Dear Enroot Community,
I’m writing today to make an urgent appeal for your help addressing the immediate financial needs of our students and families, many of whom experienced sudden catastrophic loss of wages in recent days. Many Enroot students contribute meaningfully to their household income through part-time jobs and Enroot internship stipends. Most of their parents and/or guardians do not have paid sick leave.
Need for Support
We recognize that the scale of the financial impact on families requires resources and support that only federal, state, and city entities can truly provide. While these supports are on their way, it’s imperative for Enroot to play a role in the interim to address some of the immediate basic needs of our students and families.
Emergency Immigrant Cash Assistance Fund
Today Enroot is establishing an Emergency Immigrant Cash Assistance Fund to provide immediate short term financial assistance to Enroot students and their families. Enroot’s Board of Directors approved an extraordinary distribution of $50,000 from our strategic reserves for this purpose. This decision was made both so that students could access cash immediately, and also with the hope that it would encourage institutional funding partners and individuals like you to join forces with us in this effort. Here are the basics:
Enroot’s contribution of $50,000 is sufficient to give each student $250.
Our goal is to raise an additional $90,000-$120,000, which would allow a total distribution of between $700-$850 to each of our 200 students.
Enroot will begin distributing funds to students on Friday, March 20th.
Please consider making a donation in any amount to this fund. Enroot will be covering all administrative and transactional costs to ensure that 100% of your donations will be distributed as cash assistance to Enroot students. If possible please make your donation via Enroot’s Facebook campaign (here), since there will be no fees assessed. If you are unable to donate through Facebook, please donate through our main Enroot page by clicking the button below.
As many of you know, the impacts of this crisis are particularly acute for immigrant families. Immigrants are less likely to access support from food banks and other essential service providers for many reasons, including language barriers and fear related to deportation and becoming a public charge. Students in Enroot’s College Success cohort were forced to abruptly leave campus with limited recourse for housing and food subsidies, at the very same time they’ve lost essential part-time wages. This crisis has also increased the incidence of xenophobic and racist attacks, especially toward immigrants.
As we launch the Fund, our staff and over 200 volunteers continue to provide direct support to students through virtual mentoring and tutoring, and by helping students access available resources.
Thank you for your ongoing dedication to Enroot students and families. Your support is needed now more than ever. You can also help this effort by sharing this appeal broadly with your networks on social media and by forwarding this email. At the foot of this email are icons to Enroot’s Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram accounts.
With deep gratitude and best wishes for the health of your family, as we all rally together as a community.
Ben Clark
Executive Director