Relief for NYC's Refugee Families

Thank you so much for supporting Children’s Aid’s fundraiser to support New York City refugee families. Your generosity allows us to provide our refugee children and families with education and workforce development opportunities as they transition to a new life in a new country.

In the last few years, thousands of refugees from all parts of the world have come to New York City fleeing violence, social unrest, and economic peril. Budget and logistical constraints from the city government have made integration into their new lives very difficult. What’s more, new city shelter rules require migrant families to reapply for shelter after 60 days. Migrants were pledged “intensive case management” to help ease them out of shelters and into economic self-sufficiency, but a report from the city comptroller found that promise has not materialized.

Equipped with our large staff of social workers, Children’s Aid has helped fill the gap, connecting migrants with food assistance, emergency relief, legal aid, translation help, and resource navigation services. And at our community schools, children are connected with a wide variety of services—from health screenings, to counseling, to after school programs—that migrant students critically need.

At Central Park East II, a community school in East Harlem, community school director Jeanette Frazier works with 92 immigrant students. Frazier often talks with children and parents who describe traumatic experiences traveling to the US. But with the help of their community school, Frazier says, “I am in awe of how both the kids and the adults are able to flourish despite what they’ve been through.” Read more of this story here.

Your donation helps these children and families who are in unimaginably difficult circumstances access critical resources, heal themselves, and begin a new life. Thank you for providing a ray of hope that guides them to a brighter future.

Links:

• Housing Insecurity Is Undermining Immigrant Students