Our History
The International Center of the Capital Region (ICCR), a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, has a 50-year history of helping international newcomers throughout New York's Capital District. The ICCR has experienced major shifts in its community functions over the decades.
Begun in the 1950's as an informal dinner club providing hospitality and friendship to international visitors in the Capital region, the Center's objective gradually transitioned during the 1960's into becoming a direct service provider for immigrants and refugees. From 1956 to 2005, the ICCR offered essential services to international newcomers to our area. Now, the vision and mission of the Center has shifted once again, to increase global-local citizen diplomacy, intensify regional multicultural outreach, and deepen foreign affairs education and dialogue.
The International Center of the Capital Region, Inc. owes its founding to the experiences and efforts of John and Ruth Blackburn. The Blackburns traveled to Denmark in the late 1950's under the auspices of a program called 'Meet the Danes at Home.' Upon their return to the States, they decided to establish a similar program for newly arrived immigrants from Europe . In 1965 the Albany Rotary Club founded the Albany International Center in the building adjacent to the Blackburns' townhouse in downtown Albany. By the late 1960's, the Center had joined the Council on International Visitors (CIV) network. Visitors were able to stay at the Center, the city's first bed and breakfast. Active volunteers and host families ensured that there were significant hospitality and sight-seeing opportunities. In 1971, the Center expanded its services to meet the needs of foreign students coming to the ten colleges in the Capital Region. Sight-seeing trips and homestays helped students to learn about life outside the U.S. academic environment.
With the US withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975, the Center entered yet another phase; focused on services to refugees. The ethnic diversity of the region began to change rapidly in the 1980's and the Center expanded its services to include legal representation for immigrants and direct services to all of the foreign-born population living or visiting in the Greater Capital District. The Center's name and bylaws were changed to reflect the expanded service area and mission.
Over the decades, dedicated staff provided refugee and asylee resettlement services, immigration counseling, cultural adjustment services, vocational English as a Second Language training, job placement, citizenship support and translation services. The Center served an average of 1,000 immigrants and refugees per year, from as many as 100 countries. The ICCR assisted local businesses in hiring qualified and dedicated international newcomers as employees, and promoted public awareness of the many international community contributions to our region. The ICCR was unique in its primary focus on services to immigrants with limited financial resources, often struggling with adjustment to a new language and culture. The ICCR was also the region's major non-faith-based provider of such services.
Recent Developments
In recent years, diverse internal and external factors led to another transition for the ICCR. Shifts in national priorities, international demographics, and federal refugee and immigration policies following the events of September 11, 2001 sharply reduced the number of refugees to the US, which in turn dramatically reduced the ICCR's main federal funding – cutting ICCR operational resources by about 90%. The ICCR was also set back by the loss of its much admired director, Helene Smith, who passed away in 2003 after a long illness. In an effort to avoid suspending services, ICCR board and staff had explored numerous options to ensure future viability, and, with the Council of Community Services assistance, engaged in extensive discussions with other community service providers to develop strategic alliances. The ICCR board reluctantly took action to end the provision of direct program services to international newcomers at the end of April 2005. Fortunately, the ICCR Board successfully arranged for the continuous provision of services to refugees and immigrants, through transitioning direct services to the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, operating out of the Center's former offices.
Since June of 2005, ICCR programs have shifted focus to outreach, educational, and advocacy activities. The ICCR serves our local and global communities through hosting international visitors to the region (as the region's officially designated member of the National Council for International Visitors - NCIV, convening educational exchanges and symposia, fostering dialogue on the contributions, opportunities and challenges presented by the global economy, and advocating for greater appreciation and understanding of the international community in our region.
