For immigrants, home is here.
Ithaca is home to many immigrant support services including the Office for New Americans (Photo: Aubren Villasenor)
Ithaca N.Y. — When Pedro Molina first arrived in Ithaca back on Christmas Day in 2018, he remembers being shocked by the frigid temperatures, unlike that of his former home of Nicaragua.
“We came from a tropical country, and it was very difficult to adapt to the very cold, long winter,” Molina said.
The weather, being just one of the challenges Molina and other immigrants face when trying to establish a home within the city of Ithaca. Challenges that include language, transportation and becoming socially acquainted and others.
A lifeline in a time of need
In Molina’s case, he was aided by the Ithaca City of Asylum program, an organization whose mission is to support writers and journalists at risk.
Prior to coming to the US, Pedro worked as a cartoonist for Confidencial, a weekly newspaper based in Nicaragua. In 2018, during the Nicaraguan government's war on dissent, the offices of Confidencial were raided by the government, forcing Molina to flee the country.
Pedro’s work as a cartoonist caused him to leave Nicaragua (Cartoon: Pedro X. Molina)
“In my situation we came here during an emergency, we didn’t have much time to choose where to go,” Molina said. “I was preparing to go to Mexico, but then was invited by the Ithaca City of Asylum to come here.”
Upon arrival, despite support Molina and his family faced a list of challenges upon arrival, ranging from transportation to language,
“There were a lot of people who were here to support us when we came,” Molina said. “There were several challenges, one being weather and another being the language.”
Jason Fretiag, chair of the Ithaca City of Asylum advisory board, said the goal of the organization is to facilitate and support a smooth transition to living in the United States.
“We try to give them two years of support when they’re with them because moving every single year is very hard,” Freitag said. “Part of that is trying to pay attention to their humanity — to give them a place to really settle and live for a bit.
In previous years, immigrants in the program worked at Cornell University and Ithaca College, with Molina acting as a scholar in residence at Ithaca College for two years. Molina’s work, giving talks, presentations about Nicaragua, helped him find and connect with a community in his new home.
Molina enjoys giving presentations on intellectual issues (Photo: Pedro Molina)
“I’m not a very social person, but one thing I do understand is that it’s my duty right now to go to any place that people care about listening to what is happening in my country,” Molina said. “I will go anywhere where people listen because I think it’s important to share knowledge — to connect with other people so I can also learn from them.”
The organization also connects immigrants with services around Tompkins County to help secure housing, transportation and other basic necessities, like the Ithaca Housing Authority.
A web of support
Paige Rich, program coordinator at the Office for New Americans, supports immigrants in the wider Ithaca area.
The office has a clothing closet, for people to secure clothing, and holds community workshops focused on increasing civic engagement, like one explaining voting, among other resources.
To help immigrants overcome the language barrier, the office partners with various organizations which offer English as a Second Language courses, like Open Doors English and Tompkins Learning Partners.
Rich’s office is full of gifts from immigrants she’s assisted over the years (Photo: Aubren Villasenor)
In addition to all the immigrant support services in the area, the people of the city of Ithaca have been welcoming to new residents, creating a perfect place for a new home.
“People here are very inviting, very kind and I’ll always be grateful for that,” Molina said.
