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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC, and we'll close the show today by unveiling the topic 4 and asking for your help with this year's Lehrer Prize for Community Well-Being. What is this? Well, a few years ago, some of you know, I was very humbled by the station leadership coming up with the idea that in the spirit of what we try to do regularly on the show that we also establish an annual prize that the show and the station bestow on a few groups or individuals working to enhance community well-being in one way or another.

For 2021, for example, we recognize people who helped get access to COVID vaccines for people who didn't have easy access. Remember, in those earliest days when it was so hard to get an appointment, that seems so quaint now, but it was a big source of inequality then, especially in the communities that were hardest hit by the virus in those awful early days. That was the topic of our prize in 2021. For 2022, we gave the award to people working on the social and emotional well-being of children, which, of course, was so impacted by the pandemic as kids were reemerging into the in-person school world, and with many family losses and anxieties the pandemic inflicted on kids.

Well, for the 2023 Lehrer Prize for Community Well-Being, the group of us who work on this has selected as our topic helping the asylum seekers. Why that? Well, most of the media's attention to the issue of the asylum seekers has been on the policy and the financial aspects. We were talking about it earlier on the show with the City Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan. What should the border policies be? What's the impact of so many new arrivals on the New York City budget and local services? The debates over where asylum-seeker shelters and other housing should be located. What their legal status should be and things like those. All those things are real issues and have to be covered.

We do plenty of those things on this show, but what often gets left out is the experience and community well-being of the asylum-seeking families and individuals themselves and how to meet their day-to-day needs for food, and clothing, and education, and healthcare, and housing, and more. This year's Lehrer Prize for Community Well-Being will go to three groups or individuals involved with helping the asylum seekers. The winners will get the recognition that comes with us doing this on the show and a small cash grant for each to help them with their work.

Now, here's where you come in, folks. Like we did last year with last year's topic, we're opening the phones to invite nominations for this year's prize. The question is simple. Who do you know or know about who is helping the asylum seekers and who deserves public recognition? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Again, who do you know or know about who's helping the asylum seekers who deserves public recognition? 212-433-WNYC. Call or text us right now. We would love to hear from some of you on the phones being descriptive about some people's or some groups work. 212-433-9692.

It can be an individual or it can be an organization. It's even okay if you work there. Who do you know or know about who's helping the asylum seekers and who deserves public recognition? 212-433-9692. You can also nominate organizations and individuals at wnyc.org/lehrerprizenominate. We'll keep that webpage open for a number of days as we take nominations, but we're definitely looking for phone calls and narratives right now, 212-433-9692, but if your ears are perking up and you're not going to call in, and now all our lines are full, poof, I guess many of you are working with or know people who are working with those helping the asylum seekers, but here's that website for print nominations or online nominations, wnyc.org/lehrerprizenominate.

As your calls are coming in, we'll acknowledge that there are so many deserving ones out there, and not everybody who deserves a prize is going to get one. We're going to find three who we want to single out for whatever reason. We know there are all kinds of places. Gambian Youth Organization recently came to my attention. They greet and transport migrants who arrive at Port Authority. We know about Team TLC, which runs the Little Shop of Kindness, as they call it, out of the Ukrainian Seventh Day Adventist Center in Bryant Park.

At this "shop", migrants can pick out clothing, toys, other essentials, also receive legal services. There are government agencies, but that's enough of a tease. I think you get the idea. We're inviting you to call us on the phone right now and nominate organizations and individuals for the Lehrer Prize for Community Well-Being for 2023. 212-433-WNYC, if they're involved with helping the asylum seekers and we'll take your calls right after this.

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now, to your calls, nominating individuals or organizations for the 2023 Lehrer Prize for Community Well-Being. We are going to give it to several people or groups who are helping the asylum seekers. Tiffany in StUy Town, you're on WNYC. Hi, Tiffany.

Tiffany: Oh, hi. Good morning. I didn't expect to be on the air. How are you?

Brian Lehrer: Good. You called us though, so you should've expected to be on.

Tiffany: I did, yes. I thought I was just here to make a nomination. I wanted to nominate the organization, Aid for Life.

Brian Lehrer: Tell us about it.

Tiffany: Working with the asylum seekers. We've been operating out of the public school, PS 20 on Essex and Houston since July of 2022. We've served over 20,000 asylum seekers since then with humanitarian aid and information and linkage to services. Then we're also doing a legal program where we've supported over 1,500 individuals.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you for starting us off, Tiffany, and if you can, also put it in writing online. Go to wnyc.org/lehrerprizenominate, and thanks for starting us off. Sorry, you didn't realize you were going to be on the air with it. Jane in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Jane. Jane, are you there? There you are. Hello?

Jane: Yes, hi. I'd like to nominate Riverside Language Program on the Upper West Side. I've been volunteering with them for several years now. They offer free language programs for five levels, as well as placement services and social services for both immigrants and refugees from all over the world. I do mentoring, and there are also group classes to improve English. It's a not-for-profit. They're on, I believe, West 89th Street. They have a couple of locations and they need help. They need money and they need more volunteers, and they're a wonderful, wonderful organization.

Brian Lehrer: The Riverside Language Program on the Upper West Side. Jane, thank you very much. I'll note, in fact, we're not going to take two calls for the same group during this call-in, but at least one other person is calling to nominate the Riverside Language Program. We're going to go next to Mary in Mount Kisco. Mary, you're on WNYC. Thanks for calling in.

