s items to the Mama Goose store on Clinton Street and ask them to add any store credit to IWR’s account. We give vouchers to newly arriving families with children from this account, and it is currently running low. Please check the schedule for drop off dates.
Laptops/tablets: A gift of a laptop or tablet would be a huge help for a number of recent arrivals in finding employment and registering for government programs, as well as for educational purposes. PCs should be Windows 10 or 11, and iPads should be version 16.7 or higher. Please only donate computers that are WiFi capable and come with a power cable or AC adapter (and ideally a mouse). Make sure to remove all user data before donating. If you would like to donate a Chromebook or Mac laptop, please include the specs in your email.
Refugee Crisis Fund
IWR is appealing for donations to its Refugee Crisis Fund to help assist refugees who have an extraordinary need due to emergency circumstances. Our Fall appeal concerns a grieving family currently in need of help to pursue justice for their loss. Learn more about the Fall appeal and contribute to the Refugee Crisis Fund.
Volunteers
IWR is seeking volunteers for the following positions. If you think that your background and experience would make you a good fit for one of the following roles, please indicate your interest by completing this form.
Welcome Home Team
Welcome Home volunteers focus mostly on the pre-arrival period for newcomers to our area, helping to coordinate donations of furniture for a family’s apartment and other apartment setup activities, and helping with ongoing donation drives as needed, for items such as diapers or winter clothing.
Response Team
IWR provides assistance to new families or individuals through Response Teams: groups of 2-4 volunteers who are focused on long-term support for families and tailor their support to each family’s specific needs. Response Teams provide a flexible range of services such as helping with job searches, arranging for interpretation, accompanying newcomers to appointments, filling out forms, and school enrollment for children.
Housing Committee
Housing is one of the biggest obstacles to refugee resettlement in Ithaca. If you are a landlord, a realtor, or have some other expertise or interest in the local housing environment, please consider joining IWR’s Housing Committee. The committee will be working to cultivate local landlord relationships and helping families find apartments they can afford.
Events Volunteers
IWR is looking for events volunteers who can assist IWR’s Events Team with things like tabling at area festivals, helping promote events through social media, event set up and clean up (only 1-2 per year), pick up and distribution of auction items, and more.