The large Bosnian population in Utica has a new facility to gather, to learn and just share stories about their culture.
The Bosnian Community Center of Central New York opened this week in an older office and industrial building in Utica’s downtown. The hope is that it will become a focal point for one of upstate New York’s larger concentrations of Bosnian immigrants.
Elvisa Alikadic is the founder and CEO of the new community center and said the concept is to provide a hub for resources that are available in the region as well as create a safe, inclusive space for immigrant families.
“While we serve everyone, we especially want to create a welcoming space for those who may not always feel connected, a place where people can meet others from their background, share their experience and feel a sense of belonging,” Alikadic said.
Alikadic said that she has been pushing for this type of a community center for a really long time, since she was 14, she’s 38 now.
Utica has a rich tradition of welcoming different immigrant groups to the city, with thousands of Bosnian refugees starting to move to the city in droves, starting in the 1990s. For a city which has seen its share of out-migration and a loss of jobs, the influx of Bosnians helped fill many of the positions that were available, and that gave a much-needed boost to the local economy, according to Kari Puleo, Executive Director of the Greater Utica Chamber of Commerce.
“When the Bosnians started coming here, they were just another ethnic group to be welcomed, and now they are at a point where they feel they need to contribute and give back to our community in such impactful and important ways,” said Puleo.
The new Bosnian Community Center will also provide services to youth, families and seniors.
Camil Hamza is Director of Education at the Center, and he said the center can help teach English to older Bosnians who don’t speak it well, as well as teach Bosnian to younger people who grew up in the U.S. and don’t know the language.
“Right now, the ones that are being born here, English is their first language, so it's really going to be Bosnian as a second language, so we're going to have Bosnian as a second language for the younger learners,” Hamza said.
The Bosnian Community Center of Central New York is currently leasing space, but Alikadic said they eventually want to have their own building, which will take time, effort and money.
“My goal was always to have this for the community, whether it’s my project or not, it really doesn’t matter,” said Alikadic.
