Relief for NYC's Refugee Families

With nearly $4,000 raised to provide COVID-19 relief to refugees over the past couple years, we’ve been able to make a real difference for youth who have come to New York City for a better life. This past summer and fall, our social workers had conversations directly with our youth in foster care who have a variety of protected or undocumented statuses (refugee, special immigrant juvenile, etc.). Together, they identified investments that would provide relief during these trying times and help them achieve their goals as they establish independent lives in America. We wanted to share a few examples of the recent impact you made with your gifts:

• CAREER GOALS
  
  Gilberto* received no formal education in his native Honduras, where he grew up in extreme poverty. He entered the United States as an unaccompanied minor and was caught by border patrol agents who detained him in an ICE detention facility at the southern border. He eventually ended up in our foster care program, where he works with social workers to address trauma and PTSD from various hardships he has endured. He’s now mapping out a future career plan. He has expressed a passion for creating music, and his social worker wants to cultivate that spark. Thanks to your generosity, his social worker, Caroline, got him a laptop that he uses to create music, and he is now building up his portfolio so he can pursue his music dreams.

• WARM CLOTHES FOR WINTER
  
  Jessica* moved to America for a better life. Unfortunately, the guardian she was staying with kicked her out of her home, leaving Jessica to fend for herself. She ended up in Children’s Aid’s foster care program. When the weather started getting colder this fall, Jessica didn’t have enough warm clothing to last her through the winter. She turned to her social worker, Jalen, who was able to fill that need thanks to the funds you provided.
  
  
• A FITNESS OUTLET
  
  Yusef* had a hard time adjusting to the isolation during the most difficult days of COVID-19. When he was stuck inside, he began to engage in unhealthy routines like not exercising or participating in social outlets. He also wasn’t communicating with his social worker like he used to. Even as the restrictions lifted, Yusef was having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. His social worker, Daniel, had an idea: Why not get him a bike to draw him back out of his shell? He provided Yusef with a bike, and it incentivized him to get outside and establish a healthier routine — and that’s exactly what he’s doing.

These are just three of the many protected-status or undocumented youth whom you helped during these challenging times, and their lives are better because of it. Moreover, they were touched by your generosity – you don’t know them personally, but you gave to them anyway. Thank you.

*This is an alias name used to protect the privacy and security of our non-citizen youth, but all other details of the support and background are factual.