Tiasia McMillan ’24 is one of 26 student fellows conducting research with a community-based organization in upstate New York this summer as a part of the Upstate Institute Summer Field School.
The organization I have been working with throughout the summer as a Field School Fellow is The Center in Utica. The Center (formerly known as the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees) provides necessary resources for refugees in the community while assisting them in the integration process of being part of the Utica community as a whole. Some of these resources include housing, English tutoring, immigration services, healthcare access, driver’s license access, and other resources that may be necessary for the integration process of these refugees. The project I’m focused on is looking into the community sponsorship program of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) and any additional sponsorship programs that may be an excellent fit for The Center. In addition to my research, I have been able to help out around the Center for a more hands-on experience. Some activities I have participated in include organizing donation boxes, English tutoring, putting up flyers around the community, running the front desk service, and many more engaging, interesting opportunities.
During my time at The Center, I have learned so much more about the community of Utica. Individuals all over are willing to help these groups of people and give so much effort to making everything work for newly arriving refugees, as well as those who have been a part of the community for some time. Refugees are individuals who have been forced to leave their country due to unfortunate reasons. The Center is trying to improve the integration process of refugees into a new country and works to help these individuals find their place in the community. My experience at The Center has helped me better understand the resettlement process, how many factors go into this, and the amount of support many individuals need during this process.
My project for this summer is conducting research on the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) Community Sponsorship Program. LIRS is a faith-based nonprofit organization that provides support for refugees entering the United States. It is one of the nine resettlement agencies that work with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. LIRS has a community sponsorship program called the Circle of Welcome, which involves the local community in the resettlement process, helps to raise money for refugee services, and navigates connections for individuals to these resources.
I have also been collecting information on other community sponsorship programs that The Center could consider, such as the Church World Services (CWS), which is another of the nine organizations that work with the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Bringing a sponsorship program such as one of these will help the refugee community access important and necessary resources. The result of my research project will be a presentation, available for the community, that will explain in further detail what being a community sponsor entails — as well as the impacts and benefits of this action.
I am a sociology major at Colgate, so I feel like this field school experience goes hand in hand with my major. Having these interactions with many people of different backgrounds and being able to see this integration process of individuals into an unfamiliar community is something that has been engaging during this experience. This was my first time being a part of this program as a Field School Fellow, and what sparked my interest was the opportunity to learn more about The Center and having the opportunity to be a part of something so impactful on people firsthand. Just helping out around The Center has been a very fulfilling experience, knowing that some of the actions in which I’m taking part are helpful to a lot of individuals. For example, tutoring is something that I enjoy, and you can see the smile on their faces when they do the reading correctly and it’s a wholesome experience.