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Looking Back and Looking Forward This Holiday Season

I read with interest a recent story that described the support for migrants in New York City as they faced winter with limited employment options.

“With the temperature hovering in the mid-30s,” the story read, “hundreds of asylum seekers from Latin America waited patiently outdoors on the Lower East Side for hot meals, donated clothing items, haircuts, and access to legal counsel.”

In another day and time, Mother Cabrini herself would have been at the head of that line, also braving the cold to hand out food, clothing, and essential services to support the health and wellbeing of those who sought asylum or a new life in New York.

With immigration very much in the news this past year, I think Mother Cabrini would have been proud that her namesake foundation supported these efforts. While the story I read happened to focus on a program operated by Catholic Charities, we have supported organizations of all denominations, or no religious affiliation at all, who carried forward her legacy in 2022.

The photo accompanying this post was taken this past Thanksgiving, when Jerome H.A.N.D.S. Community Center in the Bronx held a luncheon for 150+ recent immigrants to New York. With support from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, they provided meals, hygiene products, and information about health services.

I invite you to view just a sample of other work we’ve posted on our website:

• This video, showing how our grantee, South Asian Council for Social Services, provides food security and access to healthcare services to underserved South Asians and all immigrants who are part of the essential and vibrant thread of New York State.
• This recap of our recent Community Healthcare Conversation that explored the ways Upwardly Global, the Safe Passage Project, and Le Moyne College ensure the immigrant community has a streamlined transition into New York’s workforce.
• This spotlight on the Immigrant Justice Corps and its Access to Counsel for Low-Income Immigrants program.

Immigrants and migrant workers were one of the eight populations served by our grant-supported programs in 2022. Last January, we announced $13 million in grants toward general services for immigrants and migrant workers, and $160 million in grants for 2022 programs for all.

We remain committed to underserved populations across New York State, and we look forward to announcing our funding for 2023 programs in January. This will include initiatives such as the recently announced grant to the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education for a program to prepare low-income immigrants and refugees for employment and career advancement in the Western New York region.

Later next year, as we mark the 5^th anniversary of our foundation, we will look to apply learnings from the more than 2,000 grants we’ve awarded since our founding to address common issues that cut across the populations and geographies we serve.

This holiday season, I am thankful to see the accomplishments of our supported programs in 2022, and I am excited by the work ahead of us in 2023.

Let us all, this holiday season, continue to honor the legacy of Mother Cabrini in a spirit of selflessness, and service to others, and kindness.

Happy holidays,

Msgr. Greg Mustaciuolo

Msgr. Mustaciuolo is CEO of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.