TESTIMONY
Marc Valinoti on the Impact of Funding Cuts on Immigrant and Domestic Violence Services
3:55:28
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168 sec
Marc Valinoti highlights the critical impact of funding cuts on immigrant and domestic violence services provided by Nimik, including the termination of the Action NYC program.
- Valinoti serves as the assistant director for immigrant and domestic violence services at Nimik, which focuses on serving communities in Washington Heights and the Bronx.
- He discusses the termination of the Action NYC program by Moyah, which endangers the provision of vital services to immigrants.
- Valinoti uses the story of a client named John, who benefited from legal services as a minor, to illustrate the importance of such programs.
- Emphasizes the need for stable city-funded infrastructure to maintain essential services for vulnerable immigrant populations.
- Calls for the City Council's support to ensure continued assistance and funding for immigrant legal programs.
Marc Valinoti
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Good afternoon, Charabilez, and the committee.
3:55:31
And thank you.
3:55:32
My name is Mark Felanati, and I'm the assistant director for immigrant and domestic violence services at Nimik, which is actually celebrating their 45th year as a settlement house serving communities across New York with a focus on Washington Heights and the Bronx.
3:55:47
Our memo goes further into our legal services, including immigration and our funding sources.
3:55:53
City funding initiatives enable us to provide a variety of services that impact thousands of immigrant New York However, Nymic and other providers are on the brink of crisis.
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Moyah, which has funded the successful 9 year action NYC program, will terminate the program at the end of the calendar year.
3:56:11
In its place, a concept paper has for drastically more of our organizations with no additional funding.
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The paper will also completely restructure our services and and valuable access points like libraries and hospitals we terminated.
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This will have a dire effect on our communities.
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Other long dependable funders like aycd has signaled their intent to possibly reduce funding or restrict services our most vulnerable populations.
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Your support for robust and stable funding for our work can send a strong message to city funders and will make a huge difference in the lives of our community members like Nemex client, John.
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John was 17 when he came to mimic through our action NYC hotline.
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He had entered the US as a tourist alone and was only asking about a student visa.
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However, during a follow-up consult, John revealed to the attorney he couldn't go back to his home country in Africa where he had been attacked at a political demonstration brutally and was hospitalized.
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He feared for his life and had to flee.
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Unfortunately, due to complications with his foreign citizenship, John was not eligible for asylum.
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However, Nemex legal team pivoted to a new strategy and successfully represented John in the special immigrant juvenile status application.
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After several years of representation and advocacy, John finally received his green card this January.
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He also recently earns his associate's degree in computer science from Bronx Community College.
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Moyah's concept paper will effectively end the action NYC program and will render Nimic and other community nonprofits unable to provide the vital long term support necessary for clients like John.
3:57:54
The only way to preserve life changing funding in immigrant legal programs is to the only way to preserve life changing immigrant legal programs is to ensure a stable infrastructure of funding in the city.
3:58:07
Thank you again for your time and support, and we look forward to continuing to partner with the city council to ensure our immigrant communities are welcomed and supported.