BUFFALO — It can be difficult to start a new life in a new country, but for many people seeking asylum, it’s necessary.

There are services to try and help, like Vive.

“It doesn't feel like work. It's service. And that makes my heart happy," said María Pérez-Gómez, the assistant director of Vive. "To be able to serve people and make a difference.”

A fresh start is what María Pérez-Gómez helps make happen for countless people seeking asylum.

“It's time for a new home,” she said.

The shelter for asylum seekers will soon have its own fresh start in a new location.

“Our families will be able to stay together because we have the ability now to keep them together in the same space,” she explained.

From legal services and house management to school enrollment and medical needs, Pérez-Gómez dabbles in a bit of everything, and there’s no shortage of work to be done.

“There are times when you get a little bit more [people] in terms of a specific country like say Colombia or Venezuela and then in recent months, [there was] an increase in numbers of folks seeking asylum here,” Pérez-Gómez said.

It's a journey that isn’t easy.

“You feel their pain and that it's from one human to another and they've experienced a lot of loss in seeking the quality of life of coming to the United States,” she said.

That's an experience that, on some level, Pérez-Gómez can relate to.

She lived in Puerto Rico for 10 years before coming here to pursue an education.

“I understand what it means to leave that which you identify with as a human being at your core," she said. "Your culture, your race, your food, your celebrations, your traditions, and what you built as a family...to have to leave that behind.”

A sense of loss combines with dreams for what’s to come.

“The hope for a new life drives them in a way that is unexplainable, other than they are so centered in their belief in a God that has a greater purpose for their life,” she said.

Those same emotions are translated to the pages of Pérez-Gómez’s book: The Magical Closet Mystery: A Puerto Rican Adventure.

It's a story that transports children to the devastation of Hurricane Maria, where they have to figure out how to restore joy.

“The people on the island begin to rebuild because they now have, they feel a new sense of hope, and a sense of beginning,” Pérez-Gómez said.

Turning the page to a brighter future is something that resonates with Pérez-Gómez in all aspects of her life.

“I want to make the world a better place and leave my kids with a legacy that teaches them what it means to be a good human, to be a good person, making a difference in this world that oftentimes feels difficult and feels unfair," she said. "But the fairness comes from how we serve one another how we love one another how we hold space for each other. That's where the fairness is restored.”