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Aisling Center Social Services

The Aisling Irish Community and Cultural Center have a vast range of services and programmes to meet the needs of individuals, families and the wider community. We provide free, private, and confidential counseling by appointment, Monday – Friday 9 – 5 PM. We also provide wider support such as child and adult education, behavioral counseling, social groups and information support 

Whether it is wellness in our office, or outreach to the homeless in NYC, or social services branch offer accessible help for all. 

September is Suicide Prevention Month

Learn how to best help yourself and the ones you love with this resource from the Aisling Center. 

What can we help with?

Individual assessment and counseling

Group counseling

Family and parent support

1:1 support for young people

Referral services based on a professional clinical assessment

Advocacy and liaison with other services

We Can Help You Apply for Any of these Programs
If you are looking for a program not listed here please reach out, we can still help!

Unemployment Insurance is temporary income for eligible workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. 

If you are eligible, you will be paid for all benefits from that date forward. You must certify your eligibility for benefits weekly online or over the phone to receive benefits.

The Aisling Center can assist in helping you apply for unemployment from New York State.  

Online resources can be found here: https://www.ny.gov/services/get-unemployment-assistance#overview_

Medicare is health insurance for people 65 or older. You’re first eligible to sign up for Medicare 3 months before you turn 65. You may be eligible to get Medicare earlier if you have a disability, End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), or ALS (also called Lou Gehrig’s disease). 

New York’s Medicaid program provides comprehensive health coverage to more than 7.3 million lower-income New Yorkers (as of December, 2021.) Medicaid pays for a wide-range of services, depending on your age, financial circumstances, family situation, or living arrangements. These services are provided through a large network of health care providers that you can access directly using your Medicaid card or through your managed care plan if you are enrolled in managed care. Some services may have small co-payments, which can be waived if you cannot afford them.

The Aisling Center can assist with questions on benefits, eligibility and filling out the application in a 1:1 setting.

Online resources can be found here: https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare & https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as “food stamps”) provides food assistance for nearly 1.8 million low-income New Yorkers including families, people who are aging and people with disabilities. The program helps families and individuals supplement the cost of their diet with nutritious foods.

All Cash Assistance and SNAP applicants that have been approved for benefits will receive an EBT card in the mail. If your EBT card has not yet arrived, you can go to the Brooklyn OTC site for your permanent card, or one of seven open center locations for a temporary card that will have all benefits available until the EBT card arrives. 

Regarding case inquiries, HRA requires submitting a Client Consent Form to verify a client’s consent before releasing case information to a third party.

Come to the center for help applying for food stamps, online resources can be found here: https://www.nyc.gov/site/hra/help/snap-benefits-food-program.page

The housing choice voucher program is the federal government’s major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. Since housing assistance is provided on behalf of the family or individual, participants are able to find their own housing, including single-family homes, townhouses and apartments.

The participant is free to choose any housing that meets the requirements of the program and is not limited to units located in subsidized housing projects.

Housing choice vouchers are administered locally by public housing agencies (PHAs). The PHAs receive federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to administer the voucher program.

A family that is issued a housing voucher is responsible for finding a suitable housing unit of the family’s choice where the owner agrees to rent under the program. This unit may include the family’s present residence. Rental units must meet minimum standards of health and safety, as determined by the PHA.

A housing subsidy is paid to the landlord directly by the PHA on behalf of the participating family. The family then pays the difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized by the program. Under certain circumstances, if authorized by the PHA, a family may use its voucher to purchase a modest home.

Online information can be found here: https://www.hud.gov/topics/housing_choice_voucher_program_section_8#hcv01

We offer in person help applying for benefits.

New York State Medicaid Provides Coverage for Complete Pregnancy Care
New York State Medicaid can help you get the care you need for you and your baby. Complete pregnancy care and other health care services are available to women and teens who live in New York State and are eligible for Medicaid.

What services can I get?
Routine pregnancy medical check-ups, lab work, and access to specialists
Hospital care during pregnancy and delivery
Information about pregnancy, labor and delivery
HIV counseling and testing
Help in applying for other programs such as WIC and low or no cost health insurance for your children and family
Full health care for you until at least two months after delivery
Health care for your baby for at least one year after birth
Family planning services
And more!

Who can get Prenatal Care/MOMS Services?

Women and teens who live in New York State who are pregnant and meet certain income guidelines can receive complete medical care during pregnancy, delivery and for at least two months after delivery. You may be eligible even if you have health insurance.

All of your pregnancy care is confidential.

The passport application is now fully online, with paper applications no longer being accepted. The application for both renewals and first time applicants can be accessed here. Passport Online is a fast and simple way to apply for your passport. If you are an adult renewing your passport with the same information, you normally won’t need to submit any supporting documents. If you are a first time applicant, renewing for a child, or changing the information on your passportPassport Online will e-mail you a list of documents which you need to submit directly to the Passport Service in Ireland. Please check your email inbox and your spam carefully for any communications from the Passport Service.  When your passport is printed, it will be posted to you directly, along with any supporting documents.

You are automatically an Irish citizen if one of your parents was an Irish citizen who was born in Ireland.

You can become an Irish citizen if one of your grandparents was born in Ireland, or you can become an Irish citizen (through great grandparent) if one of your parents was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth but was not born in Ireland. If you’re eligible, you can register your birth on the Foreign Births Register. www.dfa.ie. Follow the link to Passports/Citizenship – Foreign Birth Registration

There are no longer paper applications to apply for Irish citizenship, as it is now an online process.

Safe Home Ireland is an Irish emigrant support service that provides a range of services to more than 2,000 people each year. We provide an advice and information service, undertake outreach visits and provide housing assistance to eligible applicants.

Safe Home Ireland was established in the year 2000 to assist older qualifying Irish born emigrants to explore the option of returning to live in their native areas. The organisation was set up as a Pilot Project by a local GP and Safe Home Ireland Life President, Dr. Jerry Cowley.

Over the years, Safe Home has evolved from simply providing a housing option for older Irish born emigrants. Our work is now spread across the 26 counties and we provide supports to our applicants at every stage of their journey from the initial enquiry abroad to actual return home.

Aisling Irish Community and Cultural Center offers advice on senior housing & assistance. Come in person and receive help today.

We can help you right away

We are proud to have strong partnerships with many organizations that assist community members with these matters. If we do not know the answer to your concern, rest assured that we will work to the best of our ability to assist you and will refer you if necessary. Stop by our office to learn more.

If you feel you need to talk to our counsellor, please call 914-237-5121 or email socialworker@aislingcenter.org  

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