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Told through the eyes of three New York immigrants, the short film underscores the great challenges—and triumphs—of starting over, and the nonprofits that help make that possible.

We are pleased to share Our Larger Community: Embracing New York’s New Immigrants, our short film following the lives of three immigrants forging a new life in the United States and spotlighting the nonprofits that helped turn their lives around.

Our Larger Community shines a light on the disparate circumstances, experiences and choices that lead immigrants to call New York home. In it, we meet:

• Brenda Barsalla, an immigrant from Peru, who was supported by Cabrini Immigrant Services in securing DACA status and a scholarship program for education;
• Manika Gautam, who left Nepal for New York in pursuit of gender equality and opportunity. She was supported by RISE (Refugee & Immigrant Self-Empowerment) in Syracuse in getting herself established in New York and securing employment;
• Cecil Mongo, who fled Zimbabwe as a political refugee and was greeted with support from Jericho Road in Buffalo with everything from clothing to food to employment, as well as health services for his family.

Brenda, Manika and Cecil represent New York’s broad constituency of immigrants who hail from hundreds of countries and for whom no two journeys are alike. Our Larger Community highlights how the immigrant experience can vary and the many ways New York nonprofits meet the needs of incoming residents – from financial to health to legal to emotional support.

There are myriad issues that dramatically impact migrant health outcomes, including:

• Finding mental health resources to help children and adults cope with trauma from their journey and/or adapting to a new country
• Access to stable education, which is compromised when migrants are shuffled between different shelters and face a language barrier
• Consistent job-training to secure available employment opportunities

Our newest neighbors face countless hardships, some visible and some less obvious, to building a healthy life here in New York. We’re honored to support the organizations featured in Our Larger Community that are working to improve health outcomes for all New Yorkers. We hope you’ll take the time to watch.

Meet Brenda, Manika, Cecil, and the extraordinary organizations making New York a more welcoming place: click here to watch Our Larger Community: Embracing New York’s New Immigrants.