Neighbors Link offers array of services to immigrants

Neighbors Link Deputy Director Jeanette Gisbert and Volunteer Manager Elizabeth Parry. HERB FOSTER photo

By HERB FOSTER

Neighbors Link, headquartered in Mount Kisco, is an organization that provides a huge public service dedicated “to strengthen the whole community through the healthy integration of immigrants.” It is successful in achieving this mission by utilizing a large and very active volunteer team.

In addition to the Mount Kisco headquarters, the organization has offices in Ossining and Yonkers. It provides a variety of education and empowerment services at these locations, everything from teaching English as a Second Language to legal services and advocacy, from workforce development to parent education and early childhood programs.

“Volunteers are at the heart of how Neighbors Link fulfills its mission,” said Jeanette Gisbert, deputy director. “Our programs wouldn’t be possible without them. Our volunteers build meaningful relationships with our clients and demonstrate the power of community connections.”

In 2024, Neighbors Link reached 10,466 immigrants with 824 volunteers providing 14,850 work hours. About 50 percent of the volunteers are high school students, who perform multiple functions. They assist in teaching ESL and work in a technology training role for people with little computer experience. They lead instructions on anything from how to create an email to how to create Google Docs or a spreadsheet for a small business.

The high-schoolers also participate in afterschool programs at Mount Kisco Elementary School called “Learning Links.” They come after a day of school, from 3:30 to 5 p.m., to support teachers in providing academic support and enrichment to first graders through fifth graders. They spend time encouraging them to develop good study habits.

Adult volunteers do a great deal of the same work including ESL and technology.  They also support family programs by providing child care for children ages 0-4, while their parents attend Neighbors Link parenting and child development classes. In addition, pro bono attorneys and non-lawyer volunteers are critically important in supporting the work of Neighbors Link Community Law Practice.

Michelle Bieber is one of the longest-serving volunteers, having joined Neighbors Link in 2013 assisting in child care, but she now leads one of the Parent-Child Together classes known as “Adelante Junos.” The children, ages 3-4, get to play separately for a period, while the parents have an educational session, and then they join together.

She joined Neighbors Link because “I love kids and I want them to have every opportunity and experience that I was able to provide for my kids. Neighbors Link facilitates that. The staff is really great here about their programming.”

“The most amazing thing is, since I’ve been here for so long, I’ve been able to see clients that have become staff,” she said. “It is really great to see the growth of some of the moms and to see their journey from when they started here as parents of toddlers and then eventually grew into taking on volunteer positions at the center.”

Ossining is home to the Neighbors Link legal practice as well, the largest immigration law practice in the lower Hudson Valley. It provides a full array of legal services, from citizenship applications to removal proceedings. They represent a wide array of immigrant New Yorkers, both detained and non-detained individuals, as well as both adults and children, in family court.

Neighbors Link also offers a variety of workforce development programs, including digital literacy classes, individual career guidance, support for entrepreneurship, a business center for community use, and job training classes.

'Perfect for me' 

Elizabeth Parry of Katonah came to Neighbors Link after working as a whitewater rafting guide in Tennessee, and now serves as volunteer manager for the organization. “I’d always known about Neighbors Link and I was trying to get a more community-centered job. It was perfect for me.”

She noted that some people come through Volunteer New York!, a centralized placement service, but there is a large number that get interested through word of mouth. Parry said that there has been a strong surge in volunteers since the election. “We’re always building more volunteer programming, but now we are able to find a volunteer for almost every single opportunity we have.”

Neighbors Link has many more programs and offerings. It has run a dance workshop, a soccer camp, and guitar classes. It even ran a program for women who do cleaning on how to do their job in a more eco-friendly way. The Summer Links program focuses on academics including math, reading and writing, as well as enrichment activities for over 100 children of low-income families.

In addition to the large volunteer team, there is strong back office support. There are 60 paid employees, a strong board and a very active Friends of Neighbors Link group. It will hold its annual spring event, The Power of Community on Thursday, June 12, at GlenArbor Golf Club in Bedford Hills, recognizing the power of community in standing up for what is just, defending the rights, humanity, and contributions of immigrants. 

For more information or for tickets to its spring event, visit neighborslink.org. To volunteer, visit volunteerinfo@neighborslink.org.