December 6, 2019
Dear Atlas: DIY Community,
Since its founding in 2011, Atlas has been fully committed to its mission of helping immigrant youth, those documented and undocumented, in New York City meet their needs and have the futures they want. It has done this by providing access to legal assistance, legal education, community outreach, and referrals to health, education, and social services to more than 1000 youth annually. Atlas was created in response to legal systems' and nonprofits' then frequent exclusion of immigrant youth, especially those who are undocumented.
Atlas has been a pioneer in providing innovative services, including the ACCESS Lawyering program, RISE! youth-staffed, community immigration clinic, Immigrant Youth Peer Educator Program, and Action NYC outreach. Central to Atlas's success has been the extensive involvement of its members, immigrant youth ages 14-24 from all five boroughs of New York City who come from over 40 countries and speak over 20 languages representing countries, regions, and communities in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
The Board of Atlas recently has had to make the difficult decision to close the organization effective December 31, 2019, because of challenges including shifting priorities in public and private funding, changing infrastructure needs and costs common to growing organizations, and, of course, constantly shifting immigration policy response needs. The Board and staff are making every effort to transition services to other organizations and provide information to the members about other available resources as well as act consistently with its commitments and responsibilities to existing clients.
We all share the sadness about Atlas's closing, given its special program offerings and unique ways of community engagement. At the same time, we celebrate what Atlas has accomplished in the last eight years showing the way to meet the needs of immigrant youth holistically, positively, and with great respect.
We thank all of our funders, community partners, and friends for supporting and helping to further Atlas's mission over the years. Please contact us at info@atlasdiy.org or 347-599-1641 with any questions or requests for more information.
Sincerely,
Atlas: DIY Board of Directors
info@atlasdiy.org
347-599-1641