Mary: Yes. Hi. Thank you so much. I just wanted to give a shout-out to Luisa Granda from Neighbors Link in Mount Kisco with also offices in Austin and Yonkers. Specifically with respect to resettling recent arrivals, Luisa has beaten down every door that's available to find housing for 15 families from the city who want to move up to Westchester County through the Migrant Assistance Plan. I think that's the most of anybody in the state so far. In addition to that, she's worked, along with the organization, to find wraparound services. They fully furnish all the apartments and provide incredible support to help make new residents feel comfortable in their new homes. It's so great working there.

Brian Lehrer: It's so interesting that you're calling for a person in a group in Mount Kisco because what we hear so often is that all the recently arrived asylum seekers are in New York City because none of the areas in the suburbs will take them, and so this is the kind of thing that's probably not getting a lot of press, but the work is going on and people are going to the areas. I'm glad you mentioned that one, Mary. Thank you very much. Again, if you want to put it in writing for us as well, you can go to wnyc.org/lehrerprizenominate.

Walter in Westfield, in Jersey. You're on WNYC. Hi, Walter.

Walter: Thank you. Thank you for doing this. I think it's a great concept. I want to nominate a group called El Centro Hispanoamericano. They are in Plainfield, New Jersey. They provide legal services for asylum seekers, which is very unique and hard to find, in addition to providing ESL, and food distribution, and that sort of thing.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, Walter. Thank you for shouting them out, and go put in on our website if you want to as well. Jenny in Brooklyn. You're on WNYC. Hi, Jenny.

Jenny: Hello. It's good to be on again. I actually, myself, have been doing a ton of on-the-ground work with migrants. I'd say since January of this year, and it started off with Gowanus Mutual Aid, which is based in that neighborhood, and was already in existence since the start of pandemic to address food insecurity, but then got involved in a real way with helping migrants when the first family shelter opened there in January. Then it expanded to there's the largest single men's migrant shelter in Clinton Hill near the Navy Yard here in Brooklyn.

There's about 2,000 guys there, so it's very hard to meet all their needs, but we do the best that we can, and we're providing weekly food distribution, and trying to get them clothes, which they are not given by the shelter when they arrive in inappropriate clothes for this weather, and sandals instead of warm shoes. We try to connect them with whatever services they might need. They do have some support services on site now, but that's only recent, and it doesn't seem to fulfill the needs that they have.

Brian Lehrer: Since you're so involved personally, I wonder, in addition to clothing which was probably very interesting for people to hear especially, that of course, they're coming from the warm climates of Central America, and here we are in late November in New York City, and they need clothing that they probably don't have, besides clothing, what else would you say from your personal experience is the biggest source of help that the migrants are coming in contact need?

The media focuses primarily on-- Well, let's either define these people as a problem or not, so there's certainly recognition of their basic humanity, and their potential for contributing to this country and the city, but beyond that, which is the constant source of media discussion. Besides clothing, what do you find the biggest unmet needs, or some of them today?

Jenny: I think really, some of them-- First of all, for anyone to get here, they have to have some drive, and they have a-- the word isn't coming to my mind. Anyway, there's some that really need help in navigating our crazy system, and knowing what services are available to them, and how to access them. That's not done in an overall macro way for all of them. They need a lot of guidance, and really one-on-one, which they're not getting when I'm [crosstalk].

Brian Lehrer: You're saying, I think that, besides lawyers, which they all need lawyers to process their asylum claims, they need something like social workers who can just help them work the system, right?

Jenny: Yes, a case manager. Yes, I'm a social worker, actually.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, there you go. Jenny, thank you. I'm going to leave it there. I really appreciate it. Go put those groups you mentioned on the site, wnyc.org/lehrerprizenominate. Carol in the Bronx, you're on WNYC. Hi, Carol.

Carol: Actually, I was going to call to nominate Team TLC, but your information is a little bit behind.

Brian Lehrer: Go ahead.

Carol: We don't have the Little Shop of Kindness anymore. We're doing pop-ups in different boroughs, and we're looking for a new space, and we may have one, but we don't have it yet.

Brian Lehrer: Who's behind Team TLC?

Carol: Elsa Tillman. It's actually a member of Grannies Respond that's in Westchester and Beacon. We're pretty much independent, but they're a non-profit, so we can take contributions on through them.

Brian Lehrer: Carol, thank you very much. I think we can do one more. Edson in the Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Edson.

Edson: Hey. Hi, Brian. Happy holiday season. Thanks for taking my call. I want to nominate 9 Million Reasons, and the person is Carolyn Marko. She's the one in charge. The place is located at Long Island City. Over there, they have a big warehouse, and they've been doing a wonderful job distributing a food pantry. Also, they've been helping migrants, setting migrants with city agencies during the summer, or a little before the summer and spring.

They set up some beds over there to help migrants, especially from Africa. They're doing a wonderful job over there. It's a food hub last week. I've been helping out since the beginning of the pandemic. I do volunteer work over there every Saturday morning. Last weekend, due to the holiday that is coming up, the Thanksgiving, they were distributing turkey and chicken, plus-- [crosstalk] usually, I do.

Brian Lehrer: Edson, that's great. Thank you, Edson. Keep calling us. All right. Edson nominating 9 Million Reasons. For Edson and everyone else, lots of callers we didn't get to, lots of you who probably heard this call out, but didn't call the show, we are inviting nominations for this year's Lehrer Prize for Community Well-Being, for groups or individuals helping the asylum seekers. Go nominate somebody at wnyc.org/lehrerprizenominate.

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