Brooklyn community organizations help asylum seekers navigate immigration process
Williamsburg Fitness on Park Avenue turns into a resource center every Sunday for asylum seekers.
Community organizations like Parcare Community Health Network are helping asylum seekers navigate the immigration process in the borough as Brooklyn continues to grapple with the migrant crisis.
On Sundays, Williamsburg Fitness on Park Avenue turns into a resource center for asylum seekers. Everyone that visits the gym is given a form where they must check what kind of resources they need. This can range from a cellphone to a lawyer, education or help with finding food, housing and medical care. There are several kiosks with professionals who can help migrants access those resources.
There’s also someone helping to get health insurance for migrants, IDs, access to a doctor - essentially anything they are eligible for.
Some of the migrants who visited Sunday have been in the country for only a few weeks. Others have been in the country for a few months, so their needs are different.
News 12 spoke with a woman this Sunday who said she’s still trying to find the basics like food and a school for her daughter. Others say they really need and want to work. They say they’ve been getting a lot of support, but they feel like their situation can’t improve until they receive work papers.
The coordinators at Parcare Community Health Network told News 12 they’re doing everything they can to connect those migrants with whatever they need.
The resource event is set up to not only help those asylum seekers but also to ease some of the pressure on the city, which Mayor Eric Adams said last week is reaching a breaking point. He continues to ask the state and federal governments for support to deal with the humanitarian crisis in the city.
