The Health Justice team is excited to share our new EWF Resource Packet, available in English and Spanish, to help New Yorkers apply for the Excluded Workers Fund! During the pandemic, NYLPI’s clients were excluded from unemployment benefits and stimulus relief because of their immigration status. Now, the Excluded Workers Fund (EWF), created to provide much needed help to those workers left out, including undocumented immigrants, is accepting applications!

New Yorkers without legal immigration status substantially contribute to the state’s economy and as essential workers kept our state going during the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has also disproportionately impacted immigrant communities across New York, yet workers who did not have legal immigration status could not access unemployment benefits or stimulus relief. NYLPI has supported our clients navigate the EWF system to be able to access the relief they are entitled to, and we are eager to share this resource and our tips for the process. NYLPI is committed to advancing immigrant justice and access to necessary benefits for all New Yorkers.

NYLPI’s EWF Resource Packet is a helpful step-by-step guide for New Yorkers that are applying, and with NYLPI’s short EWF Application Tips in English and Spanish, clarifies the sometimes-complicated aspects of the application process. The relief is meant for low-income workers who lost income due to COVID-19 and are not eligible for Unemployment Insurance (UI); their ineligibility for UI can be due to immigration status or other factors – the application does not ask why someone is ineligible. There are no citizenship or immigration status questions on the application. All applications must be submitted online, all decisions will be delivered via email or text message, and EWF will only remain open until the fund runs out. Applications are taken on a first come first serve basis. In order to apply for the fund, you must currently live in New York State and have lived in NY prior to March 27, 2020.  Prior to applying, anyone can determine their eligibility here, and the State Department of Health has provided a map of community-based organizations providing EWF support.

The EWF Resource Packet: English | Español

The EWF Application Tips: English | Español