BUFFALO, N.Y. — A local non-profit and New York City announced the intent to enter into a $22.4 million contract on Wednesday to help move asylum seekers in Western New York out of temporary housing at hotels.
Some of this money would be used to help the 539 asylum seekers who have been living at three hotels in Amherst and Cheektowaga for several months find new apartments.
This coordinated entry program, a proposed pilot program funded by New York City and managed by Jewish Family Services, would help the more than five-hundred asylum seekers bused to Western New York last year.
"This program, I'm being very clear, is only for those individuals who are currently housed in the hotels. The 539 individuals. Nobody else will be admitted into this program. It is not open. It is not a general population program," said Molly Carr, CEO of Jewish Family Services of WNY.
The $22.4 million program would screen and enroll people who have a path to a more permanent legal immigration status. Those in the program would be assigned a case manager and have a service plan to connect them with things like housing, transportation, and food.
This would replace the contract with the private company DocGo.
"And, they're going to move that instead into contracting with Jewish Family Services, so as opposed to paying that private company money to put people in hotels at a cost of $50,000 per year, just for the hotel room for one person, they're going to transition that into a full range of services to allow people to live in the private economy," said State Sen. Sean Ryan.
The transition of services will happen over the summer. Asylum seekers enrolled in the program would receive those services for a year.
"Generally, work authorization is granted in six to twelve months, so we're really confident that between the work that was already started, and the year we have now, that we're going to get people out into the economy and they will live on the economy just like every refugee who has come into Western New York, every new immigrant who has come into Western New York," said State Sen. Sean Ryan.
Jewish Family Services says the goal is to start moving people into more permanent housing by the end of this year or early next year.
Related Video: