A new fund is being created to help meet refugees’ essential needs in the Utica area.
Shelly Callahan, the executive director of The Center in Utica, said 2025 has been a difficult year for refugees, not just because of federal funding cuts to The Center, but also because of cuts to other service organizations in the area.
"There has been monumental changes to refugee resettlement in this country, and it has happened very rapidly,” said Callahan. “It is kind of unprecedented."
Callahan said recently, The Center has had to lay off 40 percent of its staff amid financial uncertainty and the Trump administration’s efforts to ban refugees from arriving in the United States.
Now, the Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties is creating “The Center Assistance Fund” to help support refugees’ critical needs like food, housing, clothing, and healthcare.
Zaid Erzaij is the director of employment and workforce development at The Center, and he came to the U.S. as a refugee from Iraq in 2015.
"I didn't know what other options that we could take to keep us safe and to keep the family safe, and without actually the help that we received from the U.S., I don't know how our life would look like," he said.
He said that for refugees coming to Utica, staff members at The Center are heroes, from the moment they pick them up at the airport.
"(The Center helps with) supplying all of these houses, finding them jobs, opening classes for ESL classes, providing all the necessary things that any family would need to adjust to a new country, to a new system," he said.
Erzaij said through his work at The Center, he has helped hundreds of people find local jobs, a big help for the employers and the refugees.
"They are ready and willing to work,” he said. “They put this money back into our community by improving their house, spend the money at local businesses, or even paying local taxes."
And Callahan said continuing to support Utica’s refugee population is critical for the whole community.
"We need to be more present, more engaged, more aware of what's going on, and all that takes resources, and resources and refugee services are drying up, even though the need remains as high as ever,” she said.
The Center Assistance Fund will be matched dollar for dollar up to $50,000, with a fundraising goal of $100,000.
More information can be found at foundationhoc.org/thecenter.
