The work of Ithaca Welcomes Refugees (IWR) was featured in an op-ed in the Ithaca Times’ Community Connections section. IWR Executive Director Casey Verderosa was interviewed for the story. Read the full op-ed on Ithaca.com.
IWR is looking to recruit two volunteers to fill the role of Welcome Home Team Co-Leads. IWR has historically been a volunteer-run organization. The Welcome Home Team supports displaced families during their pre-arrival and immediate arrival periods in Tompkins County, as well as conducts donation drives as needed. The Welcome Home Team Co-Leads coordinate the activities of all Welcome Home volunteers to achieve that team’s objectives.
Expectations for this role:
This is an unpaid, volunteer position. We expect the time commitment to vary from zero hours per week when we do not have families arriving to several hours per week during the 2-week period before a family arrives. We are seeking to onboard the new Welcome Home Team Co-Leads immediately.
Required skills:
We welcome individuals who are passionate about helping refugees in the area to apply for the Welcome Home Team Co-Lead volunteer role. Please provide a letter to IWR Executive Director Casey Verderosa at caseyv@ithacawelcomesrefugees.org indicating:
We look forward to hearing from you.
IWR is looking to fill the position of Board Treasurer. IWR has historically been a volunteer-run organization. In addition to providing advice to the Board, the Treasurer handles some of the back office tasks. We expect the Treasurer to take on some of the key administrative tasks as listed below. The Treasurer will work closely with the Board and Executive Director.
This is an unpaid, volunteer position. We expect the time commitment to be a few hours per week. We are seeking to onboard a new Treasurer immediately. The position is remote, with board meetings occurring via Zoom once per month.
We welcome individuals who are passionate about helping refugees in the area to join the IWR board. Please submit a resume and cover letter describing your interest and relevant experience to Board Chair Doug Stayman at dms43@cornell.edu. We look forward to hearing from you.
Ithaca Welcomes Refugees (IWR) is reopening its refugee and immigrant childcare program, Global Roots Play School after it closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is holding a special fundraiser from August 19-29 to support the program. Donations can be made at https://www.givegab.com/campaigns/back-to-our-roots.
With generous community support, IWR launched Global Roots Play School in 2017 in partnership with adult English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in Ithaca. Refugee and immigrant parents of children ages 18 months to 5 years old can send their child to Global Roots and then attend their nearby English classes at Open Doors English, Tompkins Learning Partners, and BOCES.
Global Roots has provided early childhood education to nearly 60 children, with families from countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Korea. Because many students are refugees or at the very least have moved from one country to another, teachers practice trauma-informed care and come up with creative ways to communicate in the absence of shared language. The school uses a sliding scale of tuition according to family income, and no family is turned away because they cannot afford it.
As Global Roots Play School continues to support more refugee and immigrant families, IWR is asking for help to cover the difference between the per-child cost of operations and the affordable tuition contributions from families. Contributions made during this annual campaign will ensure that low-income families can afford to send their children to Global Roots Play School and attend adult English classes.
Global Roots Play School is now accepting applications for the 2022/23 school year.
Enrollment is open to all, with priority given to families attending ESL classes. Global Roots serves a maximum of 12 children aged 18 months to 5 years. The play school is open Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m.-noon. Global Roots runs the length of the school year, from September to June.
Global Roots offers 2-day (Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday), and 4-day options, with enrollment preference going to families attending ESL classes or Tompkins Learning Partners.
You can enroll online or fill out this form (PDF) and send to director@globalrootsplayschool.org, or return to:
Global Roots Play School
402 N Aurora St
Ithaca, NY 14850
Please contact Bronwyn at director@globalrootsplayschool.org for more information.
Global Roots Play School is a project of Ithaca Welcomes Refugees (IWR). Our mission is to provide educational and social opportunities for refugee and immigrant children and families in our community. We are an inclusive play-based, child-paced program that provides a community for families and a space for children aged 18 months-5 years to learn, expand their trust beyond the family, and explore their world!
Global Roots Play School opened its doors in September 2017. We are conveniently located downtown near English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and tutoring at Tompkins Learning Partners, Open Doors English, and BOCES, making it possible for parents to attend ESL class while their children are cared for close by. Parent attendance at ESL programs is not required for enrollment at Global Roots, and historically we have served a mix of families some of whom take ESL and some who do not.
Global Roots is a place where families and teachers come together to build a community where children can feel safe and nurtured, while enjoying the socialization of group care. Our focus is on learning through play experiences. The right candidates will be reflective practitioners who have a passion for working with toddlers and preschoolers and their families in a diverse, international setting. They will have a thirst for continuing their education and develop their thinking about how best to work in a community with families, teachers, and children as co-collaborators. Preferred knowledge of languages other than English. Special education experience is a plus. All staff are required to have Covid-19 vaccination.
Global Roots Play School is looking for enthusiastic early childhood specialists to join us in re-opening our mixed-age, family-focused, half-day program in downtown Ithaca. We are hiring 3 positions to join our experienced director and assistant director starting in September 2022:
Global Roots Play School is a project of Ithaca Welcomes Refugees (IWR). Our mission is to provide educational and social opportunities for refugee and immigrant children and families in our community. We are an inclusive play-based, child-paced program that provides a community for families and a space for children aged 18 months-5 years to learn, expand their trust beyond the family, and explore their world!
