Help Asylum Seekers during the time of COVID-19

We are gathering donations to create and maintain spaces in private cooperative homes that would offer individuals and/or families a temporary stay while they are going through the political asylum application process in the United States, allowing them time and support in a new city and culture.

This project started in 2019, yet has needed to make drastic changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our main focus had been supporting one family of asylum seekers in a cooperative home, while also maintaining an auxillary space for other temporarly stays, primarily by crowdsourcing through fundraising events. Our fundraising ability has been stymied due to the impossibility of hosting in-person events, and the family has now moved safely to a more affordable place nearby. Even though our budget has been slashed, we still need to raise funds to continue this project, as well as to support other asylum seekers struggling during this time if possible.

With your help, we can maintain a welcoming place even during these frightening times.

Project History:

Spring 2019: interviewed potential sponsors of asylum seekers in need of housing to see if they would match with collective housing we had secured. Fixed up an apartment to be in living order for a family.

June 2019: first family moved in to first Brooklyn living space

August 2019: set up auxilary space in Brooklyn for asylum seekers in need of temporary place to stay

April 2020: Single mother and child moved from larger Brooklyn space to smaller space in order to save money, since all fundraising events needed to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

currently: raising money for much-reduced on-going living costs through the end of September

June 2020: Hopefully (fingers crossed!) Solidarity Room Project occupants will be granted permission to start working legally in the US

September 2020: last month of support for first Solidarity Room Project recipients, project possibly extended to new asylum seekers if possible

New York City has been a site of immigration throughout its history, leading to great diversity today. Wherever someone is from in the world, they are likely to find a strong community of people with similar experiences. For these and many other reasons, many people who seek asylum in the US choose to do so here. However, it is also one of the most expensive places in the world to live. People awaiting judgement on their asylum application in NYC usually live in the homeless shelter system. To offer more safety and comfort, help us welcome into our home people struggling through the bureaucratic hurdles our country has put in place while dealing with life threatening situations in their home countries.

People who seek asylum are escaping real danger, persecution, abuse, and/or torture. Read more about who they are  and some of the concerns they may be dealing with . Our government structures complicate their experiences: people who are awaiting judgement on their asylum applications are not allowed to work, get no assistance for housing or food, and need sponsors to pledge to help them. View a quick overview of the process of asylum application here. While they are getting on their feet in the US, we will welcome them into private/cooperative homes to provide them a safe place to live, eat, and build some social connections.

The needs of asylum seekers don't end during the pandemic. In fact, immigration courts are some of the only parts of daily life that are still up and running. We hope that the unprecedented experience of COVID-19 doesn't lengthen the asylum application process or extend the waiting time for working papers, but we are committed to helping asulum seekers during this freightening time.