What you should know
- New York will offer a new English program (ESOL) to provide both in-person and virtual learning opportunities to help immigrants from the state become proficient in English through the New York State Office for New Americans, ( ONA, for its acronym in English). ONA created the more than $ 1.2 million program as part of Hispanic Heritage Month.
- This new ONA initiative offers a stand-alone English program that combines English training with a workforce development component to prepare participants for employment in New York State.
- Since the 1st of october, ONA Opportunity Centers-ESOL will offer the English program to assist low-income immigrants and refugees with opportunities to learn the language, as well as provide information to help navigate their communities. For assistance or to connect with ONA programs, you can call the New Americans Hotline at 1-800-566-7636 from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
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NEW YORK – New York will offer a new English (ESOL) program to provide learning opportunities both in person and online to help immigrants from the state become proficient in English through the New York State Office for New Americans, (ONA).
ONA created the more than $ 1.2 million program as part of Hispanic Heritage Month.
“New Americans contribute greatly to the state’s dynamic cultural and economic environment, but their participation in our society may be diminished due to limited language proficiency,” said Secretary of State Rossana Rosado. “We celebrate Welcome Week and Hispanic Heritage Month by recognizing the great contributions of New Americans and offering opportunities like the English for Speakers of Other Languages program. This resource will help new Americans become part of the New York diaspora by providing the tools necessary to contribute to our great state. “
This new ONA initiative offers a stand-alone English program that combines English training with a workforce development component to prepare participants for employment in New York State.
To directly address the needs identified in the communities served by ONA, this program will provide regular English classes combined with individual workforce support and innovative technologies, including Cell-Ed.
Each ESOL-Opportunity Center will contract with an experienced teacher to provide instruction to low-income immigrants and assist participants with resume building, interview techniques, and employment opportunities. The ONA-ESOL Opportunity Centers will also offer workforce development workshops for the community.
Since the 1st of october, ONA Opportunity Centers-ESOL will offer the English program to assist low-income immigrants and refugees with opportunities to learn the language, as well as provide information to help navigate their communities.
ONA has awarded awards to 16 community partner organizations located in the following New York State counties to do this work:
- The Bronx – Catholic Charities Community Service of the Archdiocese of NY
- Erie – Journey’s End
- Kings – Haitian Americans United for Progress
- Kings – Arab American Association of NY
- Monroe – Action for a Better Community
- Nassau – Central American Refugee Center
- New York – International Rescue Committee
- New York – Chinatown Manpower Inc.
- Oneida – The Center
- Onondaga – Catholic Charities Onondaga
- Orange – Catholic Charities Community Service of the Archdiocese of NY
- Queens – Chinese American Planning Council
- Queens – Haitian Americans United for Progress
- Queens – Korean Community Services of Metropolitan NY
- Suffolk – Central American Refugee Center
- Westchester – Neighbors Link
Anyone who is a resident of New York State and meets the income guidelines for the program can receive these services, regardless of where they live in the state. Scheduling will be provided both in person and remotely. Cell-Ed is also available to any New York State resident as free add-on programming that provides remote English language learning on the go.
Under this three-year grant, each ONA Opportunity Center-ESOL provide services, free of charge to clients, including English training, workforce assistance, and referrals to the ONA hotline.
There are about a million New Yorkers who have limited English proficiency.
ESOL training under this program will be offered for adult education purposes only (18 years of age and older).
This program has approximately $ 1,292,000 through Federal Community Services Block Grant funds and is open to any immigrant with a household income equal to or less than 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
This program is supported by the US Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
For more information, visit the ACF website, National Policy and Administrative Requirements.
For any immigrant who needs assistance or to connect with ONA programs, including Cell-Ed, you can call the New Americans Hotline at 1-800-566-7636 from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday to Friday. For more information visit https://dos.ny.gov/office-new-americans
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