HSC announced the rollout of a new effort led by FPWA to document and address the needs of immigrant populations in hurricane-affected areas, especially households of undocumented or mixed immigration status.
Many of you have raised accessibility and availability of services and resources concerns for these populations and we are thrilled that The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs has partnered with FPWA to implement a plan designed specifically to meet the needs of our City’s immigrant communities.
Serving as an intermediary organization, FPWA will work with other agencies over the next several weeks and has started to deploy teams of outreach who will canvass the hardest-hit areas of the City to survey immigrant households about their needs, connect them with services, and provide information on the City’s plans for long-term disaster case management. Outreach workers will be bilingual, and knowledgeable about the full spectrum of disaster assistance services available. The specific communities targeted by this initiative are:
Staten Island - Port Richmond, South beach, Midland
Brooklyn - Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island, Canarsie, Gravesend, Garritsen Beach
Queens - Far Rockaway
You can assist this effort in two key ways:
Make FPWA aware of services you offer in these neighborhoods that may be helpful to immigrants recovering from the storm, and
Let FPWA know if you are aware of specific households in these neighborhoods that are unconnected to services, so we can reach out to them directly
If you’d like to alert FPWA to specific services or share information on specific households in need of services, please contact our new Immigrant Outreach Coordinator, Eric Williams. For general questions about this initiative contact Rev. Joel Gibson, Director of Member and Faith Based Services.
To see HSC’s complete list of Sandy related resources for nonprofits click here.
HSC is working with government, our members, and others to compile information that is helpful to the sector.
You are welcome to forward this email or any of the information contained in it, but we ask that you credit HSC.
