Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Chili for a Cabrini Cause

November 29, 2023

On Saturday, November 18th members of the Inwood community hosted the 8th Annual Chili Bowl, which is an annual fundraiser that benefits a local organization. We were very grateful that this year the event was held to benefit the Food Pantry at Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC. Our Executive Director, Javier, and Pantry Coordinator, Paul, attended the event and enjoyed getting to know our local community and eating delicious chili. State Senator Robert Jackson, who has been a big supporter of CIS-NYC, was also in attendance. Over $4,000 was raised for our pantry at the event.

We would like to thank the main coordinators, Tom Bosco, Felipe Wityk-Sanchez, and Jeff Natt, as well as local businesses that donated items to the bake sale portion of the event (The Inwood Farm, CHOCNyc, Kiro Kirin, Hawthorne Valley Farm, Dunkin’ Donuts, Dollar Tower, Inwood Gourmet, Buunni Coffee & Jeff Natt).

Over the weekend, our Pantry also distributed turkeys to some lucky families. We were able to give out 40 turkeys, which were donated to us by City Harvest. Our clients were very excited to be able to receive this special item and share a Thanksgiving meal together with their families.

Intergenerational Fall Fun!

November 15, 2023

Intergenerational Fall Fun!

We hear so much about intergenerational programs and the wonderful effect it has on both the young and the elderly.

Several of our high school students from Cabrini Immigrant Services (CIS) in Dobbs Ferry, NY, visited some of the residents at St. Cabrini Nursing Home. The students loved speaking with the residents and helping them create colorful wreaths. They especially enjoyed singing Happy Birthday to one of the residents who turned 102 years old that day! The residents had smiles on their faces from ear to ear. They kept remarking how wonderful, respectful, and helpful the high schoolers were.

They had such a wonderful time that the students will be visiting again in December when they will build gingerbread houses together.

Observing Dia de los Muertos in Dobbs Ferry, NY

November 8, 2023

In the Christian tradition, the month of November is a time when we remember our deceased family, friends and loved ones. There are different ways that we remember those who have gone before us. On November 2nd, some of the clients from Cabrini Immigrant Services (CIS), Dobbs Ferry, shared their celebration of Día de los Muertos, (the Day of the Dead), with the residents at St. Cabrini Nursing Home.

A beautiful altar was created in the lobby of the nursing home. As our clients built the altar, there was such reverence, love and tears that went into it. Each piece that was added to the altar had great meaning. It is customary in Mexico and many of the countries in South America to build an altar in your home to remember the dead. Our clients were from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

The program began in the chapel where our clients spoke about the meaning of Día de los Muertos. They sang, La Llorona, a special song that is sung on this day. The residents were led out to the lobby where the altar was displayed. There were luminaria bags in the hall that lit the way to the altar.

The clients spoke about the altar and the meaning of the different items. There were pictures of their loved ones on the altar. Special flowers, fruits, bread, sugar skulls and candles were also placed on the altar. Not only do the items have special meaning, but it is also important to have many colors exhibited.

Through tears, many described how being able to share in this moment helped them as they prayed and remembered their loved ones. Everyone present was invited to add the names of their loved ones to the altar where they will be remembered in prayer.

CIS-NYC Hosts 1st Legal Clinic

November 8, 2023

On Saturday, November 4th, Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC hosted our first legal clinic to assist clients in applying for Temporary Protected Status. In September, the Department of Homeland Security announced the extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans for 18 months. This means that eligible Venezuelan nationals who entered the United States before or on July 31st, 2023, can now apply for TPS, which will allow them to reside and work legally in the United States. Upon learning this news, CIS-NYC staff went straight to work to ensure that all of our eligible clients have the opportunity to apply for TPS. At our clinic on November 4th, we were able to successfully complete 43 new TPS applications! All of our staff from our various programs pitched in to make this event a great success.

In addition to planning and running our own legal clinic, CIS-NYC’s legal team has been supporting our partners in New York City and upstate to meet the overwhelming need for immigration legal services for newly arrived migrants. Our attorneys and DOJ Accredited Representatives have volunteered their time and skills in person and virtually at clinics to help clients complete applications for both TPS and asylum. We are very proud of the hard work and commitment our team has demonstrated in response to the urgent need for services in New York!

Knitting with a Purpose

October 19, 2023

The Knitting Group at Cabrini Immigrant Services (CIS), Dobbs Ferry, NY, completed a very special outreach program. The main purpose of our Knitting Group is to help our clients improve their English. However, they also enjoy helping others. The group crocheted 260 facecloths that will be given to Samaritan’s Purse: Operation Christmas Child. This program sends special shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies and personal care items to children around the world.

We have teamed up with Youth Mission of Life Church in White Plains, one of the sites that fills the shoeboxes with various items. Our facecloths will be placed in the shoeboxes along with the other items. It was decided that the facecloths would be crocheted in purple and lavender, the Cabrini colors.

Before donating the facecloths, Fr. Ron Galt, Vice President of Mission and Pastoral Care, came to CIS to bless them. He told the group that the love that went into all the crocheting and the prayers that they said while making the facecloths are intertwined and that those who will use the facecloths will feel the prayers, their love and the love of God. Fr. Ron also blessed the members of the group for all their hard work they did through the use of their hands.

Asylum 101

October 11, 2023

Asylum 101

On October 5, Cabrini Immigrant Services-NYC and St. Frances Cabrini Shrine hosted Asylum 101, a program designed to help our neighbors untangle what’s going on with immigration.

