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January: ActionNYC

by Economic Well-being ProgramsNews and Events

Center for Family Life is honored to be one of the ActionNYC providers within the five boroughs, providing free and trusted immigration legal support to immigrant New Yorkers. ActionNYC is administered by the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), the Department of Social Services/Human Resources Administration (DSS-HRA) and the Research Foundation of the City University of New York. Through ActionNYC, trained legal navigators conduct legal screenings and licensed attorneys provide high-quality legal supports to clients. In addition, navigators make referrals to essential social services that clients may need. Services are provided to New Yorkers regardless of legal status and are offered in any language.

Since the start of the program, we have helped thousands of individuals in Sunset Park and throughout New York City, providing life changing services to individuals and families.

With the influx of new arrivals in New York City beginning in September 2022, the need for free immigration legal services has only increased. To support these new arrivals, our staff provided information sessions at NYC’s Central Navigation Center during the first half of 2023, providing over 100 workshops and serving over 1,000 people. Today, our ActionNYC team continues to screen new arrivals, make referrals and directly assist with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Employment Authorization applications.

Many of the clients we serve through the ActionNYC program have experienced significant trauma and violence and are seeking protection in the U.S. for themselves and their families. We are proud to serve these individuals and families through ActionNYC and a number of other CFL services including a food pantry, public benefits access, employment services, English as a second language classes, immigrant trauma treatment and family counseling. We are thankful that the ActionNYC program exists to protect the rights of immigrants and help them to navigate through complicated and consequential legal processes.

We are delighted to share a recent success story which highlights the importance of ActionNYC and its impact on immigrant families’ lives.

In the late 1990s, Sarai arrived from Guatemala to the U.S. after being a victim of intimate personal violence in her marriage in Guatemala. Since her children’s father worked for the Guatemalan police department, Sarai had no choice but to leave her children behind as she sought safety in the U.S. Once in the U.S., Sarai again fell victim to intimate personal violence from her sibling, who abused her for years as she struggled to gain stability in her life in the U.S. After finding the courage to report her abuse to local authorities, she received help to find shelter and protection. In 2017, Sarai came to CFL for immigration legal help, where we assisted her with filing a petition for a U visa, which provides a pathway to citizenship for victims of violence, as well as two Humanitarian visas for her children who desperately wanted to be reunited with their mother. Sarai’s U visa was finally approved in November 2023 and her children’s Humanitarian visas were approved at the end of last year. Sarai’s family was overjoyed at news of the approvals and cannot wait to be reunited. Our entire ActionNYC team was also overjoyed and one of our Legal Navigator’s, Lois Torres, said Sarai invited the team to go with her to the airport to celebrate the family’s reunion as she is so grateful for all of their help over the years.

*Name changed to protect our client’s confidentiality.

ActionNYC is a critically important program that helps ensure the stability and well-being of immigrant communities in New York and helps provide equal access to legal services. We are proud to be an ActionNYC provider and to support our diverse immigrant community as they face unprecedented challenges.

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December: Holidays in Sunset Park

by Economic Well-being ProgramsNews and Events

The holidays are an incredibly special time for family and friends to spend time together and celebrate, strengthening bonds and giving us all the chance to feel loved and appreciated. However, for those who are far from home, who have very limited financial resources even to satisfy basic needs, or who have no stable shelter or holiday gifts or food, the holidays can be a time where what we do not have and what we cannot give our children is especially painful.

This year has been difficult for many children and families in our community, as families with low wage jobs and little job security continue to deal with social, emotional and financial hardships as we move through the post-pandemic recovery. Since September 2022, thousands of new migrants have arrived in New York City. A majority of these families crossed the border with no belongings and are living in shelters or overcrowded apartments. Since these families are already experiencing significant financial constraints, most cannot afford warm clothing this winter, let alone holiday gifts and special meals.

To support our clients this season and to reduce their stress, we reached out to our friends, donors, our Board of Directors and community to help families celebrate the holidays!

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Our Community Services Program and Adult Employment Program have been busy this winter distributing warm clothing to clients. After hearing that many of our clients lack appropriate clothing for the cold, our generous donors and Board of Directors quickly helped us to purchase coats, hats, scarves and gloves to distribute. We are so glad that we can help to keep our community members warm this winter.

Each year, Center for Family Life’s Family Counseling and Adult Employment Programs purchase and accept donated gifts to give to our families in need. These items are delivered to CFL, wrapped and distributed to parents so that parents have gifts and toys to give to their children for the holidays. Thank you to everyone who supported the purchase of these gifts, the children were so excited!

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With your help, children and their families received gifts through our Family Counseling and Adult Employment Programs!

