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Know Your Rights
Source: Make the Road New York
Subject: COVID-19
Type: Pubs & Reports

Meeting the Moment: Make the Road New York in the COVID-19 Era

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The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated our communities, which have seen the highest rates of infections and deaths in New York due to poor access to healthcare, overcrowding, and workplace exposure. With the loss of income and exclusion from government relief, many families are unable to put food on the table. 

Make the Road New York has taken unprecedented steps to mitigate the catastrophic impact of this crisis on our state’s immigrant and working class families. We were the first place many turned to for support, and we have fielded thousands of urgent calls, texts, and emails from community members in desperate need of food, reliable information, and healthcare.

The massive scope and breadth of our COVID-19 efforts have only been possible because of the extreme generosity of our supporters and the determination of our staff and volunteers. 

With your support, we have provided direct aid and services far beyond anything in our history. 

  • We have distributed $3 million to more than 4,600 families spanning the five boroughs of NYC, Long Island and Westchester for food and other basic necessities.
  • We have provided financial aid to families who cannot afford burial or cremation costs for loved ones lost to COVID-19.
  • We continue to provide emergency food to 1,000 families each week in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Westchester.
  • We have kept our communities informed via regular bilingual robo calls, mass texting, a bilingual website, two COVID-19 specific hotlines and more than 50 online events to date, including town halls and know-your-rights trainings. 
  • We have provided on-on-one support and intensive case management to thousands of families and individuals, including legal support for workplace safety or emergency housing issues, access to COVID testing or mental health care, application assistance for food stamps or other benefits and much more.
  • We continue to organize for long-term, government-scale solutions by leading national and state campaigns to create Excluded Workers Funds for immigrant workers, provide rent relief for vulnerable tenants and free vulnerable people from prison and detention centers.  

This report shines a light on our COVID-19 response and its vital impact on the lives of those we serve. Thank you for making this possible. 

If you’re interested in seeing a break down of our Cash Assistance Program by borough and county, check out our updated cash allocation graphs here.