Barbadian honoured among Heroes of New York

On Tuesday night, Robin Hood, New York’s largest poverty-fighting organization and iHeartRadio joined together to air “Heroes of New York” across television and radio stations.

The one-hour show shined a light on the selfless efforts by New Yorkers from all walks of life to bring their great city back to life as well as inspirational stories that showed the true impact of the extraordinary generosity and selflessness of New Yorkers, and dedicated individuals and organizations who have continued to help our neighbours in need.

Among those recognised was Barbadian Allison Julien of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA).

Julien came from Barbados and was working as a nanny when she got involved with advocating for labour rights for domestic workers.

She has since become a founding member of the NDWA, which acts as the nation’s leading voice for domestic workers who Allison lovingly refers to as the backbone of New York City.

She said in the broadcast, “I’m an immigrant and I’ve been undocumented doing domestic work and I knew that I needed to be a part of something bigger, a part of a larger community who were advocating for change.

“When I heard about domestic workers organizing back in 2002, I immediately got involved. My time is spent directing them to some of the services they need from food to housing to questions about immigration,” she said.

Julien explained that before the pandemic she was getting between 15-20 calls. Now, she gets between 50-70 calls from displaced domestic workers.

“When we heard about the first case of the coronavirus here in New York, I immediately asked what about the domestic worker? I knew they would not qualify for the stimulus package and many of them would become unemployed and sad to say, all of those things became the reality.”

She noted that the relief stimulus package left out about 1.2 million New Yorkers because of their immigration status.

“The National Domestic Workers Alliance immediately sprang into action in creating our coronavirus care fund for domestic workers.

“Here in NY, we have given $3.5 million to over 7, 000 domestic workers who need this cash donation,” she stated.

Chief Executive Officer of Robin Hood Wes Moore said, “Robin Hood’s work to elevate New Yorkers from poverty is more consequential than ever before. Because of the generosity of New Yorkers, we are providing relief through 600 frontline community partners who are feeding, housing, and caring for the city’s most vulnerable, while pushing for policy changes that will permanently remove barriers to economic mobility. As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in New York and throughout the country, we know our work is not yet done.” (ABC7/KB)