- A single stitch it's small, almost unnoticeable, but in the right hands it becomes something bigger.

- Great, welcome to Stitch Buffalo.

- Thank you so much.

Ms. Dawne?

- Yes.

- Yes, I'm Cory, so nice to meet you.

Textile arts have long been a means of storytelling, preserving history, expressing identity.

It's about more than just textiles, it's about connection.

Women from different backgrounds, experiences, and cultures gather here to share skills, trade stories, and support one another.

- Everybody is so kind and loving.

I'm here in Buffalo just because of Stitch Buffalo.

- When you bring people together, when you give them a space to create, something incredible happens.

One stitch at a time, a community is built.

(upbeat jingle) - Do you know anything about the organization?

- How about you tell me everything?

- Stitch Buffalo is an organization that has three programs.

Our first program is the Refugee Women's Workshop.

And so we work with the refugee and immigrant women that live here in Buffalo, New York.

And so they find their way to us in a multitude of ways.

And when they come through our door, we are ready to meet them where they are.

We have everything from really beautiful embroidery to jewelry, bead work, fine tailoring.

So anything in the textile arts, weaving, and yeah.

And the women are paid for the work that they make.

- [Cory] I see, this is a price tag, but on the other side I see they all have like, locations on them?

- Yeah, so they have the name of the artist.

So this particular elephant is made by Ta Phay, and she is originally from Burma.

- From learning new skills to creating economic opportunities, Stitch Buffalo is more than a grassroots organization.

It's a foundation.

A foundation for growth, for independence, for community.

- When I started Stitch Buffalo in 2014, it was really just an idea of bringing a community of women together that I was seeing in my travels.

And women waiting mostly at the bus stops in their traditional clothing.

And my work in textile arts, I knew that I had a connection with these women and I really wanted to bring us together.

One particular workshop day I looked up and I think we had about 90 women in the room.

And I was like, this is so much bigger than just a stop-in community workshop once a week.

And that's when I knew women gathering was really important, especially for the refugee and immigrant women experience a lot of isolation.

And the need to be with people and the need to want to do some work and have a connection, and then just this creativity that just kind of exploded out of all of that too.

It's been such an incredible journey the last 11 years.

Refugee and immigrant women can come anytime we're open.

Some women work here.

A lot of the hand work, the embroidery work, the beading is done at home.

Some women will come in and gather their supplies and take it home and then come back.

- Do you know like, roundabout how much you money you've given back to the community?

- Yeah, so last year in 2024, we were still in our space on Niagara.

And our total payout to the refugee women that participate in Stitch Buffalo was around $174,000.

That's money going in a very diverse population.

Typically when women make money, they spend it back on their families and their children and their food.

And so this is a lot of money going back into the community.

And it's staying in Buffalo.

And so we're on track for 2025 in our new space here to triple that payout to the refugee women.

(energetic music) - The ways refugee women can earn an income from Stitch Buffalo goes beyond making and selling products for the retail shop.

They can earn income teaching classes, mending and repairing clothing, and creating commissioned designs.

Woo hoo hoo!

Oh man, Muna, I've heard a lot about you.

(laughing) So word around town is you are one of the designers of these amazing water buffalo hats.

- Yeah.

Me, Palwasha and Hkawng are doing the small manufacturing.

And we are doing it on the industrial machines.

And we love it.

And we are making all these hats.

- I love these hats.

I absolutely love these hats.

- [Muna] It was very hard at the first time.

- I believe that.

- It took us three hours to make one hat to start.

- Whew!

I'm going to try and buy one now, and your name will be on that tag, right?

- Yeah.

- I'll only buy one if Muna's name is on it.

- Oh, you can buy another one.

(both laughing) - Can you tell me what Stitch Buffalo means to you?

- Oh, it's my home.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

Coming here with no family, living here, it's my family.

- Oh, don't make me cry with it.

(laughing) Don't do it, don't make me cry.

