BX leaders launch boro relief effort
Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez who is involved with the Bronx Community Relief Effort.
Photo courtesy of Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez’s Offi ce
Undocumented workers struggle during COVID-19
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,BTR APR. 17-23, 2020 3
BY JASON COHEN
To address the immediate
needs of Bronx residents during
the COVID-19 pandemic, community
leaders, including government
offi cials, nonprofi ts,
businesses and residents came
together and launched the Bronx
Community Relief Effort.
The goal is to raise $10 million
to support food insecurity, small
business relief, distributing microgrants,
personal protective
equipment (PPE) for frontline responders,
nonprofi t economic relief,
connectivity and technology
gaps, equity and justice and housing
stability.
Among the people involved
were Assemblyman Michael
Blake, Borough President Ruben
Diaz Jr., CEO of HUB/Third
Avenue Business Improvement
District Michael Brady, Senator
Alessandra Biaggi and Assemblywoman
Nathalia Fernandez.
“The Bronx Community Relief
Effort will go a long way in
providing such assistance, now
and in the future,” Fernandez
said. “I am thankful and proud to
see it established.”
Fernandez told the Bronx
Times these issues have been
in the borough for decades and
aren’t going away.
“It goes back to the Bronx’s
history of being the throw away
borough,” she said.
The assemblywoman stressed
that soon the 90-day moratorium
for evictions will be up and thousands
are worried they will be
homeless. Furthermore, many
people have been calling her offi
ce worried about how to pay for
funerals.
“How are people going to bury
their loved ones,” she said.
The funds will be dispersed as
follows:
- $2,000,000 for food insecurity
– In partnership with World
Central Kitchen, Here to Here
and The Bronx Private Industry
Council will deliver 50,000 meals
a day;
- $1,500,000 for small business
relief – In partnership with the
Third Avenue BID and Spring
Bank, distributes between 100 to
175 grants to small businesses.
Grants are between $5,000 and
$25,000;
- $1,500,000 toward distributing
microgrants – In partnership
with CUNY, the Third Avenue
BID and Spring Bank, distributes
$250 to $750 microgrants to over
2,000 individuals in crisis;
- $1,000 for personal protective
equipment (PPE) for frontline responders
– In partnership with
Montefi ore, St. Barnabas Hospital
and NYC Health + Hospitals to
distribute over 200,000 masks, visors,
gloves and other protective
gear to healthcare workers;
- $1,000,000 for nonprofi t economic
relief – In partnership with
Hostos Center for Bronx Nonprofits,
distributes between 50 to 75
grants to not for profi ts. Grants
are between $5,000 and $50,000;
- $1,000,000 for connectivity
and technology gaps – In partnership
with Here to Here, Dream-
Yard, Per Scholas, Knowledge
House and others, provide 1,000
Chromebooks and hotspots and
establish a community help desk
and a tech support hub;
- $1,000,000 for equity and justice
– In partnership with legal aid
groups, such as Bronx Defenders,
Legal Aid Society and others, ensures
that 2,000 Bronxites are supported
through their criminal,
civil, child welfare and immigration
cases during the New York
stay-at-home order;
- $1,000,000 for housing stability
– In partnership with Bronxbased
housing organizations,
such as Nos Quedamos, WHEDCo,
New Settlement, Phipps Neighborhoods,
ensures that social work,
fi nancial and health supports are
available to 2,500 Bronxites during
the New York stay-at-home
order.
For more information and
to donate, visit TheBronx.org.
Checks can be written to The
DreamYard Project Inc. and put
Bronx Community Relief Effort in
the memo.
Mail all checks to:
DreamYard
1085 Washington Ave.
Bronx, N.Y. 10456
BY JASON COHEN
Living as an undocumented
worker is a challenge
but during the
COVID-19 crisis it has become
nearly impossible.
Ligia Guallpa, executive
director of the
Worker’s Justice Project
in Brooklyn and Jairo
Guzman of the Mexican
Coalition, 389 E. 150th,
spoke with the Bronx
Times about how undocumented
workers are
coping and issues they
face.
Guallpa explained
that many undocumented
workers don’t have the
luxury of being able to
stay home. They deliver
food, sweep streets, dig
graves and often do jobs
others won’t. Furthermore,
many are now
unemployed.
Ultimately, they are
risking their lives to put
food on the table and pay
bills because they have
no other option, she said.
“It’s very common for
workers to have a lot of
fear,” Guallpa said.
Not speaking English
and worrying about being
deported is always
burdensome, but now
with COVID-19, it seems
the world is on their
shoulders, she remarked.
“New York city as a
whole is not built to deal
with an epidemic like the
coronavirus,” she said.
“It reveals how broken
the system is.”
The policies and laws
are geared towards white
collar people, Guallpa
explained. The stimulus
checks won’t even go to
the undocumented because
they don’t have a
social security number.
Furthermore, many
undocumented families
do not have health insurance,
so being able
to afford treatment for
COVID-19 is another
thing on their minds.
“The working poor
people are the ones paying
the price,” Guallpa
commented. “The current
policies aren’t
working.”
Guzman noted that
this disease is affecting
the Latino community
more than any other ethnicity
in the borough.
He said according to
the Mexican Consulate,
there have been 130 undocumented
Mexican
cases of coronavirus in
New York.
While he praised the
medical professionals,
he noted that most people
do not realize undocumented
workers are out
there sacrifi cing their
lives every day.
“No one is clapping
for them at 7 p.m.,”
he said.
He pointed out that
because many of them
struggle fi nancially,
they rent rooms in apartments
with other families.
Imagine sharing a
home with 10 or more
people, he stressed.
“Social distancing
is nearly impossible
for them,” Guzman explained.
“So if one family
gets sick, everyone gets
sick.”
According to Guzman,
some undocumented people
are even afraid to go
to the hospital because of
their legal status. Many
people have also been
calling Guzman and his
staff asking how they
will pay for funerals.
They are worried
about keeping a roof over
their heads and not getting
evicted, so burying
someone is the furthest
thing from their minds,
he said.
“We’re very much
concerned about how the
families will survive,”
Guzman stated. “It’s not
just about putting food
on the table. It’s making
sure they don’t go homeless.
We’re very much
aware about the trauma
that these families are
experiencing.”
The Mexican Coalition, which is helping undocumented workers
during this crisis.
Photo courtesy Mexican Coalition Facebok
/TheBronx.org
