When Debra Marcus \u201977 and Marti Swords-Horrell \u201977 were students at Colgate, they knew each other mostly by name. Years later, despite careers in different fields \u2014 law and reproductive health administration for Marcus and the United Methodist ministry for Swords-Horrell \u2014 they reconnected in Oneonta, N.Y., around a shared commitment to supporting refugees. Their collaboration helped create the Otsego Refugee Resettlement Coalition, a volunteer-led effort that has since supported families from around the world as they rebuild their lives in central New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colgate Magazine <\/em>talked to Marcus and Swords-Horrell to learn more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How did the Otsego Refugee Resettlement Coalition come about?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marcus: <\/strong>It started in 2016 when a small group of people from Temple Beth El and First United Methodist Church began talking about whether Oneonta could welcome refugees the way the city of Utica, N.Y., had. When the first Trump administration sharply reduced refugee admissions, we had to pause the effort. Then, in 2021, with a change in federal policy, Marti and I decided it was time to try again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Swords-Horrell: <\/strong>By then I was pastor at First United Methodist Church. Deb comes from a law and medical administration background, but we reconnected around the belief that this work had to involve the entire county \u2014 schools, employers, health care providers, and volunteers \u2014 not just faith communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does refugee resettlement look like in practice in a small, rural county?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marcus: <\/strong>It\u2019s extremely hands-on. We\u2019re not just connecting people to services, we\u2019re helping them navigate daily life; securing housing, enrolling children in school, finding jobs, arranging transportation, and enrolling adults in ESL classes. We\u2019ve learned that refugees often arrive with significant unmet medical and dental health care needs, which was something we underestimated at first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Swords-Horrell: <\/strong>In rural places like Otsego County, you don\u2019t have layers of agencies to rely on, so relationships really matter. Volunteers become translators, drivers, advocates \u2014 almost like extended family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who are the people the coalition has helped?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marcus: <\/strong>Since 2021 we\u2019ve welcomed seven refugee families, including adults and children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Venezuela, and Afghanistan. Some arrived through the Welcome Corps, a federal program that allowed private groups of citizens to sponsor and support refugees as they resettle in American communities; that program has since been suspended by the Trump administration. More recently we\u2019ve supported families holding Special Immigrant Visas from Afghanistan \u2014 people who assisted U.S. forces and arrived here with very little notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Swords-Horrell: <\/strong>Many people are surprised by how diverse refugees\u2019 backgrounds How has the community in Otsego County responded?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marcus: <\/strong>The response has been overwhelmingly positive. The school district has been extraordinary, providing ESL support and welcoming students, some Swords-Horrell: <\/strong>And importantly, this hasn\u2019t been partisan. People are realizing that refugee resettlement is a benefit to the entire community. Refugees strengthen the workforce, stabilize school enrollment, and enrich the diversity of the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why does this work feel especially urgent now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marcus: <\/strong>I have lived my life with the maxim \u201cthink globally, act locally.\u201d Globally, displacement is increasing at the same time legal pathways into the U.S. are narrowing. That makes community-based efforts even more important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Swords-Horrell: <\/strong>When national problems feel overwhelming, [it helps to] start with your own community. You may not be able to fix everything, but you can help one family, one refugee. And for me, from a faith perspective, welcoming the stranger is central.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Debra Marcus \u201977 and Marti Swords-Horrell \u201977 helped create the Otsego Refugee Resettlement Coalition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1272,"featured_media":25957,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[354,49,3684,803],"coauthors":[1720],"class_list":["post-23648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni-spotlights","category-alumni-updates","tag-alumni","tag-community","tag-organizing","tag-refugees"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-69q","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/05\/Colgate_Refugee_Final_Stapleton_v1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23648"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23869,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23648\/revisions\/23869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23648"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=23648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
are. Some were professionals \u2014 teachers, engineers, financial officers \u2014 who were forced to stop working, especially women. Others had limited formal education, but they\u2019re good workers, and they have so much to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
of whom have never been in a classroom before. Employers regularly reach out looking to hire. Faith communities, local businesses, and individuals have donated time, money, and housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n