So, Esther, to you, what is the best part about Stitch Buffalo?

What do you love most about Stitch Buffalo?

- I like about Stitch Buffalo because I can spend the time with my family.

And I have three kids, so you know, when they go to school I can come and work here.

And then when the school's done, I go and pick them up.

Yeah, it's good for me.

(upbeat jingle) - Our community space here, which is the heart of the organization, and that's where everybody meets up.

And Tika and Esther and Hannah are getting some work done.

- [Cory] Hey ladies!

(chuckling) - And we have Zargona and Razia working.

- Hello, hello.

- A volunteer rolling fabric.

And in here is our, we call it our wet studio.

And it's where everything messy happens.

So we have block printing and felting and fabric painting.

This is our Second Stitch.

Fabrics come in, buttons, sewing machines, yarns, all the tools and supplies that you need to make anything in the textile arts.

And we sort through the donations, we weigh them.

We take what we need for the Refugee Women's Workshop as well as for the community classes.

And then there's that much surplus that we have a small shop and we turn it back to the community at a discounted rate.

- That is amazing.

So there's like, everything here, like, the shelf life of it all is like eternity.

Every year Stitch Buffalo rescues over 15,000 pounds of textile arts, tools, and supplies, plus over 200 sewing machines.

Talk about environmental stewardship!

Gatherings like sewing circles play a powerful role in building and strengthening community by fostering connection, creativity, and shared purpose.

- We'll just start as we usually do with our sewing circle.

What's your name, your connection to Stitch, and what you're working on tonight.

- [Cory] The rhythm of hand work naturally opens space for conversation.

- I just enjoy the classes so much, and of course the shopping.

Yeah.

(all giggling) Second Stitch, the projects, the earrings, everything.

- Well, this is my first time being here but I feel like I'm learning a lot already.

And tonight I'm working on learning what the beginning steps of any of this is 'cause I'm like, very novice.

- I love learning how many people in our community make stuff.

Like, I feel like it helps me feel so generous towards people and humanity because I'm like, I wonder what, you know, like, so many people are just making cool stuff.

- It teaches me a lot of patience.

Because like, this is my second sweater.

My first sweater, it probably took me like 40 or 50 hours to knit.

- That's only your second sweater?

- I know.

- Yeah.

- Dang.

- With the different colors and all the different patterns and everything?

- I sure like your jacket.

- Thank you so much.

I wore it today specifically because I was like, I got to impress some people, you know?

(all laughing) - It fits in.

- I fit in here, right, right, right.

- That's a good jacket.

- It's colorful, floral.

- Right, good, good.

- Yeah, it really fits in.

- I'm glad you noticed, thank you.

(chuckling) - I got a sewing machine here and I learned how to sew.

Like, sewing machines are expensive, fabric is expensive.

And I would never be able to afford to have learned to do that type of craft without stitch.

- Hand work or textile arts or fiber work, I mean, that's traditionally like, the way women came together, to make quilts together, to have sewing circles.

I mean, it was really a way.

And I would say like I am really interested in how you build community.

And you know, "The Atlantic Monthly" had a big article about the Disconnected Century, and they talk about technology is one of the reasons it's not working.

But the other is we're not building social spaces that are third spaces.

And this is the warmest social space, third space that they've built.

It's like so lovely.

- So for you to even be here to contribute to a community means so much.

Especially a community like this.

I've learned so much today.

Making something by hand instills pride and purpose.

It's more than creative expression.

It's a form of social stitching that weaves people together in meaningful, lasting ways.

In the beginning, Stitch Buffalo provided a headstart for women to gain economic mobility.

But now, they've created something larger.

It's a community-building force that uplifts individuals while enriching the cultural and social fabric of Buffalo.

- Everybody is so kind and loving.

I'm here in Buffalo just because of Stitch Buffalo.

I had no intention to live in -15 degrees weather.

(both laughing) - Don't I know it?

- I am living in Buffalo, it's just because of Stitch.

(uplifting music)