The Emerald Isle Immigration Center has announced the renovation and expansion of its 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, said a release.
“The Emerald Isle Immigration Center is one of the best service providers in New York City,” said New York City Council Finance Committee Chairman 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 $1.55 million in City Council funds, designated by Council Member 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.”
Added the release: 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, immigrant 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 Centre 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 centre, through our Emigrant Support Programme, 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.”
Concluded the release announcing the expansion plan: "The Emerald Isle Immigration Center is a not for profit entity founded in 1988 in Woodside, Queens. Its mission is to exercise and protect the privileges and interests of the community; to foster a healthy interest in the civic affairs of the community, to help immigrants acquire US citizenship, and to inquire into civic abuses and seek reformation thereof. The Bronx office was opened in Woodlawn in 1993."
