Arab-American Family Support Center

At a time when communities are experiencing fear, discrimination, and division, it's critical that we continue building partnerships with community organizations, elected officials, and city agencies. Thank you to everyone who continues to advocate for dignity, safety, representation, and opportunity for all New Yorkers," Hizam Wahib, AAFSC's Assistant Executive Director joined partners across the Muslim Civic Table for Muslim Day at City Hall to advocate for policies that protect and support Muslim New Yorkers. Huge thanks to Speaker Menin; Council Members Epstein, Hanif, Salaam, Avilés, Krishnan, Lee, and Restler for their support.

AAFSC mourns the victims of the attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego and stands in solidarity with the Muslim community. Places of worship should be safe spaces for peace and prayer, never violence. This tragic event sends another overwhelming surge of fear through Muslims across the United States. Read our statement below and our op-ed ICYMI: https://lnkd.in/eSUWDtaW

On May 14, AAFSC joined partners across the human services sector and the Human Services Council of New York for the #JustPay “Equal Work, Equal Wages” rally at City Hall Park. We stood alongside advocates calling for long-term wage equity for nonprofit human services workers. The rally supported Wage Equity Legislation (Int 0452), which aims to help close the 30% pay gap between nonprofit and City human services workers by advancing equal pay for equal work. Human services workers are the backbone of our communities, and sustainable investment in this workforce ensures stable, high-quality services for New Yorkers. We're proud to stand with the #JustPay movement in advocating for lasting systemic change.

AAFSC’s Preventive Services team joined families at Family Resource Day on May 9 at the New York Public Library’s Court Street branch in Brooklyn. At the event, hosted by the DAY CARE COUNCIL OF NEW YORK INC, we told 30 families with toddlers and infants about our free services across all five boroughs, including helping them find the best food and health care assistance and mental health counseling. We also let them know that we hold Know Your Rights workshops and youth support groups, and that they can work with our Functional Family Therapy program to receive parenting sessions, help with problem resolution, school system support, and family counseling. NYC needs quality childcare and strong family care support systems to maintain high standards of child developmental, educational, and social services.

This month’s Staff Appreciation goes to... Mazeda! As Youth Program Coordinator & Facilitator at AAFSC’s Queens location, Mazeda helps create a welcoming and engaging space for youth in our Young Adult & Youth Program to learn, grow, and connect. Through meaningful activities and strong relationships with participants, she makes Queens AYWA a place where young people feel supported and inspired. As a program participant told us, “[Mazeda] is really kind and I get to do new things in AYWA.” Thank you, Mazeda, for the difference you make every day!

AAFSC joined United Neighborhood Houses, Legal Aid NYC, and Chinese-American Planning Council for an important conversation on SNAP skimming. As a direct service provider, our clients are greatly impacted by SNAP skimming, which is when card readers steal information from SNAP cards, resulting in the theft of funds. Our clients have lost large amounts of funds from skimming, making it more challenging to feed their families. We shared this information with direct service providers and NYC Benefits staff to address this issue and advocate for chip-enabled EBT cards to help prevent future theft. Governor Hochul recently committed funding to support the transition to chip-enabled benefit cards, an important step toward protecting families from SNAP skimming. Call Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie today and urge them to support a SNAP skimming victims compensation fund in the final state budget!

Read Trinity Church NYC's moving piece about "Nadia," who came to AAFSC when she and her family were on the verge of being evicted from their home of 15 years. Her story shows how AAFSC reaches immigrants across NYC with multilingual support, including with housing—one of the biggest challenges our city faces. "Nadia’s experience illustrates how critical it is for New Yorkers from diverse linguistic backgrounds to have someone like Pierre on their side while navigating the city’s housing landscape—someone who can facilitate translation, clarify legal processes, and connect them to resources." “Had we not been there, there’s no telling what could have happened to this client and her family.” — Kevin Pierre, AAFSC Housing Navigation Specialist. Thank you to Trinity Church NYC for your partnership and support of our communities. Read more: bit.ly/trinity-aafsc

Do you know your rights as workers? AAFSC welcomed the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) to help launch their Workers’ Rights campaign. DCWP shared Workers’ Bill of Rights in Arabic, Spanish, and English and shared critical information about key protections including Paid Safe and Sick Leave (Protected Time Off), Fair Workweek, Freelance Isn’t Free, and anti-retaliation laws. Know your worker rights by visiting: bit.ly/dcwp-workers-rights AAFSC prepared participants with ESOL lessons focused on workers’ rights vocabulary such as: discrimination, wage theft, protection, and when to exclaim "wow!" One student even shared a workplace concern with DCWP after the session, helping them take the first step toward opening a case.

AAFSC joined partners in Albany for Muslim Advocacy Day on April 28 to support priorities that matter to Muslim communities across New York. Together, we advocated for recognizing Eid as a public school holiday, protecting immigrant families through NY for All, expanding hate crime prevention in schools, and improving how bias incidents are reported on campuses. We also raised concerns about protecting the right to peaceful protest near houses of worship. Grateful to the New York State Legislature and our partners—Albany Muslim Advocacy Coalition, Emgage Action, Eid Holiday Coalition, Yemeni American Merchants Association, MUSLIM VOLUNTEERS FOR NEW YORK, Black Muslims Now, Muslim Community Network, Muslims for Progress, and American Pakistani Advocacy Group Cares—for your leadership.

Join Brooklyn Org’s 2026 Nonprofit Conference, Communicating with Clarity, on Tuesday, June 16 at St. Francis College in Brooklyn. AAFSC CEO Randy Ali will speak on the opening panel alongside leaders from nonprofit, communications, and legal organizations. https://lnkd.in/erCE8GM6