Legal Services NYC COVID-19 Resources for Clients

Legal Services NYC has compiled an extensive COVID-19 Resources Guide for its clients. The resource guide includes, but is not limited to, updates on the local, state, and federal court systems; public benefits and unemployment insurance resources; and information on how to continue to access our services. It is continuously being updated and is available in English, Spanish, and Chinese.

Legal Services NYC Resources: https://www.legalservicesnyc.org/what-we-do/covid-resources

Legal Services NYC’s Access Line is OPEN and the organization continues to serve clients and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Legal Services NYC’s physical offices are closed as of March 17, 2020, the organization’s dedicated staff are working remotely on behalf of new and existing clients.

Current clients should contact their advocate’s office or extension for more information about their cases.

If you are seeking legal assistance on a new matter, you can call the Legal Services NYC legal assistance hotline at 917-661-4500, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Staff can take calls in any language.

Mayor Bill de Blasio Releases 4/19/2020 Weekly COVID-19 Resource

Please note the following summary and resource of COVID-19 updates as of April 19, 2020, released by the Office of Mayor Bill de Blasio.

  1. Anti COVID-19 Stigma
  2. Education
  3. Food Resource
  4. Small Business
  5. Health + COVID-19 Testing
  6. Benefits
  7. Jobs
  8. DACA
  9. How to help NYC
  10. Others

Read more about the resources in English and Chinese here. Please contact Xiaomin Zhao at (646) 306-9287 or via email at [email protected] if you have questions.

CPC CARES Act Info Sheet

On March 26th, 2020, the Federal Administration passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act with the interests of minority groups, immigrants, and low-income community members in mind. The Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) policy team has created an easily accessible info sheet on the CARES Act in English and Chinese (simplified and traditional). Thanks again to CPC for providing these information sheets and advancing the interests of not only Asian-Americans but all who are most vulnerable to COVID-19.

Download the fact sheets in the following languages:

English- CARES Act Federal Stimulus Package FAQ

Traditional Chinese- CARES 法案: 聯邦政府經濟刺激⽅案

Simplified Chinese- CARES 法案: 联邦政府经济刺激⽅案

MOCACITIZEN: Uncovering My Family Story with Amy Chin, Apr. 12

Sun, Apr. 12, 2015 @ 2:30pm – 4:00pm

Admission: $12/Adult; $7/Student & Senior; FREE for MOCA Members (includes museum admission)

Click Here to Register.

Amy Chin’s multi-generational family story – told through 12 graphic novel panels – is part of the exhibition Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion at the New-York Historical Society. Join us for a behind the scenes look at how Amy researched and uncovered her family’s century-old history in America.

Amy grew up in the Bronx where her family, like many others of that era, owned and operated Chinese laundries. For decades, Amy’s family carefully saved records, objects, and other personal artifacts of their immigration history. In piecing it together the exhibition, Amy also delved deeply into government archives and other repositories to reveal more secrets of the family’s past. Amy will talk about that research, the journey and some of the secrets she discovered along the way.

(Pictured above: Amy Chin, presenting the graphic panels on her family’s history at the New York Historical Society during AABANY’s Special Group Tour of Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion on April 4)

Chance to Fulfill Pro Bono Requirements – MinKwon Center Naturalization and DACA Renewal Clinics

The MinKwon Center will be hosting several Naturalization and DACA Renewal Clinics this fall and they have recently added some new clinic dates. The new clinic dates are indicated with asterisks below. These clinics are great opportunities to assist low-income community members with immigration law forms. Each clinic will be held at the MinKwon Center’s office in Flushing, Queens (a few blocks from the 7 train stop). 

No prior experience is necessary, and training will be provided on the day of each clinic. The Center keeps a log of all volunteer hours and they’re glad to certify your pro bono hours for the NY bar admission requirement. If you’re interested in volunteering, please read the following clinic descriptions and sign up using the links below:

Naturalization Clinics –

The Center will be helping eligible LPRs complete their applications to become naturalized U.S. citizens. They are searching for assistance from attorneys, students and interpreters. Korean and/or Chinese language ability is especially helpful. Please sign up here to join for a Naturalization Clinic on any of the following dates:

  • Friday, September 26
  • Friday, October 10*
  • Saturday, October 18*
  • Saturday, November 8*
  • Friday, November 21*
  • Friday, December 5*

DACA Renewal Clinics –

The Center will be helping undocumented youth complete their applications to renew their DACA status. Successful applicants will receive an additional two years of protection against deportation and renewed work permits. They are searching for assistance from attorneys, students and interpreters. No foreign language ability is required. Please sign up here to join for a DACA Renewal Clinic on any of the following dates:

  • Friday, September 12
  • Saturday, September 13
  • Friday, September 19
  • Friday, October 3*
  • Friday, October 17*
  • Friday, October 31*
  • Friday, November 7*
  • Friday, November 14*
  • Friday, December 12*
  • Friday, December 19*

Please see below the contact information of the MinKwon Center:

MinKwon Center for Community Action (formerly YKASEC)
136-19 41st Ave. 3rd Fl. Flushing, NY 11355
Tel.718.460.5600 ext. 204 | Fax.718.445.0032 

NYC Board of Elections is Searching for Language Interpreters

The Board of Elections in the City of New York has interpreter vacancies for Chinese and Spanish in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and for Korean in Queens.  Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.  Anyone interested in working election day can email [email protected]  or can apply online here https://electiondayworker.com/ .

