Dear friends and supporters,
As many are aware, for the past several months, tens of thousands of asylum seekers have been transported from the U.S. Southern Border to New York City. Asylum seekers have entered this country legally seeking safety and protection, and those transported to New York are awaiting asylum hearings. There has been an intense and urgent effort by New York City and its network of homeless service providers, including Westhab, to expand services and open new sites to meet this need.
Last week, New York City began transporting groups of asylum-seeking families to various sites across the State, including Yonkers. Westhab is proud to share that we are in the process of mobilizing to take on operations of the Yonkers site. We are committed to welcoming and serving these new members of our community with the same level of care and compassion that we provide all of our clients. Westhab is headquartered in Yonkers and has long-standing, strong partnerships with the City of Yonkers, Westchester County, and New York City. We feel uniquely positioned to step up and meet this moment.
We are proud to live in a community that strives to live up to its ideals. The City of Yonkers and Westchester County have welcomed these families and pledged their support. We’ve seen an outpouring of support and empathy from all corners of our community.
In the coming days and weeks, Westhab will be assuming operations and building programming in collaboration with our vast network of service partners. In the meantime, New York City is operating the site and ensuring that all immediate needs are being met. For those interested in supporting these families with donated goods, we ask for patience while we assess the needs of the families on-site. We will reach out to various groups as we work to fill service gaps to best serve these families. We will continue to provide updates through our newsletter, Westhab Stories, which you can subscribe to here.
We are proud to do this important work alongside many members of the Westchester community. Thank you all for your support and compassion. We are confident that, in time, our community’s response will become a shining example of humanity and community.
Sincerely,
Rich Nightingale
President & CEO
