New York nonprofits provide resources as city's new arrivals settle
NEW YORK — The steady stream of newcomers into New York City has slowed in the year since the initial influx brought tens of thousands by surprise, leaving a multi-billion dollar impact.
Many of the migrants have settled in the city and finding their voices with assistance from services, already established for the local unhoused population. Organizations like the Covenant House youth shelter have shifted resources to accommodate them.
"We didn't expect the crowd that showed up at the door"
The nonprofit has provided a home for Jul, an aspiring singer from Mauritania. He arrived a little more than a year ago, learned English as his sixth language within three months, and now he is helping other young people like him find their way forward.
In Covenant House Hell's Kitchen facility, you can often find Jul in the music lab working on a new tune. The university-educated engineer came here to start from scratch, after failing to find opportunities to advance as a Black man in an Arab-led nation.
"I'm not feeling safety," Jul said of his home country. "It might be they kill me. Maybe they put me in jail for no reason … And also, you know, they killed my friend."
The 21-year-old found his outlet to express pain and protest through song.
"They don't want other countries to know what's going on over there," he said, "so now they want me to stop the music. I don't want to stop it. So they started looking at me. So I chose to leave."
He showed up in the midst of an immigration influx at the Streetwork drop-in center in Harlem, a nonprofit program celebrating its 40th year of "Redefining Home" for young people without one to call their own.
"We didn't expect the crowd that showed up at the door," said drop-in center senior director Tamara Amoah-Awuah.
Amoah-Awuah admitted her staff had to diffuse some friction between factions of locals and migrants, assuring everyone they were welcome to relax and have a hot meal.
"There's nothing that is being taken away from you because you have a different set of people that you're now sitting next to," Amoah-Awuah explained.
Mayor Eric Adams' administration has committed $6.8 billion dollars of the city's budget since 2023, specifically for asylum seekers arriving in the sanctuary city. Adams once again called for change in a recent exchange on "The Point With Marcia Kramer," offering a solution he says would turn this crisis into an opportunity.
"We're dealing with a population problem in many of our municipalities," Adams told Kramer. "Why aren't we telling the individuals we allow to come into the country, 'You're going to go where we need you. You're going to fill the jobs that we're looking for. You're going to deal with the population issue.'"
"I see myself doing something and helping people who need help"
Jul had saved every scrap of money for months to pay his way here. At Covenant House, he now serves as a youth ambassador to guide other new arrivals.
"I see myself doing something and helping people who need help," he said.
All the young people Streetwork serves are slowly taking steps towards their own success.
"We're really happy that they are doing the things that they set out to do," Amoah-Awuah said.
Streetwork is still helping Jul find a permanent home and advance his asylum application, so he can shine like a jewel, reflecting on his journey and leading others to light.
Streetwork is a branch of the Safe Horizon organization and is funded by the city's Department of Youth and Community Development, which has 750 total beds across the city designated for homeless youth, aged 16 through 24. To learn more click here.
To learn more about Covenant House's programming and shelters for unhoused youth, click here.
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