Mission
The Coalition fosters community through cultural celebration, education, and advocacy in collaboration with immigrant new neighbors.
Vision
Our vision is to cultivate a diverse, empowered community where new neighbors participate and thrive.
Values
About
Momina Di Blasio
– New Neighbors Manager
Momina Di Blasio manages the New Neighbors Coalition program at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, where she advocates for marginalized individuals with a focus on intersectionality and inclusivity.
As an immigrant, she is passionate about promoting language accessibility, immigrant equity, and cultural humility. Through the Coalition, she collaborates with volunteers to help new arrivals access services, navigate transportation, and engage with the local community.
Momina holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from George Mason University and a Master of Public Administration from SUNY Brockport. She serves on the Education Solution Team of the Chautauqua County IDEA Coalition and the Audubon Community Nature Center’s IDEA Committee. In 2024, she received the Power the Future YWCA Woman of Achievement award and was a member of the City of Jamestown Commission on Human Rights from 2020 to 2023.
Since moving from Northern Virginia to Jamestown in 2020, she has embraced her new community and enjoys life with her spouse and their three beloved dogs.
New Neighbors Coalition History
Share our journey
Jamestown’s transformation into a welcoming home for refugees and asylum-seekers is a testament to community collaboration, faith-based leadership, and dedicated partnerships. Learn how the New Neighbors Coalition turned a shared vision into a life-changing reality for hundreds of new residents.
Our Beginning
Rooted in faith and community, Jamestown came together to create a welcoming future for immigrants and refugees.
Following the documented success of small cities that have intentionally opened themselves up to refugee resettlement and immigration, the Community of Jamestown met in December of 2021 at St. Luke’s Church to discern such a possibility. The City of Jamestown convened the conversation, and the community reached a consensus that a faith-based community coalition should lead the effort. The New Neighbors Coalition (NNC), based out of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, was convened and tasked with both preparing our community to welcome immigrants and facilitating a partnership with one of the existing refugee resettlement agencies in nearby Buffalo.
Building Partnerships
Collaborating to create lasting support for immigrants and asylum-seekers in Jamestown.
After months of community organizing, NNC forged a partnership with Journey’s End Refugee Services(JERS) and invited them to begin operations in Jamestown. JERS hired one of NNC’s leading volunteers and set up a temporary office at St Luke’s in November of 2022—resettling the first refugee family in February 2023. Journey’s End has its own office and four full-time staff members. Since February 2023, Jamestown has received over 150+ refugees in its community.
While preparing for refugee resettlement work, NNC discovered a group of 50+ Colombian asylum-seekers had arrived in Jamestown in November 2022 and incorporated their needs into the work plan. NNC received a 6-month community block from NYS DOS in June of 2023 to support material needs, which led to the current renewable grant from the NYS Office of New Americans.
