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Nov 01, 2023

Asylum

Mandawala, speaking through an interpreter and using only his first name to

Mandawala, speaking through an interpreter and using only his first name to protect relatives back home, talks about his journey from Angola to Buffalo while staying at Vive on Tuesday, May 30, 2023.

The signs on the front of the Vive shelter are written in four languages: French, Portuguese, English and Spanish.

But the message is the same: "Vive is full. Please be prepared you may have to find somewhere else to stay."

For about a year now, that's been the case at the Vive Shelter for asylum-seekers on Wyoming Avenue on the East Side of Buffalo.

"We are very full right now," said Matt Tice, the director of the shelter, on a recent visit. A group of men sat in chairs just outside enjoying the summerlike weather. Inside, a half-dozen people were charging their phones in a waiting room. A person was lying on a bench in the cool hallway of the former school building.

Signs on the door note that Vive Refugee Shelter is full in different languages.

The shelter can house about 120 people at a time, but with new clients showing up daily it has been a challenge for the staff to find housing for everyone.

The same crises that have driven hundreds of thousands of people from their home countries to the southern border of the United States in recent months are leading individuals and families to seek help at the East Side shelter.

There's the possibility that hundreds more asylum-seekers could wind up in Buffalo as New York City struggles with an influx of more that 60,000 migrants. Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she's looking at numerous options for housing migrants now in New York City, including the possibility of giving them shelter at dormitories on SUNY campuses. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz has said it's possible some may be brought to the dorms at SUNY Buffalo State.

No plans have been finalized so far.

To be clear, the migrants from New York City are not being bused to Vive, nor is Vive overseeing any such plan. However, the shelter, which is operated by Jericho Road Community Health Center, is part of a coalition of organizations in Buffalo who have a long history of working with refugees and immigrants that may assist in the process.

Vive knows a lot of about the asylum process. "We're the foremost experts," Tice said.

Vive was founded in 1984 by a group of Catholic nuns who wanted to help Central and South American asylum-seekers they saw living on the streets. It was first housed in a convent in Lackawanna, but for decades has been at 50 Wyoming Ave. Jericho Road Community Health Center, which provides health care and community services to refugees and low-income people, acquired Vive in 2015.

The shelter draws asylum-seekers from around the globe. Some are hoping to get to Canada, while others are hoping to gain asylum in the United States. Many end up calling Buffalo home.

The change in policy around the U.S. border with Canada has played a significant role in the growing need at Vive, Tice said. "Previously, we had so many people that were able to access going to Canada," he said.

That's no longer the case as unofficial border crossings to Canada, such Roxham Road at New York's border with Quebec, have stopped allowing migrants to cross into Canada.

That means those seeking asylum in Canada must make their claims through an official process. "That takes much longer," Tice said.

"We also have a lot of people who arrive here where they're operating under inaccurate information or incomplete information. Someone has told them: Just get to Vive. That's all you need to do," Tice said.

Vive can't help everyone, he explained. The shelter expects its residents to be in good standing with immigration officials during their stay.

"If you're staying with us, you must stay in good standing with ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. We have the expectation that you are going in for your check-ins, doing all the things that you need to do. Because if they don't, they're potentially going to be coming to get you and that would make this an unsafe place for the people who need to feel safe coming here," Tice said.

Among recent arrivals at Vive is Mandawala, who fled Angola with his wife and four children in September. The Buffalo News is only using his first name because of concerns about backlash against relatives back in Angola.

A woman sits on her bed, applying cosmetics to her face, in a bedroom crowded with beds at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on April 7, 2023.

Signs on the door note that Vive Refugee Shelter is full in different languages.

A man sleeps in his bunk among bunk beds closely packed together in a men's sleeping area at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Boys lean on the edge of a bed, looking down at their sister laying on a blanket, in a bedroom packed full of beds at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

A child lays still on a bed at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Beds are packed closely together in a men's sleeping area at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

A woman and her sleeping child ascend a stairwell at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

A mural of multicultural people presides over a gaggle of baby strollers and car seats in the entrance area at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

A man lays on his bunk among closely-packed bunk beds in a men's sleeping area at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

A man climbs down his bunk bed ladder among bunk beds closely packed together in a men's sleeping area at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Toiletries, clothing and other belongings are crowded together in a men's bedroom at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Floral tape and gift bows are stuck to a wall in the loose shape of a heart in a women's communal bedroom at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

A woman gathers her things in a women's communal bedroom crowded with beds at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo.

A woman prepares herself for the day in a women's communal bedroom at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Residents gather for lunch in the dining hall at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

A hand-drawn painting spells "VIVE" with international flags at Vive Refugee Shelter.

Laundry from residents overflows from shelves as a resident helps move laundry through the washer and dryer, at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

A graphic reading "Hope Together" is seen through the front entrance area at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo.

A child skips down the stairs, carrying a container of bubbles, as a woman gazes out a window at Vive Refugee Shelter in Buffalo on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Mandawala, a doctor who was also a public health official, knew his life was in danger after bandits came to his house looking for him. He said they shot and killed one of his dogs.

He told his story through a French interpreter.

"We are not protected in Africa," he said. "The only country, in my mind, who can protect the people is America. So that is where we went. We did everything in order to arrive here."

The family left everything behind as they flew to Brazil. After spending three months in Brazil, they flew to Panama. Then they made their way any way they could through Nicaragua and Mexico. They took taxis if they could. Sometimes they had no choice but to walk for days. They eventually made it to the U.S./Mexican border. Everyone there was starving.

"They don't have food to eat. You can see even my children, my kid, they lost so much weight. They are now so slim," he said.

The family is now in Buffalo at Vive. Mandawala has many plans now. First, he wants his children to get a good education. Second, he wants to learn English – he speaks French and Portuguese. Next, he wants to find a home, get a job to support his family and for his asylum request to be granted. "This has been my dream," he said.

Sylvia is another Vive resident. She fled El Salvador more than 10 years ago because as a lesbian she feared for her life. She was also rejected by her family. She stayed in Arizona for several years but after her partner went to Canada, she began looking for another place to stay. She heard about Vive and came to Buffalo.

She recalled her journey through Mexico. She saw bodies in the desert. "Coyotes" – who offer to smuggle people across the border for a fee – preyed on women who traveled without men.

Sylvia dreams of the day she obtains asylum so that she can get her own apartment, get a good job and make her dad proud, despite her family's rejection. "He's old. He's 81 and I want to be able to send him money to support him," she said.

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Chief of the Breaking News/Criminal Justice Desk

I've worked at The Buffalo News since 2005. I previously worked as a reporter at the New York Daily News and the Charlotte Observer and was a special correspondent for the Los Angeles Times.

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