The Board also has an ad on the www.nyc.gov homepage under “NYC Programs & Initiatives”

Applicants can also visit their borough office for more information:

Brooklyn
345 Adams Street, 4 Fl
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: 1.718.797.8800
Fax: 1.718.246.5958
Hours of Operation – 9 A.M.- 5 P.M.

Queens
126-06 Queens Boulevard
Kew Gardens, NY 11415
Tel: 1.718.730.6730
Fax: 1.718.459.3384
Hours of Operation – 9A.M.– 5 P.M.

Manhattan
200 Varick Street, 10Flr
New York, NY 10014
Tel: 1. 212.886.2100
Fax: 1. 646.638.2047
Hours of Operation – 9A.M.– 5 P.M.

Staten Island
1 Edgewater Plaza, 4 Fl
Staten Island, NY 10305
Tel: 1.718.876.0079
Fax: 1.718.876.0912
Hours of Operation – 9A.M. – 5P.M.

Bronx
1780 Grand Concourse, 5 Fl
Bronx, NY 10457
Tel: 1.718.299.9017
Fax: 1. 718.299.2140
Hours of Operation – 9 A.M. – 5 P.M.

Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU and Asia Society’s The Escape and Rescued Memories: New York Stories

Co-presented by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU and Asia Society

The Escape and Rescued Memories: New York Stories 

ThursdayFriday, May 8-9, 20148PM

by Lenora Lee Dance with Kei Lun Martial Arts & Enshin Karate, South San Francisco Dojo

image

Directed by A/P/A Institute at NYU Visiting Scholar Lenora Lee, the interdisciplinary performance works The Escape and Rescued Memories: New York Stories excavate the lives of early 20th century Chinese women migrants through dance, martial arts, film, and music.

The Escape is inspired by stories of women who, after being trafficked into the United States, sought refuge in San Francisco’s Donaldina Cameron House, a faith-based social service agency that today continues to serve Asian communities living in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Rescued Memories: New York Stories retraces the life of Bessie M. Lee (Bessie You Toy–b. 1894), who spent two years in indentured servitude after migrating to New York City to work for a wealthy Chinese family.

Both evenings’ performances will be followed by special conversations featuring the artists, community organizers, and scholars.

TICKETS

Image credit: Robert Sweeney.

AAARI: Talk on A Comparative Look at Chinese and Dominican Americans

Join us for a talk on Growing Up in Transnational Worlds: A Comparative Look at Chinese and Dominican Americans, by Vivian Louie, on Friday, December 13, 2013, from 6pm to 8pm, at 25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public.

Transnationalism refers to the phenomenon of immigrants maintaining connections to their country of origin, and employing a dual frame of reference to evaluate their experiences and outcomes in the country in which they have settled. How does transnationalism matter in the identities among the second generation, e.g., individuals who were born in the United States, or migrated by late childhood? In this presentation, Dr. Vivian Louie examines this question among second generation Dominicans and Chinese who have grown up in strong transnational fields and had parents who want them to participate in the homeland imaginary. The focus is on transnational orientations and/or practices among second generation individuals with particular attention to generational status, class, ethnicity, gender, and race.
 

Vivian Louie is the 2013-2014 CUNY Thomas Tam Visiting Professor at Hunter College. Dr. Louie received her Ph.D and M.A. from the Yale University Department of Sociology, M.A. from the Stanford University Department of Communication, and A.B. from Harvard University. She  has previously worked as a newspaper journalist, journalism teacher and youth magazine editor, and an associate professor in education and lecturer in sociology at Harvard. 

Dr. Louie studies immigration, education, and identities with a focus on the contrast between lived experience in urban and suburban neighborhoods. Dr.  Louie’s two books, Compelled to Excel: Immigration, Education, and Opportunity Among Chinese Americans(Stanford University Press, 2004) and Keeping the Immigrant Bargain: The Costs and Rewards of Success in America (Russell Sage Foundation, 2012), reveal how academic success is achieved in similar ways among working class Chinese, Dominicans and Colombians, even though they belong to groups typically framed at opposite ends of academic success (the Asian American high achiever and the Latino American low achiever). Dr. Louie is also an editor of and contributor to Writing Immigration: Scholars and Journalists in Dialogue (University of California Press, 2011).

To RSVP for this talk, please visit www.aaari.info/13-12-13Louie.htm. Please be prepared to present proper identification when entering the building lobby. Can’t attend? Watch the live webcast on our website homepage, starting at 6:15PM EST, or access the streaming video and audio podcast the following week.