January • 2022
globalheroes.com
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New York City Restaurant Holds a Torch for Refugees Entering the U.S. these specific stressors, Emma’s Torch leverages the power of the Emma’s Torch, located in culinary industry to provide an innovative curriculum and holistic Brooklyn, is paying homage programming that promotes to a poet whose words greet agency and empowerment, one newcomers to the country. Emma Lazarus, a staunch plate at a time. “Emma’s Torch Culinary supporter of immigrant rights and a prolific writer, wrote the sonnet Training Program welcomes ‘The New Colossus,’ which adorns refugees from 42+ countries with varying levels of culinary the Statue of Liberty. The Emma of Emma’s Torch refers to her. experience, language proficiency and less than five years in the “Many don’t know that the famous line, ‘Give me your tired, United States on average,” shares Kira. “Approximately two-thirds your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,’ was of our students are women, many supporting and raising children on written by Lazarus,” shares New their own, and around ten percent York Director Dr. Kira O’Brien. of our students self-identify as “For over 100 years, those words have greeted thousands of refugees LGBTQI+. The intersecting fleeing hardship and dreaming of nature of forced migration leaves this population vulnerable to a better life in America.” major stressors such as housing With those words in mind, and food insecurity, joblessness, Emma’s Torch works to welcome violence, and lack of access to refugees from over 40 countries, basic healthcare.” offering community and job According to the UNHCR, training—a lifeline for newcomers. adult women account for 25 Starting a new life in a new country can be extremely difficult, percent of all forcibly displaced especially for those who have to people, and children account for a shocking 42 percent. At a learn a new language, on top of time when people have lost their everything else. Acknowledging RAYE MOCIOIU
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homes, their comfort, and often their access to basic rights, a program that helps them get situated in a new country can be a lifesaver. Emma’s Torch provides refugees with culinary training, ENL classes, and interview preparation, all in the safety of a community in which they can build supportive relationships. “Our programmatic approach is based on a combination of classroom and on-the-job training, which sets our students up for success upon graduation. The program consists of approximately 300 hours of culinary skills training and approximately 100 hours of personal development skills. Our students learn in both a classroom setting and through their work in our restaurant, café, and catering businesses. The program lasts for ten weeks, during which our students are paid $15 per hour. The program is full-time, and by the end of the 400-hour course, each student earns approximately $6,000. Upon graduation, we work with employer partners to secure career opportunities with upward mobility in the culinary
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industry for each of our graduates.” Their programs prove to be immensely helpful, and seeing their students return to Emma’s Torch to teach new students after starting their own careers in the culinary industry is uniquely rewarding and creates a cycle of positivity.
at Emma’s Torch. Each trainee graduate has the opportunity to make a dish or two from their home country, sharing not only what they’ve learned throughout the program but also a taste of their history. “The Cohort 27 celebration dinner was a wonderful experience that we shall never forget,” reports one guest. “Emma’s Torch helped It’s not only a celebration of me believe in myself and diversity, but part of what makes encouraged me to achieve my dreams.”—Jonathan, Cohort the experience so much more unique. Allowing students to find 25 Graduate a place of belonging in the culiDescribed as “New American nary world paves the way for their cuisine prepared by new cultural heritage and cuisine to be American students” by culicelebrated. Emma’s Torch shares nary director Alexander Harris, the power of bonding and finding Emma’s Torch is able to take common ground through food. inspiration from their students “Refugees, asylees, and survivors and infuse a world of flavors into of human trafficking from over 40 their menus. Harris works with countries have passed through our students and guest chefs alike, kitchen. Although Lady Liberty using flavors from all over the is no longer the first site for those globe and blending seasonal and coming to the United States, the local ingredients to make every words still ring true. We honor meal an experience. Emma’s advocacy and her emphasis In fact, diners report that the on vocational training. She created graduation dinners are some of a legacy that we are proud to the best times to enjoy a meal uphold,” Kira says.
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ADVERTORIAL
A Doorway to Freedom in Buffalo’s Vive Shelter Buffalo’s Vive Shelter has been called “a new underground railroad” for refugees, though it has never been a secret. In 1984, a group of Catholic sisters in Western New York housed asylum seekers en route to the Canadian border. Their convents were used so often that they decided to create a standalone shelter
specifically for that purpose. At the time, the vast majority of asylum seekers were coming from Central and South America, and most of them were planning to make a refugee claim in Canada. Since 2015, Vive has been a program of Jericho Road Community Health Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and Federally
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THE PATH TO HOPE
STARTS AT VIVE. HELP PAVE THE WAY FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS AT JRCHC.ORG/GIVE-VIVE
Qualified Health Center. Over its 37-year legacy, Vive has seen more than 100,000 people come through its doors, seeking safety and hope for a new beginning. “We see different waves of people coming through depending on what’s happening in the world,” says Vive Director Matt Tice. “In the ‘80s, that was mostly Central and South Americans. Today, we see a lot of people from Haiti, Sri Lanka, Angola, the DRC, and still parts of Central and South America. But it can change in an instant.” In addition to demographic changes like Tice describes, the shelter has also seen a huge increase in the number of people seeking U.S. asylum. This change has drastically altered Vive’s operations from its early days. Whereas people en route to Canada stay in the shelter for around a week, those seeking U.S. asylum can stay for up to two years or sometimes longer. The shelter, which has permanent beds for 120 people but can scale up to accommodate more in a pinch, provides housing, meals, medical care, and legal aid to
around 1,000 asylum seekers each year. On-site support programs include ESL classes, structured children’s activities, and behavioral health and trauma therapy, plus job training and parenting classes through partnerships with other local nonprofits. Children who are staying long-term enroll in Buffalo Public Schools. Adults find jobs after they receive their working permits, a process that Vive’s legal team helps with. Asylum seekers who come to Vive are all unique. Their situations are often complicated. Some people fly into New York City and travel directly to Vive, arriving at the shelter with little more than a small suitcase and an address scribbled on a scrap of paper. For some, the journey to Vive takes months or even years of walking through jungles and across many borders while enduring unbelievably dangerous conditions. Though the specifics are different, nearly all of Vive’s residents have one thing in common—they are fleeing dire conditions in their home countries due to violence, war,
political persecution, or other kinds of danger. This danger is not merely hypothetical. Over 75 percent of those seeking U.S. asylum through Vive have endured torture. Ian* from southern Africa fled his home country after his father was murdered and Ian himself felt threatened. He came directly to Vive after flying to NYC. “When I came, I was sick. Vive did everything,” he says. “They gave me a bed, they gave me clothing, they told me to make myself at home and feel safe.” After harrowing journeys, residents like Ian describe Vive as a refuge where they finally feel like they don’t have to run or look over their shoulders anymore. “The two words I hear most often from new arrivals are ‘hope’ and ‘safe,’” says Tice. “Those are the ideas that Vive really represents to people from all around the world.” To support Vive’s work on behalf of asylum seekers, visit jrchc.org/give-vive. * NAME HAS BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT CLIENT PRIVACY