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Every holiday season is busy for us here at CFL, especially for those in our food pantry who work extra hard to put together special food packages. In November, in addition to our regular distribution, our food pantry gave out 240 turkeys for families to take home for their Thanksgiving dinners!

We are truly so grateful to everyone who helped make this a joyous holiday season for our clients, we could not do this without your support. We are proud to have such dedicated partners and excited to continue to serve our wonderful community in 2024.

From all of us at Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, warm wishes for a

Happy New Year!

A box of fresh produce, including lettuce, carrots, and other green, from Mimomex Farms

October: Farm Fresh Produce & Eggs in our Food Pantry

by Economic Well-being ProgramsNews and Events

We are thrilled to announce that we received a New York Food for New York Families grant award from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. This grant has made it possible for us to distribute produce and eggs at our food pantry- direct from the farm to our doors!

Through the New York Food for New York Families grant award, we have partnered with Latinx immigrant farmers to supply clients with vegetables and fruits that are commonly used in Latin American cooking traditions, and that are nutritious, and sustainably grown. With this innovative partnership, we hope to improve the health and wellness of our community members while supporting immigrant farmers based in New York State.

Our partners on this project include Mimomex Farm, who provide our pantry’s produce and herbs, and Tello Farms, who provide fresh eggs.

Mimomex Farm in Goshen, New York
Mimomex Farm in Goshen, New York

Mimomex Farm is owned by Martin Rodriguez and Gaudencia Gonzalez, who at a young age started farming in their native country of Mexico. Martin and Gaudencia both strongly oppose the use of pesticides, and believe in the importance of naturally grown produce and sustainable farming practices.

Beets delivered to our food pantry last week by Mimomex Farm
Beets delivered to our food pantry last week by Mimomex Farm
Eggs from Tello Farms
Eggs from Tello Farms in Red Hook, New York
Tello Farms in Red Hook, New York

Another incredible partner on this project, Tello Farms, is owned by Nestor Tello, who immigrated to the United States from Colombia in 1992 to escape political violence in the country. Nestor Tello started his farm in 2000 with his wife Alejandra, where he raises chickens to produce eggs and grows various crops.

CFL food pantry clients picking up their produce and eggs
CFL food pantry clients picking up their produce and eggs
CFL food pantry clients picking up their produce and eggs
CFL food pantry clients picking up their produce and eggs

This effort to provide fresh produce and eggs to our community members has been extremely well received, as both the Latinx and Chinese communities who make up the vast majority of our neighborhood population, prize the inclusion of eggs, fruits, vegetables, and herbs in their cooking and diets.

We appreciate our Food Pantry Project funders for allowing us to serve our clients nutritious foods and are proud to report that in calendar year 2023 to date, we have served nearly 3,200 clients and over 2,600 families in our food pantry!

Center for Family Life’s Food Pantry Project helps individuals and families who are experiencing food insecurity to meet basic needs for nutritious food. We provide clients with packages of dry and canned goods, fresh and frozen proteins, fruits and vegetables that will support 3 meals a day for 3 days for all members of client families. Our food pantry operates for 52 weeks a year and distributes food packages Tuesday through Thursday and by appointment on Monday and Friday. In addition, the Food Pantry Project offers a portfolio of onsite supportive social services that help clients to regain household and financial stability.

We are grateful for the generous funding provided to our food pantry by United Way of NYC, the NYC Department of Social Services’ Human Resources Administration, and City Harvest.

Thank you to all of our supporters for giving us the opportunity to promote our philosophy of food justice and equity.

One of our ESOL classes during their graduation celebration this June!

July: English for Speakers of Other Languages

by Economic Well-being ProgramsNews and Events

Our Adult Employment Program at Center for Family Life serves Sunset Park residents as well as those in neighboring Brooklyn communities. Our goal is to prepare for and find full-time work opportunities for the clients we serve, many of whom are among the newest New Yorkers. As so many of our clients are non-English speakers, our Adult Employment Program offers free English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, paid for with generous funding provided by the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) and the New York City Council. These classes give our clients the opportunity to learn English which is useful in so many areas of life in New York City including getting a job, riding public transportation, going to the doctor, visiting their children’s school and more.

In Spring, 2023, CFL held a total of 6 ESOL classes and we are so proud of the accomplishments of the 114 students who received a Certificate of Completion! At graduations held in June we celebrated by recognizing each student’s accomplishments and appreciating all the hard work put in by instructors and staff, all while enjoying delicious food and desserts brought in by students.

This month, we are focusing on the positive impact these classes have on our client’s lives by sharing CFL ESOL instructor reflections on teaching and a student success story.

