Cazenovia Welcomes Refugees to host fundraising dinner

BY KATE Hill Staff Writer

On Saturday, May 6, Cazenovia Welcomes Refugees (CWR) will hold its fourth “Extending the Table” fundraising dinner in celebration of global friendship and local hospitality. This is the organization’s first communitybuilding dinner since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ngoc Huynh, the owner of Mamma Hai Vietnamese restaurant at Salt City Market in Syracuse, will be preparing lemongrass chicken curry, glass noodle salad, and spring rolls. A vegetarian option will also be available.

The event will be held at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church at 10 Mill St. in Cazenovia. Dinner will be served in two seatings, the first at 5 p.m. and the second at 6:45 p.m.

“The pandemic shut everything down, so [it’s exciting] to just be able to go back there and do this kind of community dinner where people from all walks of life come together and sit down for some beautiful food,” said CWR Steering Committee member Carla Zimmerman, who is chairing the event.

The fundraiser is aimed at furthering CWR’s mission to work with people who were refugees as they integrate into American life and to engage with the residents of Cazenovia to create a welcoming place for everyone to live, work, go to school, and enjoy recreation together.

According to Zimmerman, the organization is hoping to sell out all 150 tickets — 75 available per seating — and draw attendees from beyond the Cazenovia area, such as Colgate University and towns closer to Syracuse.

About CWR CWR is a collaborative community-based initiative that began in 2016 and includes representation from educational institutions, local government, faith communities, non-profit groups, refugee resettlement organizations, civic organizations, businesses, and private citizens. The group helps New American families to 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.

The organization is supported by and works in partnership with InterFaith Works 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

Kate hill years. According to CWR Steering Committee member Chris Wnorowski, Cazenovia’s connection to InterFaith Works goes “way back” to when CazCares food pantry and clothing closet and The Key consignment shop started working with the agency to collect and distribute food and winter clothing to refugee families in the Syracuse area.

Cazenovia Welcomes Refugees (CWR) will hold its fourth “Extending the Table” fundraising dinner on saturday, May 6. Ngoc Huynh, owner of Mamma Hai, a vietnamese restaurant at salt City Market in Syracuse, will prepare the meal. Pictured left to right: CWR steering Committee members Carolyn Holmes, Carla Zimmerman, Chris Wnorowski, and The Reverend Rebecca Roberts.

CWR celebrated the arrival of its first resettled refugee family — a Kurdish family from northern

Town Supervisor Bill Zupan responded that the town has held a public forum on the topic every year since he came on as supervisor.

“It’s just procedure,” he said.

According to Town Attorney John Langey, holding the annual public hearing is part of a requirement for the town to be eligible for certain grants, and it is not connected to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed New York Housing Compact.

According to governor.ny.gov, the Housing Compact is a multifaceted approach to address New York’s housing shortage and build 800,000 new homes over the next decade. It will encourage growth by removing barriers to housing production, incentivizing new construction, and setting local housing targets across every New York community.

Town resident Stanley Maziuk commented that the agenda’s mention of fair housing also drew him to the meeting.

“I didn’t know what specifically might be going on and whatnot, but I certainly know about Gov. Hochul’s plan to, in my words, tell us how we should do our zoning, and I’m certainly not for that,” he said. “I’m sure we all read the paper last week, which explained about the Burton Street Housing Visions project and how it kind of transformed from senior housing to senior housing plus something else. . . So, I do hope that [down the road] before we start a project [we] err on the side of caution.”

Resident Arthur Bigsby also brought up Housing Visions Unlimited, Inc.’s incoming affordable senior and family housing complex, The Landing at Burke Meadows. Located on 14.96 acres of land east of Burton Street in the Village of Cazenovia, the 49-unit project includes a two-story, 33-unit building and four townhomes, each containing four units. Twenty-seven of the units in the large building are reserved for seniors ages 60 and older. The development’s remaining 22 units are not age-restricted, and a senior could live in them as well.

Ten of the total units — six in the large building and four spread out in the townhomes — are set aside for individuals and families who are at risk of homelessness and in need of supportive services provided by Community Action Partnership for Madison County. Those units will specifically serve individuals with mental illness, survivors of domestic violence, and young adults ages 18-24.

Refugees l Page 12 Board l Page 14 whether

(paintings, photography) or performance (concert, theater),” the judges wrote in their comments on Hill’s reporting. “Good writing, reporting; good photos; good history for context.” Pictured is the slide used in NYPA’s awards presentation.