CLEVELAND — David Bonillas is a Nicaraguan immigrant who believes coming here to Cleveland likely saved his life and helped him get the medical treatment he needed for a rare vascular skin disorder.
But Bonillas explained the City of Cleveland still has limited resources for families and individuals who have escaped violence, crime, famine and corruption from Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, Honduras and other countries in Central and South America.
Bonillas and others who have come from Central and South America are receiving help from Pastor Felix Muniz and the Nueva Luz Community Church of the Nazarene, and Max Rodas, Executive Director of the Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center.
"I feel happy, very grateful, and I have great expectations," Bonillas said. "But it hasn't been easy to start from scratch and to leave a lot of family behind in Nicaragua.”
Pastor Muniz told News 5 churches and a group of outstanding social service agencies need more resources and financial support to meet growing needs.
“We would like to reach out to the City of Cleveland, foundations and individual donors to help us assist and let us work closely together to meet the challenges," Muniz said. “Many of the individuals that come here chasing a dream end up in a nightmare."
Muniz said the growing number of immigrants and refugees coming to Cleveland needs resources in five key areas.
“First of all, legal assistance, housing, employment, medical, and when I talk about medical, I’m also talking about mental health services,” Muniz said. “They do believe that this is a place where they can rebuild and reconstruct their lives. This wave continues to increase constantly.”
Ward 14 Cleveland Councilwoman Jasmin Santana told News 5 the city needs a comprehensive plan to better assist people coming to Cleveland to build a new life
“Just reaching out to the administration on what’s the plan, how are we preparing for the tsunami force heading our way," Santana said. “A plan is missing; a vision is missing. We talk often at the city council table about the population that we are losing, and we need to start incorporating and include immigrant and newcomers into the workforce plan, into the housing plan.”
Santana told News 5 she's working on a proposal to create a Cleveland welcoming hub and provide a wide variety of resources for immigrant in one centralized location. Santana said more funding is needed to help agencies who have done a wonderful job helping those coming to northeast Ohio.
“We need to start increasing the allocations for all these social service organizations that are doing the work now," Santana said. “But they’re at capacity, and they have limited resources, and the need is great."
“I started a draft with our policy team on a welcoming hub and international multi-cultural hub," Santana said. "So right now, it’s all drafted. We’re just waiting to see what the administration proposes and how that can be funded through the general fund.”
The office of Mayor Justin Bibb responded to our story and announced the city is now in the process of hiring a Senior Coordinator for New Clevelanders. The Mayor's office told News 5, "This new position will coordinate strategically among the many players in this space, as well as focus on the ways City Hall itself can better provide for immigrants."
The Mayor's office also issued the following statement:
"When it comes to broad strategy or on-the-ground connection, immigration is an issue with a huge number of players. Federal government, national nonprofits, local affiliates, regional groups, the City can’t and shouldn’t act alone.
Everyone agrees that immigrants are the backbone of Cleveland—historically and today. We at City Hall are increasing our coordination with all of those players.
We are keeping immigrants in our focus day-to-day. For example, the $10M ARPA workforce bill has a number of provisions explicitly for newcomers.
We can do more, and we can do what we do better."
Rodas told News 5 assistance also has to come from the private sector.
“Philanthropy, private folks who are out there watching us need to understand that people are people, and $20 dollars to a non-profit doing work means a lot when we’re trying to find beds and furniture and pay the rent," Rodas said. “Yes, the city needs to take the lead because this is government. This is the moment; this is the time when all of us need to come together.”
Rodas said he's confident Northeast Ohio will meet the challenge.
“Every city that has become a welcoming city has come back. They have become thriving cities. Look at Toronto," Rodas said. “Clevelanders are wonderful people, and I’m sure they will resonate with the immigrant story.”
News 5 is committed to following through on this developing story.
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