The Montefiore Health System put together a program to help New York City families who lost loved ones due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Montefiore COVID Family Resilience Program has helped families navigate their way after a loss, including by providing $2,000 cash grants. The program has assisted nearly 500 families throughout the five boroughs. 

 Stewart Mitchell, from Brooklyn, lost his wife to COVID-19 about two years ago. He says the program helped him with recovery. 

“I told them everything that was going on and they came through for me and my family and I'm forever grateful to them for that,” Mitchell says. 

His wife Tiffany was working as a nurse's assistant when she died in April 2020. 

Mitchell says he wasn’t sure if he would be able to care for his son and daughter alone. 

“It eases that stress, but the burden is always there, that's never going to go away, I'm a single dad now,” he says. 

The program connected Mitchell to survivor benefits through social security and grief counseling. 

For more information on the Montefiore COVID Family Resilience Program, click here.