VISIONARIES: Denise Behag
Posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010
by block club
The International Institute of Buffalo is one of a handful of organizations that help as many as 1,700 new immigrants resettle in Buffalo every year by connecting them with legal help, housing assistance, translation services and much more. Denise Behag, director of the institute’s refugee resettlement program, explains how the International Institute’s efforts to welcome the growing immigrant population are helping to change the face of Buffalo. -Leslie Church
Where do the immigrants settling here come from, and why do they come to Buffalo?
They are coming, primarily right now, from Burma. We have refugees from Bhutan. We still get some from Somalia, some from Iraq. I think traditionally the West Side and Buffalo in general has always opened its arms to the immigrant population. I mean you have a Polish contingent, an Irish and an Italian section. So on the one hand Buffalo’s history has been made up of the immigrant population (and) this is just a new wave of immigrants.
Refugees come here not really for themselves, but for their children. That goes back to older immigrant populations. Most [Buffalo natives] are second or third-generation immigrants. Their ancestors didn’t come here really for themselves. They came here to help their kids become successful. And now they are. That’s the same hope for the refugee population (today).
Why is it important for the city to embrace these newcomers?
Well I think we understand that not a lot of people support the idea of refugees. It can be kind of scary, like ‘Our economy’s bad. People are coming here and taking jobs away from people who’ve lived here a while.’ And that’s one way of looking at it. The other way that we like to look at it is, the refugees are really the only group that is coming in to Buffalo right now. These are folks that are going to work here, they’re buying homes here, they’re revitalizing areas.
What can citizens in Buffalo do to help them assimilate?
Definitely don’t be embarrassed to ask people about their cultures or about why they do things a certain way. That’s the best way to learn. Sometimes you’re surprised that, you know what, it’s not a culture thing; it’s an individual thing. It has nothing to do with the culture, it’s just the way a person is. If you have a neighbor maybe that’s from Burma or Somalia, invite them over for coffee, ask them questions about their culture and why they do things. Invite them to dinner. They’re going to really like that and you’re going to be surprised at how reciprocal that’s going to turn out to be.