Global Roots Play School opened its doors in September 2017. We are conveniently located downtown near English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and tutoring at Tompkins Learning Partners, Open Doors English, and BOCES, making it possible for parents to attend ESL class while their children are cared for close by. Parent attendance at ESL programs is not required for enrollment at Global Roots, and historically we have served a mix of families some of whom take ESL and some who do not.
Global Roots is a place where families and teachers come together to build a community where children can feel safe and nurtured, while enjoying the socialization of group care. Our focus is on learning through play experiences. The right candidates will be reflective practitioners who have a passion for working with toddlers and preschoolers and their families in a diverse, international setting. They will have a thirst for continuing their education and develop their thinking about how best to work in a community with families, teachers, and children as co-collaborators. Preferred knowledge of languages other than English. Special education experience is a plus. All staff are required to have Covid-19 vaccination.
Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree in early childhood education or a related field and 3-5 years of early childhood classroom experience OR an Associate’s Degree and 5 years of early childhood teaching experience OR 10 years of early childhood teaching experience. Must be available Monday-Thursday 8:45-12:30, plus hourly staff meeting once a week
Wages: $20/hr
Responsibilities:
Qualifications: Strong interest in early childhood education and experience working with children.
Wages: $19/hr
Responsibilities:
Please submit cover letter and resume to director@globalrootsplayschool.org by July 7th.
Ithaca Welcomes Refugees (IWR) is participating in Giving is Gorges, Tompkins County’s day of giving, on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. We are aiming to raise $3,500 to support refugees relocating to the Ithaca area.
Please consider helping us to meet our goal by making a donation.
Established in 2015 by a collaborative group, Giving is Gorges is now hosted by United Way of Tompkins County with Visions Federal Credit Union sponsoring the event on the GiveGab platform. As with all United Way donor designations, 100% of donor gifts will go to their chosen nonprofits.
IWR Executive Director Casey Verderosa was interviewed on Only In America with Ali Noorani. Casey discussed IWR’s origins, current challenges, and what she hopes for Ithaca and IWR in the future.
Produced by the National Immigration Forum, Only In America features conversations with Americans from all walks of life and from across the political spectrum who are experiencing changes in their communities as a result of immigration. Faith leaders, law enforcement officials, business owners and others speak openly about the way culture, identity and values are shaping and defining our country, and they offer a constructive way forward in the immigration debate.
As many in the IWR community know, Ithaca Welcome Refugees was created with a hope of supporting the resettlement of refugee families to our welcoming community. This part of our mission has been challenged by political decisions.
In response, we’ve expanded our mission to include resettling refugee families as they have come, supporting families seeking access to English classes, and responding to challenges faced by immigrants at risk.
We’ve recently been offered the opportunity, in partnership with Catholic Charities, to consider fully supporting the arrival of an asylum-seeking family in Ithaca. The family is from Angola and is fleeing persecution in their home country. They are two parents who have come to the United States seeking sanctuary and a safe place with their four children.
We see this opportunity to support this family as being in line with our core IWR hopes and dreams – hopes for the family and for our community, which has so much welcome to give.
Asylum-seekers are legally released in the U.S. to await their opportunity to share their story and their need for protection with our immigration courts. While they wait to be heard, they need support to learn about their new home community, to help them navigate, to get work authorization, to find a job, to enroll in English classes, etc. – many of the same types of support IWR and Catholic Charities have experience providing to other families seeking refuge.
One significant difference is that asylum-seekers do not receive any government financial assistance. They must rely on neighbors and friends like us for support, until they get settled in and start supporting themselves through work. We are very fortunate that an amazing local congregation has agreed to provide long term housing for the family at no cost until the family situation is financially stable.
However, additional cash assistance support is needed to help with food, children’s needs, medicine, and other basic expenses over the next year or more while their asylum case moves through our backlogged immigration court system. Our goal is to raise the financial support to give this family a temporary helping hand and a new start.
Please consider offering a generous donation here to provide for basic needs for this family or consider making a recurring gift to help IWR provide stable assistance. Any funds which exceed the family’s monthly needs will be used to support critical needs for refugees, asylees, or at-risk immigrants in our community.
If you have question about opportunities for financial sponsorship for the family, please contact Sophia Rocco at orgdev@ithacawelcomesrefugees.org
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GIFT OF WELCOME!
IWR is delighted to share our publication, Food Resources in Ithaca: A Guide for Immigrants and International Newcomers!
The guide is intended to help those new to the community identify and make use of the City’s fantastic food-related assets. Using colorful visuals and simple text, the guide provides information on seasonal foods, places to shop, safety nets, local production, ordering in
a restaurant, key vocabulary, and more. To create relevant content and an accessible and attractive design, we worked closely for many months with Sidekick Studios, TST BOCES Adult ESL program, and many members of the refugee and immigrant community.
We are so proud of the final product and look forward to translating it into other languages commonly spoken among new arrivals in Ithaca. Please share with your newest neighbors!
The guide was made possible by a small grant from the U.S. Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminars (Alumni TIES). This program is funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by World Learning. The Alumni TIES program has previously featured blog posts on the creation and launch of the guide. Many thanks to all of the volunteers and partners who supported its development!
Print copies are available on request.