Emerald Isle Immigration Center (EIIC) announced this week the renovation and expansion of their community center located at 4275 Katonah Avenue in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx.
The project, which is anticipated to break ground in Spring of 2022 will add a third floor to the building, renovate currently unused second floor space and add an elevator to make all levels fully accessible. The renovated building will boast four newly renovated floors of program, office and community space, including a training lab and library, offices and private client meeting rooms, a large flexible community space and new finishes and furniture throughout.
“The Emerald Isle Immigration Center (EIIC) is one of the best service providers in New York City,” said NYC Council Finance Chair Daniel Dromm. “They work with many Irish immigrants, helping them to obtain citizenship and to navigate the complicated United States immigration system. They are equally competent helping any person from any country who walks through their door. This new construction will allow the EIIC to expand its services so many more folks can take advantage of them. I am proud to have allocated over $1.5 million toward this expansion and am confident EIIC will continue to provide high quality services for years to come.”
In addition to $1.55M in City Council funds, designated by Council Member Danny Dromm, support for the project has been received from The Irish Government, The Irish Institute, The Tara Circle, The Dormitory of New York, and private funders.
“We at the Emerald Isle Immigration Center are extremely proud of this project and how it will enable us to build on our strong legacy of helping the Irish and all immigrants achieve citizenship and the American Dream,” said John Tully, Chairman of the Board of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center. “We are deeply grateful to all our individual supporters and funders, especially our long time champion, Council Member Danny Dromm, as well as the Government of Ireland, The Dormitory Authority of New York, The Irish Institute, The Tara Circle and the many private funders who have gotten us to this point.”
Emerald Isle Immigration Center provides free programs and services to the Irish Diaspora and immigrants from over 70 countries. These include Citizenship and Immigration Legal Services, job readiness and employment coordination, family legal services, immigrants rights workshops, Meals-on-Wheels, health access services such as insurance enrollment and senior mental health screenings, Covid-19 public health Information and outreach, free tax preparation, senior services, cultural programming such as Irish language classes, meet-ups, traditional knitting, genealogy workshops and more. Emerald Isle reaches approximately 35,000 clients annually between the Queens and Bronx locations.
“The Irish Government has been a supporter of the work of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center for many years; we are seeking to build stronger partnerships with other communities in the U.S, drawing on our work in support of comprehensive immigration reform,” said Helena Nolan, Consul General of Ireland in New York.
“The EIIC is a valued partner in this work, and we are proud of that, in addition to our support of the programming work of the center, through our Emigrant Support Program, we have also committed $400,000 to ensure the EIIC has a premises fit for purpose that can serve all members of the community in the years to come.”