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Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement seeks more funding as demand outstrips grants and consultation capacity
Summary
At an April 28 Ways and Means hearing, Monique Nguyen, executive director of the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement, said demand for ESOL classes, legal help and mental‑health supports far exceeds available grant dollars and staff capacity, with multi‑month wait lists for consultations and major unfunded grant requests.
Monique Nguyen, executive director of the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement (MOIA), told the Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means on April 28 that demand for English learning, legal assistance and mental‑health services for immigrants has surged and that MOIA’s current grant funding covers only a fraction of requests.
Nguyen said MOIA distributed about $2,100,000 in grants to more than 100 nonprofits in the past fiscal year and coordinated more than 900 free immigration consultations, but offices remain over capacity: “We have a 2 month long wait list for our immigration consultations.”
The office told the council it served 375 residents who applied for citizenship at a…
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