Friend,
 

My mother arrived at Ellis Island on the S.S. Minnekahda, along with her two parents, when she was only two months old. They were facing persecution in Eastern Europe and America welcomed them in. Our family members who couldn’t make it to the U.S. were later exterminated by the Nazis.
 

For migrants today facing violence, starvation, and persecution in their homelands, immigration is still a life and death matter.
 

An estimated 1,000 migrants arrive in New York City every day. Alone, in a new country, with young children and no legal ability to work, migrant mothers don’t know how they’re going to feed their families. 
 

CBS News recently highlighted our important work helping these families.

At our request, NYC has given us direct access to the city-run shelters so we can connect asylum-seekers with WIC, the federally funded initiative that provides pregnant women and caretakers of young children with access to nutritious foods — including formula for infants and baby food for toddlers. It’s the only federally funded safety net program that anyone can access, regardless of immigration status. We took on this life-saving work without any new City funding.
 

While the shelters do provide food to migrant families living there, the options aren't always ideal and can be instantly taken away if a family is unable to stay at a shelter overnight.
 

A migrant mother recently told us that she has been in New York City for less than two weeks, and one day her family was told there was an issue processing their paperwork and she needed to re-submit. While she waited for it to be processed, she spent the night sleeping on the street with her young child. That left them without food or other necessities provided by the shelter. WIC gives those who are eligible more food security and freedom.
 

If you have any questions about this work or want to help us make sure every family coming to this country has enough food, please feel free to reach out.
 

Thank you for your continued support.