University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

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  “Through this project, we are supporting children, teens and adults who are seeking freedom, safety, asylum and the dream of a better life.”

  Jeffrey Bassen

  Senior, School of Management

By JACQUELINE GHOSEN

Published: May 5, 2010

Members of five student organizations in the School of Management recently took part in a community renovation project at Buffalo’s VIVE La Casa refugee shelter, assisted by $5,000 in funding from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Students from Alpha Kappa Psi, Beta Alpha Psi, Delta Sigma Pi, the School of Management Minority Alliance and the UB Accounting Association used the money to purchase materials and supplies for the renovation and repair of heavily used areas of the shelter on Wyoming Ave.

Student volunteers last weekend installed drywall and tile flooring, and painted the shelter’s recreation room, children’s area and luggage room. Outdoors, students made improvements to the playground and fencing.

The funding is part of PwC’s “Project Make [it] count,” an initiative that challenges student organizations in business schools to work together on an issue, cause or project in the community, and apply their energy and ideas to make a positive change.

The School of Management is one of only 19 schools nationwide to receive the funding. PwC encouraged students to submit proposals that integrated creativity, teamwork, relationship building, high performance and partnerships.

VIVE Inc. is the largest refugee shelter in the United States and since 1984 has served more than 68,000 asylum seekers from 106 countries. VIVE is the only organization in the country with the primary focus of serving refugees as they begin the process of seeking asylum.

“When we learned of the need at this facility, we knew it was the project we wanted to tackle,” said Jeffrey R. Bassen, a senior in the School of Management and president of UB’s chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an honors organization for accounting and finance professionals. “Through this project, we are supporting children, teens and adults who are seeking freedom, safety, asylum and the dream of a better life.”

VIVE provides food, shelter, clothing, health care and legal services to refugees as they await their appointment to enter Canada or their U.S. asylum hearing. In 2008 VIVE served more clients then all other homeless shelters in Erie County combined.