Newsweek: Community Organizer Helps Rebuild New York’s Forgotten Filipino Community Hit Hard by Coronavirus


News

April 17, 2020

Queens, New York is the world’s worst-hit borough of the worst-hit city of the worst-hit nation by the new coronavirus that has infected more than 2 million people across the globe. Among the hardest hit are the working-class Filipino community that face mass layoffs, pay cuts and reduced salaries because of quarantine measures. But one woman’s organization is trying to help them fill the gaps.

Riya Ortiz, lead organizer and case manager for the non-profit Damayan Migrant Workers Association, is working with her team to raise funds and to provide crucial services to an already vulnerable community that is now at the epicenter of the pandemic. Queens neighborhoods such as Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and Woodside—home to Little Manila—confirmed more COVID-19 cases than many nations did, a study by the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York showed.”

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