Our Recent Impact

A New Home of Strength & Dignity

Make the Road New York is building a permanent home in Queens, NY. This 3-story, 24,000 sq foot landmark community center will more than double our space for frontline services.

It will be a place of safety and strength that says: We are Here to Stay. Our new home will stand as a statewide beacon of hope and power for current and future generations.

Construction is currently underway and we will open our doors in 2022!

Be part of this historic moment!

VICTORY! NYC Parents Win $500M in Culturally Responsive Curriculum

After years of organizing, parents from Make the Road New York (MRNY) and allies at the NYC Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ) are thrilled that NYC DOE will invest $500 million to bring Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Curriculum to NYC at scale for the entire system K-12 for English Language Arts (ELA) and Math.

Parents now look forward to participating alongside students, teachers, and community members to ensure the curricula reflects the diversity of New York City’s communities.

VICTORY! We will Invest in Our NY!

Parents, students, and educators have organized throughout the past decade to fully fund our public schools, especially those in immigrant, Black, and brown communities. Due to our more recent organizing efforts, this year’s historic budget will raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and Invest in Our New York.

$4 billion will be allocated to fund public schools over three years to meet the needs of Black, brown, and low-income districts and finally comply with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court settlement! 

Thank you to our allies in the Invest in Our New York and the Alliance for Quality Education! ¡Si se pudo!

VICTORY! Rent relief for ALL New Yorkers!

A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, New Yorkers will get the rent relief they need and deserve, regardless of their immigration status. Along with the Housing Justice for All Coalition, we secured a $2.4 billion rent relief program, which will pay up to one year of rent arrears for debt accrued during the pandemic for those who qualify. 

An estimated 1.2 million tenants will ensure that they do not lose their homes. This victory makes it clear that everyone has a right to a roof. ¡Sí se pudo!

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Senator Schumer: Immigrants are counting on you to deliver on a pathway to citizenship!

This summer the U.S. Senate approved a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which includes over $100 billion for a path to citizenship for undocumented

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Tell Amazon: Give ALL Workers 100% Paid Leave NOW and Tell Us Your Plans

As COVID-19 spreads, Amazon is again failing to protect our health – as workers, neighbors, customers – by failing to offer every person

Take Action!

New York State must fight back against corporate attacks on workers’ rights. Support the EmPIRE Act!

In New York, our communities have organized and won critical victories for workers, including a $15 minimum wage, paid family leave, protections against

Take Action!

Senator Schumer: Immigrants are counting on you to deliver on a pathway to citizenship!

This summer the U.S. Senate approved a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which includes over $100 billion for a path to citizenship for undocumented

Take Action!

Tell Amazon: Give ALL Workers 100% Paid Leave NOW and Tell Us Your Plans

As COVID-19 spreads, Amazon is again failing to protect our health – as workers, neighbors, customers – by failing to offer every person

Take Action!

New York State must fight back against corporate attacks on workers’ rights. Support the EmPIRE Act!

In New York, our communities have organized and won critical victories for workers, including a $15 minimum wage, paid family leave, protections against

Take Action!

Resources for Rent Relief and Excluded Workers Fund

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Know Your Rights

Find up-to-date resources and guides on legislation, court decisions, and more!

Our Resources

Our COVID Response

Discover COVID-related updates and resources as we shift our work to respond to this crisis.

COVID Updates

Achieving Dignity and Justice

LATEST UPDATES

    • Tue Oct 26
      • Workplace Justice

    Excluded workers demand $3B to FULLY #FundExcludedWorkers

    The fight to #FundExcludedWorkers isn’t over in New York. The immense demand for the program exhausted the funds faster than expected. Now up to hundreds of thousands of excluded workers have been excluded once again – this time from their only lifeline. That’s why we demand that an additional $3 billion be committed to the program…

    Donate to Support This Work!
    Donate to Support This Work!
    • Sat Oct 23
      • Voting

    🗳️Vote Early. Vote #YESon134.

    New York’s general election is finally here!  Are you ready to go to the polls this weekend? That’s right! Starting TODAY, Saturday, October 23rd, until Sunday, October 31st, New York’s registered voters can begin making their voices heard in the general election. Early voting means you have the extra convenience to vote before Tuesday, November…

    Check your pollsite
    Check your pollsite
    • Mon Sep 27
      • Member stories

    Good News! $27 million in disaster relief for undocumented NYers

    Undocumented immigrants are excluded from so much of our nation’s social safety net, including federal disaster assistance. Today, Governor Hochul and Mayor de Blasio announced a $27 million fund to provide disaster relief to immigrant families whose homes were damaged during the flooding from Hurricane Ida and who are not eligible for federal relief. Read more in…

    Read about Felipe's
    Felipe Idrovo at Excluded Workers Fund. Read about Felipe's
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Recent Media Coverage
Patch

Ida Devastation Spurs Call For A New ‘Build It Back’ Program For Flooding Victims

Meanwhile, undocumented New Yorkers aren’t eligible for FEMA relief unless they have a citizen in their household. “A lot of folks are struggling to access FEMA aid, especially mixed-status households with undocumented parents, but a U.S. citizen child,” said Becca Telzak, deputy director of Make the Road New York. “They’re struggling getting through that on…

Read More

The New York Times

A $2.1 Billion Pandemic Lifeline for Undocumented Workers Runs Out

“Those folks did all they could,” said Bianca Guerrero of the community organization Make the Road New York, who was the campaign coordinator of the Fund Excluded Workers coalition, which held rallies, closed bridges and waged a hunger strike to push for the fund. She added: “It’s not enough to finish the job that the last governor…

Read More

City & State NY

New York’s election-related ballot questions are stirring up some debate

“This is how we make our democracy a better democracy, and a democracy that works for every one of us,” said Theo Oshiro, co-executive director of Make the Road New York. Both amendments would not immediately enact the changes, but would eliminate the barriers from the constitution that prevent the state Legislature from passing laws…

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Patch

Ida Devastation Spurs Call For A New ‘Build It Back’ Program For Flooding Victims

Meanwhile, undocumented New Yorkers aren’t eligible for FEMA relief unless they have a citizen in their household. “A lot of folks are struggling to access FEMA aid, especially mixed-status households with undocumented parents, but a U.S. citizen child,” said Becca Telzak, deputy director of Make the Road New York. “They’re struggling getting through that on…

Read More

City & State NY

The Power of Diversity: Latino 100

Jose Lopez, Arlenis Morel and Theo Oshiro took the reins of Make the Road New York, one of New York’s most powerful immigrant rights groups, in April. The trio helped secure $2.1 billion in unemployment benefits for undocumented immigrants affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the state’s Excluded Workers Fund. Most recently, the organization praised…

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The City

Ida Aid Coming for Undocumented Immigrants Via Newly Launched New York Fund

New Yorkers whose households were excluded from FEMA assistance will have until Nov. 26 to apply for the funds. “Through this fund, neighbors and loved ones in dire need of relief will be able to begin repairing their homes and move forward with their lives,” said Theo Oshiro, co-executive director of the immigration advocacy group…

Read More