Jericho Road Community Health Center and its program the Vive Shelter are two institutions we should hang our hats on as a collective whole. They represent the best of our intentions and “City of Good Neighbors” ethos, working with everyone, including Buffalo natives alongside immigrants, refugees, and asylees who have just come here. Their mission is community health, from physical and mental to financial. They’ve identified our city’s greatest needs and mobilized to do their best to meet them.
Vive has a 30-year legacy of providing safe refuge. The former school converted into living, learning and medical space assists those who wish to make a refugee claim in Canada or who are seeking asylum protection in the United States, by providing safety, shelter, food, and legal help. You may remember the summer 2019 story where they mobilized insanely quickly to accomodate nearly 100 asylees that were suddenly sent to them from our southern border. The city joined hands and created space and gathered resources. Multiple corporations gathered funds and supplies, Canisius College opened rooms for those who had already adjusted and were working so Vive could take in those in need of mental and physical health resources, english language classes and job training. It was Vive that was able to pull the community together so quickly, because its work is so important and is based in love and empathy.
The need for their services persists and we as a community are being asked to help once again. Thursday night, Cinema for Safe Haven will be showing the Wizard of Oz at the Transit Drive-In from 630P – 9P. Get your tickets right here.
“Join us for a movie night fundraiser to benefit Jericho Road’s Vive Shelter! Tickets include entry into the movie, a boxed Chiavetta’s dinner, and a voucher for a small popcorn and a small soda from the Transit Drive-in snack bar. Enjoy a movie under the stars while supporting a program that serves over 1,000 asylum seekers every year.
Registration is open until September 29 at 9 PM ET or until tickets are sold out. Tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold at the door.”
