About this Organization:
The International Institute of Buffalo, NY, Inc. was originally established by the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in 1918 to help prevent the exploitation of women brought to our country as domestic help. The International Institute is a not-for-profit, non-sectarian agency affiliated with Immigration and Refugee Services of America (IRSA), which unites 36 similar Institutes across the country. The International Institute is a United Way Agency. The Institute is located in an elegant three-story Georgian revival mansion on 864 Delaware Avenue, which offers space for gatherings of all types, including weddings, business meetings, cultural events, and concerts. The Institute is a "home away from home" for many ethnic, cultural, and social groups and organizations. It fosters knowledge and appreciation for foreign cultures, cuisines, and languages. The Institute's staff is fluent in over a dozen languages, and has a data-bank of translators and interpreters in at least seventy other languages. The Institute's primary mission is to aid refugees, immigrants, their families and others who face cultural and linguistic barriers, become productive, self-sufficient members of our society.