CFL ESOL Instructor Reflection: Julian Colón

CFL ESOL Instructor Reflection: Julian Colón

CFL ESOL Counselor Reflection: Jessica Garcia

CFL ESOL Counselor Reflection: Jessica Garcia

CFL ESOL Instructor Reflection: Stefan Fernández

“The students’ determination to learn and better their lives through language acquisition has been truly awe-inspiring. We’ve laughed, faced challenges, and celebrated victories together. It’s been heartening to witness how our small classroom evolved into a tight-knit community where diversity was cherished, and every individual’s progress was celebrated. Watching my students grow and flourish over the semester has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my role as an instructor.

The spring semester at the Center has been an unforgettable experience. It has reinforced my love for teaching English as a second language and solidified the belief that education has the power to create lasting, positive change in people’s lives.”

CFL ESOL Student Success Story: Jose E.

Jose is a high school graduate from Honduras who came to the United States in March of 2022. He was in Sunset Park just over a week before coming to the Center to inquire about ESOL classes. Jose worked diligently to refine his language abilities. Since completing the ESOL course here at CFL, he has sought additional services from our Adult Employment Program including help with resume writing, preparing for interviews in English and exploring job opportunities. During the pandemic, Jose accepted a temporary position as a cleaner with the MTA system and when his temporary job ended, he returned to CFL to continue his job search. Jose is now a Resident Advisor at a migrant’s shelter and is planning to enroll in college to continue his education. He says that he is proud and thankful that he can share his experience and knowledge of resources with other immigrants.

Students with their Certificates of Completion at another ESOL class graduation in June!

We are so honored to have the opportunity to help clients learn English to improve their lives here in the United States and we are grateful for all that we learn from our amazing students as they pursue their education. Stories like Jose’s are why we do what we do, and we are so thankful for the support of our donors and grant partners for enabling us to help our clients in this way.

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June: BrightlyⓇ Launches in Philadelphia

by Economic Well-being ProgramsNews and Events
Coop members cutting the cake during the celebration of the Brightly launch
Coop members cutting the cake during the celebration of the Brightly launch

BrightlyⓇ, the first worker-owned cleaning cooperative franchise in the United States, was launched in 2018 with enterprise incubation support from Center for Family Life in Sunset Park. Since then, CFL’s Cooperative Development Program (CDP) has supported Brightly’s expansion to five successful franchise outlets in New York City. We are thrilled that this month we were able to celebrate the launch of BrightlyⓇ South Philly, the sixth cooperative outlet in the BrightlyⓇ franchise and the first launched outside of New York! The Philadelphia expansion demonstrates the scalable impact of this powerful model that brings opportunity to domestic workers in the cleaning industry.  

The cleaning franchise provides low-income immigrant workers with the opportunity to receive a fair and livable wage and to avoid becoming subject to the wage exploitation that so many domestic workers face when attempting to negotiate prices and terms of work without any support. BrightlyⓇ provides workers with higher wages, stability, leadership roles and places them in control of the management and strategic growth planning for their business.

Coop members at the launch!

We are so grateful for grants provided by the WES Mariam Assefa Fund and the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation which enabled us to expand this incredible model outside of NYC, providing this business opportunity to even more low-income communities across the U.S. We are also very thankful for the Robin Hood Foundation for their support of this ground breaking work and for joining us at this celebratory launch. In partnership with the not-for-profit organization The Welcoming Center, BrightlyⓇ South Philly launched on June 2nd. At the launch party, which followed a year of trainings and preparation, new members shared their excitement and hopes for this new venture. New York City-based worker-owners joined the celebration and shared their congratulations with BrightlyⓇ Philly members. New Philadelphia members expressed feeling supported by those at the launch knowing that they can rely on their BrightlyⓇ colleagues in New York and Center for Family Life to be their trusted partners as they grow their business.

 

A coop member with her son
A speaker during the launch

Karina Mongue, CFL’s Coop Developer shared how the launch of BrightlyⓇ South Philly demonstrates the reach that the franchise can have and how the launch was a culmination of CFL’s work to pilot innovative growth strategies. She shared how exciting it was to be a part of the dynamic and evolving cooperative franchise movement and stated that the expansion to Philadelphia is “just the beginning.”

 

Supporters cheering on the launch speakers!
Supporters cheering on the launch speakers!

At CFL, our Cooperative Development Program works to promote the mission of economic and social justice in partnership with worker-owners from communities across the U.S. The expansion of BrightlyⓇ and the values it stands for mirror our mission, and we could not be prouder that our Cooperative Development Program continues to grow and positively impact the lives of people in New York and beyond!