On March 16th, HOPE paused onsite programming, but did not pause its work with adult jobseekers.

In response to new policies on social distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19, Per Scholas made the decision to close all campuses effective March 18, and moved all currently enrolled students into a remote learning setting. More than 500 students in 30 classes nationally transitioned to a virtual platform -- including 11 classes and over 200 students in New York City.

As COVID-19 shut down in-person education across the city, Make the Road NY has been able to maintain a full array of ESOL, Citizenship, and Know Your Rights classes for its membership. Make the Road NY staff was trained to use Zoom, and has conducted workshops on eviction prevention, immigration issues, and labor rights under COVID-19. Teachers use the platform to consult directly with students and to offer them practical support with respect to housing, food and financial relief.

CWE is partnering with economist James Parrott of the Center for New York City Affairs (CNYCA) at The New School to help New York policy makers and service providers develop programs to meet New Yorkers’ economic needs during this crisis.

Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow (OBT), a longtime partner in CWE’s Jobs to Build On program, works to end the cycle of poverty though education, job training, and employment. Those services have only become more necessary for their mostly-immigrant community during the COVID-19 public emergency.

YAMA's bodega members are essential businesses that have continued to operate during the pandemic. Over 70 of their members have contracted COVID-19, and many workers have lost their lives. YAMA has since launched a health education campaign and distributed bodega safety kits of masks, gloves, and sanitizing products to their members.

The COVID-19 shutdown hit just as New York’s community organizations were launching campaigns to get residents counted in the 2020 census. Despite these headwinds, a complete count remains essential for each New York community to get their fair share of federal funding and full political representation. CWE has shifted from planned in-person outreach to phone and text banks, and other online outreach to make sure the New Yorkers who are usually undercounted in the census are able to make their voices heard.

In response to COVID-19, the We Rise cooperative launched We Rise Cares, a new initiative that focuses on providing essential services to their community during crisis. We Rise’s trainers make outreach calls, provide coaching, organize peer support circles, and distribute education materials in local languages.

In response to the Governor’s Pause Order on March 20th, BSRC has fully transitioned to remote operations. To engage current and prospective job seekers, BSRC has hosted more than 25 virtual events and webinars on a range of topics including, “Navigating your Finances during COVID,” “Managing your Job Search in a Tight Market,” and “Keeping Dreams Alive during Coronavirus.”

New York Communities for Change works with CWE’s Worker Service Centers (WSC) to provide ESL classes twice a week across 6 different locations in Brooklyn and the Bronx. During the COVID-19 shutdown, NYCC has shifted to respond to the needs of its students and communities they serve.

Por varios meses, en CWE hemos trabajado conjuntamente con el Consejo Central del Trabajo y organizaciones comunitarias aliadas y sindicatos en CWE-CLC Workers Count2020, para informar y alentar a las y los trabajadores de Nueva York para participar en el censo. Ahora que el censo está en marcha, el equipo de promotores de CWE, esperaban salir a las calles para organizarse para un conteo completo, pero el brote de coronavirus ha cambiado drásticamente esos planes.

For months, CWE has been partnering with the Central Labor Council and allied community organizations and unions in CWE-CLC Workers Count2020, to prepare New York workers to take part in the census. Now that the census is underway, CWE census outreach workers had expected to hit the streets to organize for a complete count, but the coronavirus outbreak has upended those plans.

In less than a month, the census will launch online -- and Consortium for Worker Education organizers are in the streets making sure New Yorkers get counted. The initiative, CWE-CLC Workers Count2020, is a partnership between CWE and the New York City Central Labor Council (CLC).

A menos de un mes, de que el censo sea en línea, y los de Consortium for Worker Education están en las calles asegurándose de que las y los neoyorquinos se hagan contar. La iniciativa, CWE-CLC LaborCount2020, es un esfuerzo conjunto entre CWE y New York City Central Labor Council (CLC).

“Funding for education, food stamps, public housing, and transportation are on the line,” says Darly Corniel, Education Director at the Consortium for Worker Education. “We are here. It is important that we are counted.”