The program began with CIS-NYC attorney Ariana Salas defining what asylum is, and discussing common myths about asylum-seekers. She described how the process works and told the audience the extent of the logjam in processing cases.

Tiburcio Segoviano, a CIS-NYC social worker, then gave an overview of how Cabrini Immigrant Services supports new migrants and helps them adapt to life here. Community advocate Amelia Scodoris finished up the program by speaking about ways people can volunteer or advocate for change. She also invited them to sign up to for an upcoming advocacy training session to be held at the CIS-NYC offices.

It was a lively, engaging evening, and our guests had a range of opinions and many questions. We were fortunate to have an immigration case manager from Congressman Adriano Espaillat’s office in the audience. His perspective from a Federal level complemented the expertise of the presenters and led to animated but thoughtful discussion. We look forward to continuing to engage our broader community in topics related to immigration.

‘Giving Back’ to our Neighbors

October 11, 2023

On Monday, October 9th, Cabrini Immigrant Services (CIS), Dobbs Ferry, NY held a Giving Back Program. Despite being off from school for Indigenous Day, some of our high school students gave up their late sleep to help make packets of toiletries for those in need.

We have been working with our asylum seekers who are residing in a neighboring town. They have been attending many of our programs that are held at CIS. Our students made 150 packets of toiletries for the adults and 25 packages of ‘goodies’ for the children. In addition, we made 150 packets of toiletries for a homeless shelter in Westchester County. Some of the adult packets included toothbrushes, toothpaste, handwarmers, hats, gloves, socks, hand sanitizers, etc. The children’s packets had crayons, coloring books, a stuffed animal, sticker books and animal crackers.

Thank you to the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation for allowing our students to give back to those in need.

End of Summer Updates from CIS-NYC

September 28, 2023

As we enter the Fall season, CIS-NYC is reminiscing about the many exciting activities we held throughout the summer! We hosted events to educate our community members about their rights, brought clients together to build community and solidarity, and continued to provide vital services to immigrants throughout NYC.

July at CIS-NYC

On July 21st CIS-NYC held a family trip to a water park in West Berlin, New Jersey. Fifteen families with a total of 53 people had the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful day at the pools. Our goal was to bring families together and to offer them the chance to enjoy themselves without the stress of everyday life.

The following week, we held a volunteer appreciation barbeque outside of our office to acknowledge the incredible work of our Food Pantry volunteers. Without them we wouldn’t be able to provide healthy food to hundreds of families each week!

August at CIS-NYC

In August we were able to provide some of our families with tickets to see the New York Giants play! We also held a celebration for our Justice for Immigrants members where we played games, shared food, and said goodbye to our wonderful intern, Gabi, before she headed back to college.

Later in August we held our Angel Fund Scholarship award ceremony. We were very proud to award scholarships to 10 impressive students this year. Recipients and staff enjoyed getting to know each other and celebrating this great achievement! We look forward to supporting each of these students throughout their studies and seeing their growth this year.

On August 25th we were able to collaborate with our partners at Sant’Egidio to host a legal workshop for their French-speaking clients, most of whom recently arrived in the US.

September at CIS-NYC

In September, our Justice for Immigrants Program partnered with the Hamilton Grange Library to host a resume building workshop for our members.

Finally, last week we were honored to host New York State Senator Robert Jackson and his team at our office. Senator Jackson presented CIS-NYC with an award of $17,500 to support the vital work of our Immigration Legal Services Program.

Thank you to our donors, volunteers, and collaborators, without whom we would not have been able to hold these (and so many more!) wonderful events this summer

Bringing Snap! Crackle! and Pop! to Cabrini Immigrant Services

September 14, 2023

The Resident Council at St. Cabrini Nursing Home, wanted to reach out to the children from Cabrini Immigrant Services (CIS), Dobbs Ferry, NY. They held a Mission in Action fundraiser. They invited the residents, family, friends and staff to donate cereal during the month of August. They also added that they wanted ‘sweet cereal’ for our Cabrini Kids. Quickly the bins filled up in the lobby as different types of cereal were donated.

On Friday, September 8th, some of our Cabrini Kids and their Moms went to the nursing home to pick up their cereal. You can only imagine the look on the faces of the children when they saw nearly 150 boxes of cereal! They were thrilled to be able to go and pick out whatever boxes they wanted. One of the children, who is in 1st grade said, “I’ve waited my whole life to taste Captain Crunch.” Another child said, “I’ve never seen so many boxes of cereal. I can’t believe I can pick whatever cereal I want.” One child said that she would give her brother the Honey Nut Cheerios, but she would take the Trix, Captain Crunch and the Fruit Loops.

I don’t know who was smiling more, the children, the parents, or the residents. The parents were so grateful to receive the gift of cereal. We all know how expensive cereal is, especially the ‘sweet ones.’

On behalf of the children and the families at CIS, I want to thank the Resident Council for all they do to help support CIS. The Cereal Drive was a huge success!

Truly, we saw the Cabrini Mission in action. God bless you for putting smiles on so many faces.

Graduation Day!

June 20, 2023

On Friday, June 9, Cabrini Immigrant Services-NYC’s (CIS-NYC’s) nutrition workshop participants celebrated their graduation! Fourteen participants from different countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico completed nine nutrition workshops in collaboration with the Cornell University Cooperative Extension.

Participants learned to read nutritional labels and lead healthier lives. Each participant received a diploma and a Trader Joe’s gift cards for their participation in the group. All the participants prepared a meal and shared a pleasant moment at their graduation.